Loyalty will take you far, and it might even lead you to a career you never imagined. Louisville, Ky.'s own 2kBaby didn't grow up with superstar aspirations or showed any real signs that he'd even want to be an artist. However, once his close friend got locked up when 2k was 15, 2k quit his job immediately and hit the studio. The rapper simply began making songs so he could hold his homie's name down. Soon after, 2k whipped up "Southside Story," a re-working of G-Herbo's "Eastside Story" that got him some real buzz. That sudden start paid dividends relatively quickly, and now, four years later, 2kBaby is a Warner Records signee with a song that already has over 14 million Spotify streams, "Old Streets."

2kBaby's "Old Streets" is an accurate summary of his style; the rhymer shows off both rapping and melodic singing abilities to reflect on how it used to be on the block. Surprisingly enough, "Old Streets," his most popular track to date, came together pretty loosely. He returned to his adopted home of Atlanta to discover that his friends taught his little brother how to produce. The first beat 2k's brother made was "Old Streets." 2k went to work immediately and the rest is history. Since then, the Down South artist has dropped successful follow-up tracks with "Dreaming," "Betta" and "Faxts."

Stay tuned for his upcoming EP, Pre-Game Rituals, and learn even more about his background in this week's edition of The Break.

Age: 19

Hometown: Louisville, Ky.

I grew up listening to: "Lil Wayne, Michael Jackson, I got into Herb [G-Herbo]. He was just talking that grit shit, but he just motivated a nigga. Herb, when that was nigga was rappin', it was like he was comin' from the same shit I was comin' from. He had his mama, had his sister, had to go make shit for himself. If he can do it, I can do it. Plus, that nigga's just hard."

My style’s been compared to: "I ain't gon' lie, people ain't never told me I sound like nobody, I ain't never been compared to nobody. At first I was just rappin' on some MC shit, just spittin', rappin' fast. Once I learned how to melodize...."

I’m going to blow up because: "I got a good heart. The things that come with that, what I'm gon' do with it, I'm gon' change a lot of people's lives. I'm already changing a lot of people's lives. I don't even do this rap shit for me. I do it for everybody else. At this point, I feel like I'm too deep in. I got too many people already depending on me."

What’s your most slept-on song, and why? "I don't feel like none of my shit is slept-on, it's just all within time. Just gotta let your shit marinate, and soon enough, they gon' catch on. Songs be blowin' up a minute after they drop. And the artists who just blow up, they usually don't be lastin' long.  I'm building a strong foundation."

My standout records to date have been: "'Old Streets,' 'Dreaming' and 'Better.' 'Dreaming' just hit a million on the music video and I believe 'Old Streets' just hit 10 million on Spotify and 'Better,' I ain't even check. I don't check none of my stats. My team keeps me posted on it. I just be focused on making my music, just tryna keep my mind right. It's so easy to get caught up in this life and start living too fast."

My standout moments to date have been: "Waking up the other morning and Herb being on that song 'Old Soul.' That was a big-ass moment right there. But before that, I'd say, when I went back home and I performed Christmas night. Since this music shit started rollin', I ain't give nobody no performances. But I gave that performance to my city, just 'cause I love my city. I'm always gonna come home."

Most people don’t know: "Me and my little brother Busta, everybody see us together every day now, but we been separated since we was like 10. We just reconnected a year ago, when I turned 18, before I moved to Atlanta. That whole little period of time that we ain't communicate or nothing, we was just on opposite ends of the city. We was aces before we got split up."

I’m going to be the next: "Biggest rapper ever."

Follow 2kBaby on Instagram and SoundCloud.

Standouts:

"Old Streets"

"Dreaming"

"Faxts"

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