Mabu now attends Emory University in Atlanta—but says he’s still devoted to the music. “This hip-hop shit is everything to me,” he told GQ from his Emory dorm room. “I eat it, I sleep it, I live it. The artists I rock with are actually my friends. I get why people have this misconception that I’m here to profit and run, but that’s wrong.” He credits

growing up in NYC and his familial roots in Brooklyn (Bensonhurst and Bay Ridge), for his admiration of hip-hop. “If this shit didn’t mean anything to me, I could have cashed out after my first single and left it there, but I’ll be here for a very long time.”