The Break Presents: Don Q

A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie is making waves by dropping melodic bangers about relationships and poppin' bottles, but his partner in crime, Don Q, is turning heads with lyrical prowess and gritty delivery. The two may differ in style but make an excellent one-two punch. Just listen to tracks like "Bag on Me," "Game Winners" and "Floyd Mayweather (Remix)" to witness Don's delivery.

Don Q, born and raised in the Highbridge section of The Bronx, has already started carving out a lane for himself. He's landed collaborations with the likes of Meek Mill, Dave East and Casanova, to name a few. His first project, Don Season, helped established the rapper and earn him a solid following. Earlier this week, he dropped Corner Stories, a 12-track mixtape featuring heavyweights like Styles P, Jadakiss and Fabolous. The new projects will tell Don Q's story before the fame.

"My first tape I didn’t really bring them to the corner, you know? I was really flashy; it was the time where I could talk my shit now. I ain’t really want to talk about the struggle," he tells XXL. "I was happy at the time we live. I wanted to talk about live shit. But now I can sit down and think about what happened before I was live."

Now, the goal for Don Q is to only get bigger and become a mogul. Get to know the Bronx rep in XXL's The Break.

Name: Don Q

Age: 26

Hometown: Highbridge, The Bronx

I grew up listening to: “I had eras when I was going through different music. Junior high school it was the mixtape era, Lloyd Banks, Cassidy. After that it was Jadakiss, Styles P, a lot of Jay Z. I used to go back to a lot of old Jay Z and just hear how he used to approach songs. I learned a lot from that.

"In the fifth grade I was writing but I started really writing in high school. That’s when I took it serious and battling in the streets, parties, all type of different parks and different blocks. That’s how I got my confidence up.

"I [rapped] in a booth when I was 16. I was down with this group from my block and we were making a little bit of music. I was more into battling at that time. With the Smack DVD era, I was more into it."

My style’s been compared to: “Everybody compare me to Jadakiss, Styles P. People that I really listen to, they compare me to it. I’ve been listening to them for so long you can hear it in the music. It rubbed off. [My sound] is raw and unique. It’s hard to really find anyone that’s spitting like me. It doesn’t come by too often, people are going to have to really appreciate what I’m doing right now."

Most people don’t know: “I played football when I was younger. I was a running back."

My standout records to date have been: “The biggest thing for me is when me and Meek Mill was in the studio. That was crazy when we made 'Lights Out.' He had me hype because I knew I had to show up. I wasn’t going to let him burn me on the record. So that was a good moment; that let me know I could go with whoever."

My goal in hip-hop is: "I just want to be the best. But I don’t want to rap for the rest of my life; we’re trying to find other things within the next 10 years to be focused on -- movies, clothing lines, liquor, all kind of things. I want to be the next Jay Z."

I’m going to be the next: "People tell me I sound like Biggie a lot, so I guess that. He just did everything. He started a lot of shit. I don’t know if I rap like him but people in they 30s say I remind them of Big."

Follow Don Q on Twitter and SoundCloud.

Standouts: Corner Stories

Don Season

Dave East's "No Hook" Featuring G Herbo and Don Q

Casanova's "Don't Run (Remix)" Featuring Young M.A, Fabolous, Dave East and Don Q

A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie's "Bag on Me" Featuring Don Q

Meek Mill's "Lights Out" Featuring Don Q

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