Although 17-year-old HappyBirthdayCalvin's new EP series is titled No Friends, the emerging rapper coming out of Chicago does have a few good homies. One of those friends happens to be Khalil Everage, who stars alongside Dave East, Dreezy and actor Anthony Anderson in Netflix’s Chris Robinson-directed film Beats, which is set in Chi-Town. The friendship between Calvin and Everage, which began during their days in performing arts school, led to HappyBirthdayCalvin’s track “Kari’s Song (Long Way Home)” getting placement on the film's soundtrack. “I feel like more people in Chicago need to help each other get on," Calvin says. "That’s really what I’m about, positivity in the city.”

HappyBirthdayCalvin recently brought his positive vibes to XXL for our What I Do freestyle series. While his outlook on life is on the bright side, he's aware of the unfair treatment around him. “Wish I didn’t have to go to school so I could follow my dreams, stuck in reality/Woke as fuck, wish Black people had White salaries,” raps HappyBirthdayCalvin in the opening lines of his freestyle.

Later on, the rising artist references several Jay-Z titles, as well as one of the world’s fastest men to help get his point across. “Wish I had the Blueprint/I don’t need your two cents/American Gangster, I was on some ignorant shit/I got six model chicks, six bottles of Cris'/That’s what Jay say, turn the Cris’ into D'ussé/So I’ma run the track until the shit goin' Usain.”

Signed to L.A. Reid’s Hitco Entertainment, HappyBirthdayCalvin promises to deliver a message with his music. “I feel like it’s extremely important,” explains Calvin, who dropped his No Friends 3 EP in June. “I feel like there are multiple stories that need to be told from a Chicago perspective because it’s not just murders. It’s not just gangstas.”

Catch HappyBirthdayCalvin spit his enlightened bars below for XXL's What I Do.

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