If you haven’t heard of Zookie Baby, allow us to put you on. The rising star hails from Wilmington, Delaware, arriving with an infectious personality to match her infectious music. Reminiscent of a young Missy Elliott in the making, real name Zahiya West brings her A-game when it comes to fusing the worlds of Hip Hop and R&B — with a knack for storytelling where listeners can’t help but tune in. When it comes to the independent grind, Zookie puts in the work necessary to bring her to the big leagues, even catching the attention of Grammy-nominated producer Sap. Working with everyone from Meek Mill to Mac Miller to Nipsey Hussle, Sap immediately saw her potential and brought her into his Pioneer Crew. Together, they created her debut album titled Zookergy, 11 tracks that showcase her undeniable energy when she hits the stage. AllHipHop caught up with Zookie Baby via Streamyard, who was posted in the whip back home in Delaware. Read below as we discuss her upbringing in Wilmington, the turning point in her music career, meeting Sap and signing to him, the making of Zookergy, the independent grind, motherhood, goals, and more! View this post on Instagram A post shared by Zookie 💜 (@imzookiebaby) AllHipHop: How is it over there in Delaware? Zookie Baby: It’s pretty good right now. Weather’s alright. I just got back from D.C., chillin’ right now. AllHipHop: What was in D.C.? Zookie Baby: I was out, trying to get away. Have some fun. [laughs] A lot’s in D.C. AllHipHop: How have you been holding up with the pandemic? Zookie Baby: I’ve been pretty good. I actually had caught Rona, back in January. I’d caught it in New York before it was a big thing. I was performing at SOBs, it was a lot of people there. Being in New York period was a lot, you’re surrounded by a lot of different people. I started feeling sick right before I started performing, but I’m like the show must go on. [laughs] I went to the hospital right after I got back to Delaware. They said “we don’t know what’s wrong with you, we think you may have the flu.” I’ve had the flu before, this don’t feel like the flu. A couple weeks later, they told me “we think you have Rona.” I was like “alright.” AllHipHop: The good thing is when you had it, you can’t get it again for a little bit right? Zookie Baby: That’s what they say, but I don’t ever really believe what they say. AllHipHop: Being from Wilmington, Delaware, what the household was like growing up? Zookie Baby: I grew up with my mom. I saw my dad here and there. He’s the reason why I [do music], he instilled music in me and my brothers growing up. Every time we came around him and that part of the family, the music brought us together for real. Growing up in Wilmington, it’s a lot different now. A lot of young people out there, a lot of gangs. A lot going on right now for real, a different Wilmington from when I was growing up. Growing up it was still bad, but not as bad as it is right now. You can get hit whenever wherever, it don’t even matter. Growing up was alright, luckily I had music for real. That’s what really did it for me, I focused on the music. The music kept coming back to me and I stayed with it. AllHipHop: When did music come into play? Zookie Baby: Man, I was a kid for real. My brothers played piano, I used to watch them play the piano. They started playing a bunch of different instruments, I’d be like “man, I wish I could get in there and jam with ya’ll. I want to come jam!” They said “nah, you don’t know how to play nothing. Get out of here.” Eventually, I started using my voice as an instrument. It became a thing where they play and I started singing. Growing up in the church, they asked me to start singing more within the church. When I went to school, they asked me to join the church choir. Then I met this kid, he said “yo, I want you to rap!” I’m like “rap? I don’t rap well.” He said “yeah, I want you to rap!” Alright, so I rapped on his track and he really liked that joint. He boosted me for real, it was really Ed. Ever since then, I swear I knew how to rap. [laughs] I started really staying with it, honing in on my craft. I didn’t take it seriously until right before I met Sap, that’s when I really started going in. AllHipHop: How did you and Sap meet? Zookie Baby: One of his friends tagged him in my video, it was a known song from back home getting some buzz. He commented on it, I was hype as s###. He said “yo this joint hard!” I’m like “oh yeah, you like this song? That’s what’s up, let’s work!” I dropped another song a little while after that. We started following each other at the time. He reached out to me after I dropped this song called “The Code,” he said “you really hard, I want to send you some beats your way.” Alright! Send them. What’s up? I’m tryna work! I’m ready.” So he’d sent me the pack. I was on his ass too: “yo, don’t forget about me.” He sent me the pack, I went in. Opportunities like that don’t really come, where somebody really believes in you and it’s genuine. You’re not trying to sell me no dream, you want to see where it goes and what happens. I ran with that joint. Did the beats, he liked them. He was in town, he hit me up to meet up with me. We literally sat in the car, I played him music. I said “this is what […]