Back in May, Calboy came by Inked NYC for a quick tattoo session in between events promoting “Redemption,” his debut studio album. While under the needle, he let us in on his entry into the rap game, making his breakthrough single and linking up with Lil Wayne.
Tell us about your upbringing in Chicago. For me, Chicago was regular, but from the outside looking in, it might have seemed tough to some people. I grew up in a house with a lot of siblings—there were16 of us—and we did everything together. We didna have much, but it was cool because it taught you to grow up fast and be on point.
How did you get into rapping? I started rapping from watching my pops and my big cousin. I listened to a lot of different music growing up and I wasn’t even10 when I was like, ‘Man, I can do this.’ So I started to practice, record myself, make my own beats and now I’m a master of it at 22.
Your cousin, King Von, also became a popular rapper. When did you start looking up to him as an artist? We really weren’t close growing up because we lived in different areas. But as he sparked up and started doing his thing, we linked back up and decided to do music together. We started to grow that relationship as we both became somebody, so losing him was definitely tough. I was just getting to know him and to understand him behind the stories or the BS that comes from social media. Beyond all of that, he was a good guy.
This story is from the September 2021 edition of Inked.
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This story is from the September 2021 edition of Inked.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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