Street rap will always have a place in hip-hop due to how important it was in the initial growth and spread of the genre. For Atlanta rapper Lotto Savage, he's always kept his subject matter close to the experiences in the streets that come with the hustle, without sugarcoating his work.

He first came to prominence with his feature on 21 Savage's 2015 song "Dirty K." The track got big enough that they both caught the attention of major labels, although that was Lotto's first verse ever. "I had labels calling, saying they wanted to sign me," Lotto explains. "So 21's like, 'Are you doing this for the money or you doing this for the passion?' Lotto admitted he wanted the money, so with 21's well wishes, he signed a deal with Epic Records in 2016—he's since parted ways with the label.

After dropping his follow-up song, "Trapped It Out," and releasing a few projects including Lotto KruegerDon Slaughter and Georgia Lottery, Lotto is back with his new project, Georgia Lottery Vol. 2, which arrives next week (June 25). Now, as an indie artist with Atlanta-based label, Bases Loaded, he took some time out of his schedule to freestyle for XXL's What I Do series.

Lotto is well aware of his surroundings these days—and how much he's charging for a show. That's a solid come up. "I used to trap at the sto'/Now I need 10 for a show," he starts off. "You will get hit with that smoke pole/Put your lil bitch in a swivel/My nigga, we ballin', no dribble/Name another nigga realer."

When it comes to his new project, Georgia Lottery Vol. 2, Lotto gets straight to the point. "I feel like my life is a gamble," he shares. "Every day I wake up, I'm taking chances." The first installment of this series marked another first for Lotto: he wrote all of his lyrics down as opposed to just freestyling.

But even with the gamble, his time coming up with 21 Savage showed him how to navigate the rap game. "[21 Savage] gave me a lot of ambition," Lotto reveals. "As far as like being an independent artist and what you gotta go through."

Catch Lotto Savage's freestyle up top.

See 10 Critically-Acclaimed Books Rappers Live By

More From XXL