“Marioooo!” When you hear this producer tag, you already know Supah Mario is the mastermind behind the beat. While he previously had 12 producer tags to choose from, he’s recently narrowed it down to two. His endless catalog of collaborations include Drake’s “Ice Melts” and “Blue Tints” and Young Thug’s “Thief In The Night” and “Wyclef Jean,” two artists who played a detrimental role in cementing his name in the rap game.
Real name DeMario Priester draws influences from a melting pot of genres, actually falling in love with rock before hip-hop came into the picture. Most recently, the South Carolina native landed three records on Uzi’s critically-acclaimed album Eternal Atake: “Myron,” “Silly Watch,” and “That Way.” In addition, he produced Tory’s Lanez’ “Stupid Again” and helped Teddy Walton produce “Rich Blessed Savage” on Key Glock’s Son of a Gun.
AllHipHop caught up with Supah Mario via FaceTime to discuss the recent state of the world, relationship with Uzi, working with Tory in LA, goals, and more!
AllHipHop: How is it over there in Georgia?
Supah Mario: We have a tropical storm right now so the weather’s not that great. Typical stuff: protests, people trying to go back to work, COVID type stuff.
AllHipHop: I heard Atlanta was really always outside though. They never really fully locked down.
Supah Mario: Yeah they don’t follow rules here, it’s ridiculous. It’s messed up because my girlfriend works at a dentist, so everybody’s scared of it but nobody wants to stay inside. My mom’s a nurse, she works with COVID patients. My mom was here last night, my girl mentioned that at work and they sent her home.
AllHipHop: Really?
Supah Mario: She was in a casual conversation: “yeah my mother-in-law works with COVID patients, she’s been at our house.” “Yup, we need you to go get a COVID test and not come back to work until you get your results.” It’s a little bit crazy right now.
AllHipHop: What are your thoughts on the current state of the world?
Supah Mario: Man, it’s crazy. It’s a repeat of what, 3 years ago? We had the same stuff happen. I’ve never seen the world so divided. I’ve never seen people show their true colors like right now. That could be a good thing because now at least I know how people feel. I know how much of the world feels this way, we have a better idea what we’re dealing with now.
AllHipHop: Have you been out there?
Supah Mario: I do not participate in protests. I can’t, I got a child. I have to make sure I stay in the house. I just bought a house, so I’ve been spending my time getting my house together. While everybody else is having this weird ass year, I’m using this time to get my life together. I’ve been in here. I’ve been working on this home studio, getting set up.
AllHipHop: How has everything affected the music industry?
Supah Mario: It slows down the releases that were supposed to happen. In January, everybody’s like “oh, this going to be a great year for music.” COVID hit, everybody’s like “it’s still going to be a great year for music because everybody’s at home and can listen.” All the police brutality stuff happened, now everybody’s like “s##t, we only want music that relates to this.” Artists feel they need to hit the studio and start being more relatable with the times, which is necessary. It’s definitely made people halt their plans and go back in the studio, reevaluate what they’re going to drop.
AllHipHop: What inspires you to create music today? I know family is a big part of it.
Supah Mario: Absolutely. I haven’t been as creative lately to be honest, because there’s a redundancy in the type of music out right now. Everybody’s putting out the same s##t, I’m tired of seeing the same rappers talk about the same s##t. Producers hear a hit song, they start making beats like that hit song. I’m unmotivated at this point because there’s no motivation right now. Nobody’s doing anything outside of the box, so my only motivation is to go against the grain. Do something that nobody else is doing.
AllHipHop: How’s your daughter?
Supah Mario: She’s good. She’s absolutely wonderful. She’s in South Carolina right now, hanging with her aunties. She’s on summer break so that’s why I’m stuck in the house too. I’m being a stay at home dad while her mom’s at work.
AllHipHop: Last time we spoke, you were waiting to see if you had a placement on Uzi’s Eternal Atake. What was your reaction?
Supah Mario: Man, that was crazy. I knew I had it, he already told me I was going to be on it. Once we got to that point where it was time to do paperwork and we were picking records, it felt good. My career was sort of in this limbo state where okay, I did some stuff with Drake, I did some stuff with Young Thug, but I’m constantly working with the same artists. Working on his album helped me diversify, now I have more of the younger kids coming to hit me up. It brought some more opportunities to the table.
AllHipHop: “Myron” has 19 million views on Youtube, which is insane. You did “Myron,” “Silly Watch,” and “That Way.” How did that feel to have three records?
Supah Mario: I knew I had three the whole time. At first, it was supposed to be six records. Two of them ended up leaking last week. Some song I did with Uzi featuring A Boogie ended up leaking, but we stopped the leak before it got to all platforms. It’s a song called “Racist” and another song called “My Friend Artist” or something like that.
AllHipHop: Were those records done in the studio with Uzi?
Supah Mario: No, none of them. That’s how me and bro work, I literally send s##t to his phone or I’ll email them to his manager. I’ve literally only met Uzi one time, with Don Cannon here in Atlanta. This was way, way back right around Luv Is Rage or The Perfect Luv Tape. That was dope. What I really want to do is get out there and start working with West Coast artists because I got a lot of West Coast s##t. I want to link with more producers. I want to hopefully get in a room with Hit-Boy. That’w one of my favorite producers, somebody I really want to work with. I want to do a record with Saweetie. A lot of people I haven’t been able to reach yet, that I know we’d make some dope ass music together.
I’m being put in a specific demographic only based off the records I’ve already done, but I could literally send you beats and you’d be like “yo, the versatility here is crazy.” I can make anything. I can make R&B, I can make it all. They haven’t given me enough of a platform, that’s why these interviews matter because people don’t know who I am yet. Still, there’s not enough media about what I do. I watch other producers go on Live and make beats, then people putt those live beat-making sessions on YouTube. Those beat making sessions are doing 39K, 40K views on YouTube alone, that’s visibility.
AllHipHop: Do you put your own s##t on Youtube?
Supah Mario: I started a YouTube channel, but I’ve never used it. I wanted to make sure I got this place set up before I started streaming. I started a Twitch channel, I started a bunch of stuff, but haven’t done anything. I get hit up everyday, someday asking me “yo bro, when are you going to go Live? When you going to get on Twitch?” They definitely want it, I haven’t had the time yet.
AllHipHop: How was it to hear Tory Lanez gas through “Stupid Again”?
Supah Mario: Man, I was there. I was in the studio with him when he did that, we were in LA. He had rented a house out to finish that album for the label. I was literally in the room sitting on the couch while he’s recording.
AllHipHop: How was it? What was the energy like?
Supah Mario: I made that beat in front of him. Right before they’re getting ready to go to the club, I was working on a beat. He’s rolling up a blunt in the next room, came in the room like “bro I’m rapping on that. Save that because I’m for sure rapping on that.” I said “alright, cool.” Over the next two days, I finished the beat. He called me and told me to pull back up, so I went back over there.
I was in LA for two months at a time, staying in an AirBnB. He had rented the mansion, my AirBnb was 5 to10 minutes away from where he was. I rented a car and I’d go over there every day, make beats there. We’d go to the studio now and then as well to polish up the records. We have a bunch of records that haven’t dropped. We did a lot of stuff. The energy was dope, he was cool. A lot of weed smoking [laughs].
AllHipHop: You don’t smoke right?
Supah Mario: I don’t smoke. Every now and then. I have weed, I’ll hit it once or twice then come back to work. I used to be a serious pothead, I don’t know what happened. 2012, all of a sudden I started smoking and getting paranoid. What’s the deal? You smoke right?
AllHipHop: I do. I think at one point you realize there’s nothing to be paranoid about, you know?
Supah Mario: I hope, because I still get paranoid. I always feel like I’m going to jail, or I’m going to get pulled over. Or f##king aliens are coming, s##t’s crazy. The Tory Lanez s##t was dope because I was able to be there. He’s actually one of the first artists who allowed me to create the process with him, instead of “alright bro, send me some beats. I’ma record, I’ll let you know how it goes.”
AllHipHop: How was producing Key Glock’s “Rich Blessed Savage”?
Supah Mario: I have to give all of that to Teddy Walton, he did that. Me and Teddy had been talking for a month about working together. I‘d send stuff to his phone. I’d create melody patterns then send them to him, he’d make drums around those. He’s from Memphis so he knows these guys. I always thought Teddy was from LA so I’m like “okay yeah, send this to Bryson Tiller.” Or “send this to Chris Brown.” He said “nah bro, we gotta get on some of this trap s##t.” Him and Key Glock have a relationship. We didn’t even know, we saw the tracklist on Instagram one day. Okay cool, guess we got one.
AllHipHop: That’s one of my favorite songs off Son of a Gun.
Supah Mario: Thank you. I did the melody on that, bro did the drums. It was quick. It literally took us five minutes to make that beat. It’s a very, very non-detailed beat. It’s very simple, it loops over and over again. It’s the way he rapped on it that made it such a dope song.
AllHipHop: Key Glock is so hard.
Supah Mario: If they let me produce beats by myself for this dude? You should hear the records I have in his lane. I have a pack just for him.
AllHipHop: Talk about producing “Look What I Got” for Big K.R.I.T.
Supah Mario: That was fun. Me and K.R.I.T. are friends, that’s my homie. He’ll send me acapellas to songs that he produced and ask me to make new beats around them. With this particular one, it’s a song I produced already. That beat ended up getting used by a different artist so I told him “if you send me the acapella, I can make you a similar beat like this.” He said “alright cool. If you do it, I need it back by the next day.” I literally went in my room, no studio setup or nothing. I had to put my keyboard on an ironing board and had to make the beat in my room. That’s actually one of my favorite beats to make because I was able to use the acapella to help build the beat around. I could mix it the way I wanted to, so that was fun. K.R.I.T. is definitely one of my favorite artists to work with. They’re definitely one of my favorite rappers to produce for.
AllHipHop: You still juggling your 12 producer tags?
Supah Mario: [laughs] No, I’ve narrowed it down to three right now. It’s about to just become the “let’s go Mario” one. What’s your favorite one?
AllHipHop: “Mariooo!” I like that one.
Supah Mario: They’re asking me to bring that one back. I really only use that tag for Thug and Drake, that’s who originated those tags. Maybe K.R.I.T. sometimes but for Uzi and everybody else, they always get the “let’s go Mario.” Or “Super Mario on the beat,” the little kid. You haven’t heard that one yet, you’re going to hear it soon.
AllHipHop: What do you have in the vault?
Supah Mario: Man, I can’t tell you bruh. Maybe new Drake records, maybe some Playboi Carti. Who knows? I’m not on Whole Lotta Red, I wish I was. That’s one of the albums I really wanted to be on but it was too late by the time I sent beats for it. Possibly some new Drake, on his new album. Definitely more Uzi s##t. Working on Thug’s album. They’re still working on the punk album, so I’m working on a lot of rock stuff for him. Definitely trying to get some more stuff to Key Glock.
AllHipHop: Anything else you want to let us know?
Supah Mario: We need to get into the heart of this industry. What we don’t talk about enough is what it takes to make it nowadays, how the game is switching from working live to streaming. I still want to have that conversation about depression in the music industry. We have to talk about how artists’ relationships with producers are f##ked up because artists treat producers like s##t. TM88 was talking about it on Twitter the other day, he’s like “is it me, or does anybody realize that the artists don’t really treat or help producers out the way we help them out?” They barely want us in the studio anymore. Artists need to stop treating producers like they’re expendable, they’re trying to reduce us down to nothing.