CALBOY

Calboy is an artist who has experienced some of the best and worst things life has to offer. Sure, he’s made it in one of the most competitive industries on the planet, his debut single went 4x platinum and he’s collaborated with his heroes. But he’s also experienced tremendous loss for a 22-year-old. In a little over two decades, he’s lost friends and family to drug overdoses, heart attacks and coronavirus. He even said goodbye to his cousin, fellow rapper King Von, to gun violence last November. But instead of letting these losses get the best of him, he uses his stories to inspire others through his music.

- Ariana West

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.