Mexican-American MC Snow Tha Product is no stranger to discrimination. As both a woman and a Latina in Hip-Hop, she’s faced her fair share of dismissive remarks, but those who are actually listening know what’s really good. The San Jose, California native has made a name for herself for using her platform to deliver messages of awareness, not just of social issues but also of one’s own strength and potential. She’s a big proponent of “staying woke,” and she is nasty on the mic, all of which is evidenced by her most recent E.P., June’s Half Way There…Pt. 1. For all of these reasons, Sway featured her on his Shade 45 radio program and right away, the topic of conversation was complex and enlightening.

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Sway begins the interview by asking Snow to elaborate on a recent tweet of hers in which she said “Latinos stand up, then move closer to each other ’cause you motherfuckers segregated than a bitch. We aren’t even seen as a race.” In her words, the message that she was trying to relay was “well Latino isn’t a race. Hispanic isn’t a race. You know, we’re an ethnicity. We are a sub-genre of races.”

“We’re not even brought up most of the time,” she says of Latino people in the context of today’s racial climate. “We’re not even acknowledged in some of these conversations because we’re arguing amongst each other,” explaining that she often sees hostility between people of differing Latin-American countries. “I get it, let’s be proud of where we come from but at the same time, let’s not dog each other. ‘Cause when they’re making fun of tacos and burritos and Consuela the maid, they’re not checking for where exactly you’re from. They’re just making fun of Hispanics” (3:20).

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“It’s one of these things – like with police brutality – where Latinos go unnoticed a lot of the time…I feel like we’re being erased a little bit,” she says after explaining that she didn’t fill out the National Census because she was given only the option of “White” as race. It’s particularly complex for her, as she says, “considering that I come from indigenous blood that was here before any of the borders and any of that stuff.” She expands profoundly on her thoughts about police brutality, saying she feels it’s important to call out “people who are overstepping their boundaries and not doing their jobs correctly” and that although “we know there’s good cops out there and we know there’s exceptions to the rules” that “there is something that needs to be talked about, especially by Hip-Hop artists who I feel like are sometimes so scared to lose fans that some people don’t speak up on issues, and to me…I will lose those fans. It’s okay because I only want real motherfuckers to fuck with me” (5:40).

Snow also addresses her frustration with what she feels is a lack of accolades for her lyrical abilities and for the “grinding my ass off” that she’s been doing consistently. But she yearns for “that step up” so that she can put on for her community. “I wanna be mainstream media so when I go in those interviews, when I go on TV and I’m on those places I can say what I need to say about my people and put my people in the conversation, and talk some real shit. Because I’m tired of female rappers being looked at as ‘if she’s dope, she didn’t write it’ and ‘if she’s out there, she’s sellin’ her ass'” (15:05).

At the 16:25 mark, Snow begins discussing the inspiration behind her clothing line, Woke, which she says is “all about being aware, being awake, being conscious, being cognizant. Knowing that there’s opportunities.” She mentions “woke” as having become a popular hashtag and movement on social media, but she argues that its uses are sometimes mired in the negative. “I feel like some people are using it to be like ‘I’m more woke than you. You’re not woke enough. The whole bringing people down to bring yourself up because of your ‘wokeness’ is not what it was supposed to be. It’s not supposed to be a weapon, it’s supposed to be a feeling of ‘I’m woke today because I took advantage of the fact that I can post a video and reach this many people and do something positive.'”

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Snow gets asked to share her thoughts about Latino use of the word “nigga,” particularly as it relates to how she sees Latinos “opting out” of “Black issues.” When asked if she feels Latinos who use the word “nigga” also see themselves as part of the Black Lives Matter movement (around the 22:14 mark), she begins by saying “I don’t agree with anybody using that word. Like, why? I don’t think it’s necessary. And I think people should hold people accountable. If you do use that word, where are you at when the Black Lives Matter thing is in your face?” In her own experience, she says, “there are times when I’ve spoke on things and the first people to come for me are Latin people saying ‘well what about us?’ and I’m like, you’re not even here when we have issues. You should be here for anybody. At the end of the day, this is very much a Black and Brown issue, but then when I speak about that, White people get offended. There’s no winning with this stuff. But as far as me and my responsibility and what I’m gonna preach to everybody is first of all, don’t use that word. Second of all, stand up for what’s right.”

Her interview isn’t all talk, however, and at the 31:35 mark, she delivers an a cappella freestyle which she says is “for the girls out there.” It’s raw, ruthless, feminine, and, as she describes herself in her Instagram bio, “woke as fuck.”

Heads can scope out some more of her lyrical ability by checking out her recent “Flexicution Remix Freestyle.”