In rap, your look matters, as does your music. In the case of 23-year-old rapper Bexey, he had both, long after he started as a 10-year-old artist making diss tracks about other kids. With his blacked-out contacts, unique dyed hair and face tats, he sticks out on any YouTube homepage. A closer look reveals that he can actually spit, exhibiting a dexterity that calls to mind Bone Thugs-N-Harmony more than anything else.

All of these unique touches in one act led to tons of streams and views for Bexey, starting with 2017's "Nightslayer" and its 12 million Spotify streams (his collab with his close friend, late rapper Lil Peep) and continuing on with "Stay Alive" featuring Fat Nick, the solo cuts "Hot Steppa" and "Go Getta," which the latter has been streamed over 5 million times on Spotify. Learn more about Bexey's rise in this week's The Break.

Age: 23

Hometown: East London, U.K.

I grew up listening to: "Thin Lizzy, Sade, So Solid Crew, Dizzee Rascal, a wide variety. My dad was in a rock band, I grew up listening to rock and my mom was into disco music, like the Pointer Sisters and things like that so, yeah, I am somewhere in the middle of that. Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, but I was studying like Slick Rick, too, Wu-Tang, Danny Brown, Mac Miller.

My style’s been compared to: "I used to get the Bizzy Bone comparison. That's one of my favorite rappers. You know, that whole "Demons Surround Me." I would study that song.  I was studying him more than anyone; it wasn't like I was trying to be him.

I’m going to blow up because: "That ain't my goal, man. My goal is to impact people's lives in a positive way. I go to shows and I perform my songs and I see moms in the crowd, dads in the crowd just looking at me crying and then after the show, I go up to them and I hug them and they are looking at their daughters so happy. Like before they found, my music, they was depressed, suicidal. I know it affects them in a positive way because their moms are crying, looking at me. They give me chocolates for my niece, it's a whole different thing."

What’s your most slept on song, and why?  "Honestly, to tell you I don't even know, I don't look at songs like that. I don't see the, 'Oh, this has this amount of numbers on a little digital screen. I have to feel bad about it.' That song is its own world. You can't compare this song to that song. They're all their own journeys. I put it out there, someone loves it? Cool."

My standout records to date have been: "'Stay Alive,' and I edited the video in an hour on my bullshit laptop that crashes. I used to edit every video, I came to a point where I was like I don't want to do this anymore."

My standout moments to date have been: "Selling out the O2 and bringing out my dad who was fighting cancer at the time, bringing out him out on stage. You know he's never seen me perform live before. I brought him out and made the crowd make some noise for him, things like that are the biggest moments to me."

Most people don’t know: "I don't know, there is a lot I don't know about me. Every day I'm searching. I have never found myself. I studied Bruce Lee and he was forever evolving, he watched all kinds of fighting all kinds of arts."

I’m going to be the next: "Bexey, I am already me."

Follow Bexey on Instagram and SoundCloud.

Standouts:

"Go Getta"

"Hot Steppa"

"Eternal Flow"

Spooky Electrick 

See 15 Great Hip-Hop Albums With One Weak Song

More From XXL