Yung Mal & Lil Quill know how to make themselves heard. The rap duo's November 2017 project Kids of The 6 EP plays like more like an audition tape than a mixtape, structurally and thematically paying homage to Gucci Mane, who'd sign the artists to his 1017 Eskimo Records shortly thereafter.

"We did that specifically for Guwop,” Quill, 19, tells XXL of the aforementioned release. “We was gonna drop it on 10/17, had six records on it. One song we called 'East Atlanta 6'—we had everybody tagging Gucci Mane in it [online].” The elder half Mal, 22, chimes in, imitating Gucci's response: "'In my mind, I already said I was gonna sign y'all.'"

The two artists laid the groundwork before their effective homage to Mr. Zone 6. They first met around 2008, when Mal moved from New Orleans to Quill's native Atlanta stomping grounds. Shared loss united Mal and Quill on wax; the former had been previously linked with another rap partner who died, while the death of Quill's brother provided him musical motivation and subject matter from which to pull.

After Mal found solo success with “Str8 Out Da Pot” in 2016, Yung Mal & Lil Quill became a unit, teaming up for "Publicity Stunt" the following year. The pair's Blessed Lil Bastards and its sequel earned the the admiration of their 'hood and online popularity in mid 2017 before they closed the year out with their 1017 Eskimo Records debut, Came From Zero.

These two future stars are still shooting. Their video for “Been in My Bag” has more than 650,000 views on YouTube. And with Blessed Lil Bastards 3 and a 1017 Eskimo Records compilation on the way, Mal and Quill will keep pushing, possibly for the rest of their lives. ”I can really see us being old, making music," Mal says. "Even if our time is up, we’ll still be making music, expressing ourselves.”

Learn more about Yung Mal & Lil Quill in XXL's The Break.

Name: Yung Mal & Lil Quill

Age: Yung Mal, 22; Lil Quill, 19

Hometown: Yung Mal, New Orleans; Lil Quill, Atlanta

I grew up listening to:

Yung Mal: "Gucci [Mane], of course."

Lil Quill: "A lot of people, man. But Gucci too."

My style’s been compared to:

Quill: "Migos. Main reason, because we a group and we sometimes might go fast, and all that."

Mal: "And we young too. Somebody done told us OutKast. Kobe & Shaq. Rae Sremmurd."

Most people don’t know:

Mal: "I have a [high school] diploma."

Quill: "Nobody knows about my Shih-Tzu [dog], 1017 Sweet."

My standout records to date have been:

Mal: "'Publicity Stunt.' 'Been In My Bag' did like 300,000 views in a week."

Quill: "His single, 'Str8 Out Da Pot' had 100,000 views in I don't know how long."

My standout moments to date have been:

Quill: "This."

Mal: "I don't know the biggest yet, but so far, I've done a lot of big stuff. L.A., driving Ferrarris, stuff like that."

My goal in hip-hop is:

Lil Quill: "First off, we gotta have platinum plaques. I wanna have a lot of different businesses too, sign a lot of artists. I'm tryna keep it going, whenever I stop."

Yung Mal: "Me and lil bruh should go overseas. Billboard No. 1 type stuff. It don't gotta come tomorrow, it dont gotta come tomorrow, but we gon' get it though."

We're going to be the next:

Both: “Us.”

Follow Young Mal & Lil Quill on their Twitter accounts and Soundcloud.

Standouts:

Yung Mal - "Str8 Out Da Pot"

"Publicity Stunt"

Blessed Lil Bastards

Blessed Lil Bastards 2

Came From Zero

"Been In My Bag"

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