Gelo - 2025 XXL Freshman Freestyle, Interview and More

GOV'T NAME: LiAngelo Ball
AGE: 26
REPPIN': Chino Hills, Calif.
X: @LiAngeloBall
INSTAGRAM: @gelo
TIKTOK: @gelo
NOTABLE RELEASES: Songs: “Tweaker,” “Tweaker (Remix)” featuring Lil Wayne, “Can You Please” featuring GloRilla, “Law N Order”
LABEL: Def Jam Recordings
CURRENTLY WORKING ON: Debut album, League of My Own, dropping in July
WHO ELSE SHOULD BE PART OF THIS YEAR'S CLASS: “Zillionaire Doe. That ni**a hard. His sh*t is alright. I like the music. It’s swaggy, bruh. You can ride to it, too. I think it’s a good class. Y’all hit it on the head, for real.”
INFLUENCED BY: “I think I do have my own sound. I feel like I developed my own way of rapping. Because I be trying to harmonize this sh*t sometimes. It’s influenced by a lot of people. DMX, 50 Cent.
That’s what I grew up on; 50 Cent’s Massacre and all that sh*t. Get Rich or Die Tryin’. That’s what really made me start rapping for real. I seen the Get Rich or Die Tryin’ movie. Made me like tattoos and all that sh*t. I’d say them two were heavily influential. I listened to Nelly and
Ludacris and Lil Wayne a lot, too.
I listen to [Key] Glock and NBA YoungBoy. I don’t try to mold [myself like them because they so present. We damn near all the same age, but I hear what they’re doing. I like that sh*t.”
AS A FRESHMAN IN HIGH SCHOOL: “I was very elite at my craft, which was basketball at the time. Right when I came in, I knew I wasn’t trying out or none of that sh*t. They was like, ‘Oh, you gotta try out before we can say you’re on the team.’ And I went to that sh*t and dunked on like, three kids. I was doing my thing. They pulled me out in like, five minutes. They was like, ‘Come on.’ Sh*t went crazy.
I preferred hooping and sh*t like being outside. I’m smart, though. I get my work done. I’m a 3.8 [GPA]-type of dude. 3.6.”
TRUTH ON BEING AN XXL FRESHMAN: “I had [being a Freshman] in the back of my mind when I started putting out music. I always try to do sh*t to the highest level. It’s a good accolade to say you was on XXL Freshman. I feel like that stamps a lot of dudes, for real. I was excited when they told me.
I always just knew what XXL was and what they was about. Coming up as a kid, I used to watch the cyphers and stuff a lot of the time. I was in the fourth grade watching cyphers. It’s just cool. It’s like winning a Rookie of the Year or something if you was in the NBA. It’s cool to say.
I think my sound is a little different than what people have heard. I do be rapping, but I stretch some words out a certain way. I use a certain tone when I make music. I feel like it affects different groups of people. I feel like my music could stretch a little bit.
I feel like I got a lot to give for the music world. I'm not coming in with one or two songs. I’m about to put out an album soon. I feel like I got a lot of music to put out for people. We gonna see if they rock.
In the rap game, it’s probably just a different look and a different sound for people. I mean, I can’t really tell because I do my own thing regardless. It’s just people let me know. I can tell off other expressions or what they tell me. They’re like, ‘I love your music, bro. You was swagging at that concert.’ I always hear stuff like that. It’s a good thing.
I’d say [fans’ reaction to the cover will be] a little bit of shock and excitement. Probably happy, some might hate it. I don’t know. It goes either way with this music stuff from what I found out. It’s good publicity.Y’all know what y’all doing, clearly. I know who’s going to be up next and coming. I know the picks. Like I said, it’s cool. It’s a good time. I feel like there’s no reason to pass up on something like that.
[I’m excited for] just the whole experience, for real. I want them to see the cover. Just me being here, for real. See the freestyle, the a cappella. They got me doing the cypher today. We’re going to get into it. I got a little verse for y’all, man.”—C. Vernon Coleman II