Calboy’s 2020 XXL Freshman Freestyle

With a knack for melody and block-oriented bars, Calboy is one of the most promising young artists from Chicago. He puts his talent on display in his new 2020 XXL Freshman freestyle.

Over the course of nearly a minute, the 21-year-old rapping and singing talent declares his allegiance to his team as he spits about sacrifice and the possibility of betrayal. "And I know one thing, if it's for my dog I ain't thinkin' twice/And I know one thing, if it's in the dark, it's gon' come to light/And I know one thing, all my niggas' dogs that run through the night/Better know one thing, if you ever talk, we gon' take your life," raps Calboy, who's writing a sci-fi book and is an avid painter.

The "Wildboy" also shares the reality of life in Chiraq. "And I know some things, it's the way it go, it's the way of life/You know I been holdin' tight, you know I ain't foldin' right?/’Cause she say she love me, I know she lying/I'm from ’Raq where niggas be dying," he continues in a verse that ends with an icy warning: "He want me dead, I told him to try it."

Bars like these call to mind the songs that propelled Calboy to success in the first place. After dropping his mixtapes, The Chosen One and Anxiety, in 2017, Cal began making serious noise in the Windy City after he unloaded the song "Envy Me" in 2018. Fueled by ominous piano and some semi-strained singing, the track, which is currently three-times platinum certified, put Calboy on the road to stardom, a path he hasn't veered from since.

Calboy has continued building his momentum since first breaking out a couple years ago. In May of 2019, he unloaded his debut project, Wildboy, via Polo Grounds Music/RCA Records. The album has since been certified gold. Then, this past February, brought further attention to his brand with his Long Live the Kings EP, a project loaded with melody, ferociousness and spurts of dope boy dreams. He released the deluxe edition of the project back in July. The project includes six new songs and new features from G Herbo, Fivio Foreign and more.

After being named a 2020 XXL Freshman, Calboy is continuing to level up with new music, and it's only a matter of time before he reaches a new plateau for success.

Cal is one of 12 artists chosen to be an XXL Freshman in 2020. NLE Choppa calls home to Memphis while Polo G, like Calboy, reps Chicago. Lil Tjay and Fivio Foreign hold it down for New York, repping Bronx and Brooklyn, N.Y., respectively. Baby Keem rests his head in Las Vegas. Jack Harlow is a proud Louisville, Ky. native. Rod Wave hails from the bottom of the map in St. Petersburg, Fla. Down South gets love from Chika in Montgomery, Ala., and both Mulatto and Lil Keed are hot in the streets of Atlanta. San Francisco rapper 24kGoldn earned the most fan votes to land the title of the Freshman 10th spot winner.

Check out Calboy's 2020 XXL Freshman freestyle, powered by Rap Caviar, below.