BossMan Dlow - 2024 XXL Freshman Freestyle, Interview and More

GOV'T NAME: Devante McCreary
AGE: 25
REPPIN': Port Salerno, Fla.
X: @bossman_dlow
INSTAGRAM: @bossman_dlow
TIKTOK: @bossmandlow
NOTABLE RELEASES: Songs: “Get In With Me,” “Mr Pot Scraper,” “Finesse” featuring GloRilla, “Talk My Sh*t”; Mixtapes: Too Slippery, 2 Slippery, Mr. Beat The Road
LABEL: Alamo Records
CURRENTLY WORKING ON: Untitled debut album dropping this fall.
WHO ELSE SHOULD BE PART OF THIS YEAR'S CLASS: “I don’t know. It’s tough. It’s talent everywhere. Just about who grind the hardest. Think the people you selected, they all worked hard. [There] might be some people out there you miss, but hey, can’t get everybody. They’ll have their turn next year.”
INFLUENCED BY: “Wiz Khalifa. Rod Wave. Future. I like people that talk motivation, money, stay in your own lane, get some money. I like people that talk like that. F**k bad bi**hes, drink some liquor, smoke some weed.
[Future] just speak for itself. Bruh been rapping since ‘Turn On The Lights.’ Still going. Still making hits. It’s 2024. [Rod Wave] was just more just being able to see a young Black dude make it from nothing. He like selling out dumb arenas right now. That’s just [from] nothing to the biggest, for sure. So that’s just some amazing sh*t. You see him do it, make you want to do it, you feel me?”
AS A FRESHMAN IN HIGH SCHOOL: “[I was] bad as f**k in school. Like sixth, seventh, eighth grade was always referral this, referral [that]. Just dumb sh*t. Got caught cussing, got caught on the phone, dumb sh*t. High school, it was more sh*t like, ‘He smelling like weed,’ you know I’m saying? ‘He out of place. He out of bounds during class.’ All kind of stupid-a*s sh*t.”

TRUTH ON BEING AN XXL FRESHMAN: “It was probably two to four years ago when I just started rapping that I learned about XXL Freshman. I f**k with the presentation. It’s like a BET award. [During my Freshman call], they asked me what my favorite XXL moment was. My answer was Kodak Black. Florida rapper, Down South. I feel like he just would’ve came on like I would’ve came on. He said something like I would’ve said.

I rap like I’m in somebody’s face just talking to ’em. I don’t sound like nobody in the whole class of this year. Even outside of XXL, I sound different than everybody. So it’s a good time right now.

[I was] excited [when I found out I was a Freshman]. Like, Damn, OK, these artist goals getting accomplished. This is a platform that maybe 100 percent of my fans ain’t or that are paying attention to. Maybe this would be another chance to show myself to other genres of fans. Just networking. That’s how it’s going to benefit your career.

When it first started popping a little bit and then it’s like, OK, you getting booked for shows, but they just willing to pay a little certain amount and some of ’em shows it be like, Oh, sh*t. They looking at your ass like, ‘Who the f**k is you?’ Certain sh*t be happening to let you know, Yeah, OK. Yeah, you going up, you going crazy. [Being a Freshman] is one of those moments where you going crazy.

Everything happened for a reason. Everything happened at the time it happened. This is a good year.”—As told to Peter A. Berry

Watch BossMan Dlow's 2024 XXL Freshman Freestyle

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Port Salerno, Fla. is a minute dot on the map on the East Coast of Florida that is most well-known for its world-class angling tournaments, but the town's current big fish is rapper BossMan Dlow. Growing up fast in a small town gave the 25-year-old rapper a grassroots grind. He's been reeling in new fans with a simple yet effective lure of uncanny swagger and conversational baritone braggadocio. He hooks onto the same energy for his 2024 XXL Freshman freestyle,

As the only member of the 2024 XXL Freshman Class from Florida, it's only right that he shines for the trenches. "The trap n***as winning, baby, you know we got big pockets," he raps in the video below. "Made millions off a chicken talking, I done skipped college/Ten-pointers moon walking, baby, I got big diamonds," Dlow spits a cappella while palming a large wad of freshly minted cash.

Though his name is now ringing bells, Dlow still has an underdog mentality and a Kobe Bryant-like confidence. "35 hunnid just to put these on your feet, n***a/I'ma wake them up for acting like they sleep, n***a," he confidently spits later on in his freestyle. "They ain't wanna see me make it, b****es had they nuts crawling/Pull up, i7, interior duck sauce."

2024 may have been BossMan Dlow's breakout year, but he's been bubbling just under the radar since 2020, when he began putting out music following a brief stint in jail for drug charges. After releasing several singles, things ramped up for him in 2023, with the releases of the mixtapes Too Slippery and 2 Slippery. In between projects, he inked a deal with indie powerhouse Alamo Records. This past January, Big Za started things off with a bang. He dropped the now-certified gold single "Get In With It," which peaked at No. 49 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and received cosigns from Lil Baby, Quavo, Ciara and others. He followed that up with a second hit, "Mr. Pot Scraper," which has gained over 26 million streams on YouTube and been a TikTok mainstay.

"I rap like I’m in somebody's face just talking to ’em," he tells XXL about his catchy rapping style and heavily influenced Florida trap sound that separates him from the pack. "It ain't all the shooting and killing and all of that, you know what I'm saying? The vibe and sh*t. Just bringing positive energy."

This past March, he delivered his third mixtape, Mr Beat the Road. The offering debuted at No. 20 on the Billboard 200 chart, further solidifying Dlow's status as an artist on the rise.

"I just [feel] like everything happened for a reason," he tells XXL about his 2024 come up. "Everything happened at the time it happened. This is a good year. I don't sound like nobody the whole class of this year. Even outside of XXL, I sound different than everybody. So it's a good time right now."

Check out BossMan Dlow spit game in his 2024 XXL Freshman freestyle below.—C. Vernon Coleman II