New York rapper 2 Milly hit instant success when his hit song "Milly Rock" blew up the airwaves. It all started during a block party in Brooklyn three years ago when Spike Lee was celebrating the 25th anniversary for Spike Lee film Do the Right Thing. 2 Milly felt the energy of the crowd, became possessed by the music and jumped on top of a car, and began performing his “Milly Rock” dance.

Fans in the crowd began to film his performance and uploaded it to social media and youtube and instantly he became an overnight sensation. The videos went viral which sparked a craze of people uploading videos of their versions of the milly rock dance. The craze had gotten so popular that even Chris Brown, Wiz Khalifa and Rihanna joined in, uploading their own rendition of the “Milly Rock.”

2 Milly - “Milly Rock” Music Video

“The dance has always been around. It was just a turn up with me and my friends. It was just a good vibe,” 2 Milly explains. “I’m drinking Bombay and orange juice so I get on top of a car and start milly rocking for like two or three minutes. The next day, they’re hitting me up like ‘you’re famous. I was like I only did that in front of 90 people. Imagine if I could do that in front of 90,000 people. So let me make a song to it.” And that’s exactly what he did.

A year later, 2 Milly released the anthem for the dance, titled "Milly Rock." By the end of the summer, the video reached over a million views on YouTube. He had garnered so much attention that platinum rapper Travis $cott brought Milly and his Sturdy Gang/Stack Paper crew on-stage during his performance at the influential New York City festival Hot 97 Summer Jam. He is now traveling the country on his Sturdy Way Tour and awaiting the release of debut mixtape Only the Sturdy Survive.

Born in Brooklyn and raised in the Bedford–Stuyvesant neighborhood, 2 Milly came up hard like every other kid in the hood. Crammed in a two-bedroom apartment with his mother, father and three brothers, growing up was “really rough,” he recalls. So to ease the stomach rumblings, he jumped into the streets at age 13, engaging in illegal activities for survival.“We did what we had to do,” he clarifies. And while many of his friends and members of his Sturdy Gang/Stack Paper crew were catching cases left and right, Milly managed to keep his nose clean, which helped him earn his nickname.

We talked with 2Milly in an exclusive interview, check it out below!

Question: How long have you been making music and how did you get started?

2 Milly: I’ve been making music since I was 13 when I lived across the street from the studio but I took it serious when I made Milly Rock, the dance is what really got me started.

Question: Musically, what are your biggest influences and who are your favorite musicians?

2 Milly: My biggest influences are Fabulous, Lil Wayne & Biggie. My all time favorite musician is Camron but right now Migos, Jay Critch, and Meek Mill are on my daily playlist.

Question: What musician would you most like to collaborate with and why?

2 Milly: I would most likely collaborate with someone of my character such as Migos, Jay Critch, Rich The Kid, Rihanna, Travis Scott and Desiigner.

Question: What do you feel is your best song you've ever released and why?

2 Milly: Best song ever released hmmmm personally I think it's “Sleepin” Ft PNB Rock, but I would definitely say Milly Rock because of the amount of success.

2Milliy - “Sleepin” featuring PNB Rock (Music Video)

Question: What motivates you and how do you define success?

2 Milly: My family and friends motivate me but mostly my daughter just knowing I came from a struggle I never would want her to go through.

Question: How do you generate new ideas?

2 Milly: I travel, go to different places, I read and just get high. I go somewhere by myself and smoke and think.

Question: How do you describe your music to people?

2 Milly: My music is pretty much my life so I’d say it’s a description of me.

Question: Do you believe there is a formula to being a successful artist?

2 Milly: Nowadays I can say no, pretty much anything is acceptable. It’s color ya hair, tat ya face, and repeat the same words or auto tune.

Question: Who is your greatest inspiration?

2 Milly: Greatest inspiration is Migos, they my brothers probably the realest ni***s I met in the industry.

Question: In your opinion who is the most influential and successful artist in your genre today and why?

2 Milly: I’ll say P. Diddy, his numbers don’t lie lol.

Question: Which emotion more than any other, currently dominates your music? Joy, sadness, anger or passion etc. , and why?

2 Milly: Passion I actually speak my story, I actually tell my stories in the form of music.

Question: What sacrifices have you had to make, to make your dream a reality?

2 Milly: I stayed away from home on Christmas thanksgiving, yea I missed a few events lol.

Question: What aspect of the music making process excites you most, and what aspect discourages you the most?

2 Milly: Success and failure, pretty much explains itself.

Question: Where do you see yourself and your music in 10 years?

2 Milly: Soundtrack for multimillion dollar selling movies through the nation, platinum records and just a billion dollar brand.

Question: What advice would you give to other up and coming artists or people looking to break into the music industry?

2 Milly: Hard work beats talent.

Question: Is there anything else you would like people to know about you or your music?

2 Milly: Listen and don’t just skim through it.

Exclusive | 2 Milly Talks His Hit Song "Milly Rock" and the Release of His Debut Mixtape