Doin’ Lines
Cash Cobain fills in the blanks.
Interview: Joey Echevarria
Editor’s Note: This story appears in the Summer 2026 issue of XXL Magazine, on newsstands now and available for sale on the XXL website.
1. I fell in love with hip-hop when I heard 50 Cent’s Get Rich or Die Tryin’. The whole thing was infectious.
2. Drake once told me I was the G.O.A.T. of New York, and it will always stick with me.
3. I officially define the term “slizzy” as being free, being yourself and doing whatever the f**k you want to do within that moment.
4. Michael Jackson is what I dance to when no one is watching.
5. I know it’s time to cut ties with liquor when I’m too f**kin’ drunk, and the room starts
to spin.
6. Just the thought of being depressed is terrifying to me.
7. Pop is a genre I want to incorporate into my music because I love pop music.
8. If it wasn’t for social media, I’d be lit because I’m lit in real life.
9. Kanye West is the greatest rapper-producer of all time, not named Cash Cobain.
10. If I were a superhero, I would be Spider-Man. I’d web a ni**a’s b**ch so fast.
11. The most basic thing about me is my whole life. I’m just a regular ni**a from the Bronx.
12. Miami is my favorite city because Miami makes me think of everything in life I ever wanted. I call it Temptation Island.
13. The first thing I do when I hit the studio is plug in my phone and turn the music all the way up.
14. Spending money is the most reckless habit I have, and I’ll stop doing it when I don’t got money.
15. If it wasn’t for [my mom] Priscilla, I wouldn’t be me because I get the swag from her.
16. The first time I knew I wanted to create music was in my grandmother’s minivan. The bassline was just hitting. I didn’t know what it was, but I wanted to create that.
17. The violin is the musical instrument I would like to play because it can add sexiness. It can add sadness. It can control the tone of a song.
18. If I had to be stranded anywhere for one year, it would be Turks and Caicos, and Travis Scott’s Astroworld is the one album I’d play nonstop.
19. I laugh every time I think about my childhood memories because everything was just carefree, and you didn’t have to worry about nothing for real.
20. I’m inspired by every young New York artist. New York drill. New York sexy drill.
Cash Cobain’s interview in the 2026 XXL Freshman issue is available to purchase here. In addition to interviews with the 2026 XXL Freshman Class and DJ Drama, there are also conversations with T.I., Swae Lee, Sexyy Red, Young M.A, Diamond*, Skilla Baby, Lil Tjay and more, plus a look back at what the 2025 XXL Freshman Class has been doing and explore the cultural impact of the 2016 XXL Freshman Class and where its members are today.
See 2026 XXL Freshman Class
