The Boy Illinois flips Migos' "T-Shirt" single and pays homage to his grandfather on "On The Road."

On the record, TBI raps about tour life and working to become the top dog out of Chicago. With witty bars and clever analogies, The Boy Illinois delivers a great freestyle and even mentions Bump J, who is scheduled to come out of prison in March.

"And I got some players doin' tool time, but this ain't no Tim Allen/But we do got nosy neighbors/They be peekin' over gates and we barely see they face/I'ma scratch off in the six/I'm just tryin' keep it straight/But I'm still 730, up and it's quarter to eight," he raps.

The midwest MC is prepping his upcoming EP Road Winds. Illi began his rap career in 2008, at the age of 19 as a college freshman. He started his Inhale mixtape series and gradually got bigger, turning heads with his 2013 release Jean Baptiste, The Yer Tape, and his most recent project DuSable, which dropped in 2015. He's also gone on two separate tours with Lupe Fiasco.

When asked in a recent interview to describe his sound, The Boy called his music "conscious commercial."

"I would say its conscious commercial – very in tune with the sound right now, but still a viable message within the music," he said. "It’s important for me to do so to reach that larger audience and not stagnate myself by only appealing to one side."

XXL interviewed Illinois for The Come Up way back in 2013. Read that and bump "On the Road" above.

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