Him All Along
Memphis rapper Key Glock is no newbie, but he’s just getting started. Bet on it.
Interview: C. Vernon Coleman II
Editor’s Note: This story appears in the Summer 2025 issue of XXL Magazine, on newsstands now and available for sale on the XXL website.
It would take a blind man not to see that Key Glock is leveling up. It’s hard to miss the bumblebee-colored Ferrari Purosangue with an estimated price tag of $430,000 (not counting all the customizing) or the 20-plus, 20-point diamonds in his teeth. With a recent nod from Beyoncé, a new deal with Republic Records, and a top 10 album debut to boot, the 27-year-old South Memphis rhymer is a prime example of persistence and talent paying off in a major way.
Key Glock is nine calendars into a career that started with the 2016 mixtape Whole Lotta Errthang. The following year, Key inked a deal with his cousin Young Dolph’s growing indie imprint Paper Route Empire and went on a run of solo and collaborative projects, including Glock Season (2017), Glock Bond (2018), Glockoma (2018), the Dum and Dummer mixtape series with Dolph (2019, 2021), Son of a Gun (2020), and the albums Yellow Tape (2020), Yellow Tape 2 (2021) and Glockoma 2 (2023).
Dolph’s death in November of 2021 marked a dark moment in Key’s life and career, which caused him to fall back and reflect. But two years later, Glock returned to form and bounced back with the album Glockoma 2. Then the anthemic King Wonka and Hadouken Beats-produced track “Let’s Go,” which appeared on the Glockoma 2 deluxe in the summer of 2023, spawned one of the year’s best bangers. All eyes were in his direction once again.
Key parlayed that platinum success and anticipation for his follow-up album into a major label deal with Republic Records this past March. He released his highly anticipated Glockaveli album in May. The project debuted at No. 8 on the Billboard 200 chart, Glock’s highest chart accolade for a solo release. He cemented the effort with a headlining tour that ended in June.
Glock’s hustle never stops. His next priorities are his European tour, his Cutthroat Records imprint and releasing another album this year.
XXL caught up with Key Glock just days after Glockaveli’s release in Atlanta. Over a blunt the size of a Beats Pill speaker and a double coffee cup bubbling with purple Sprite, Glock opened up about his new album, tour life, his keys to success, Young Dolph’s legacy and more.
XXL: How are you feeling now that the album is out?
Key Glock: I ain’t gon’ lie. It feels good. It feels like I just had a birthday party because everybody was happy for me. Everybody was celebrating like it was theirs.
What was your mind state going into this album, as opposed to your other projects?
It was all over the place. Because I had took like a year-and-a-half off from music. From like, the media, from social media. Just being outside, basically.
What’s your take on why Glockaveli was so highly anticipated?
I only left them with “Let’s Go” to listen to since 2023. And I feel like if it wasn’t what it is now, I don’t think people would have appreciated the wait. So, I definitely think it’s worth the wait.
While the album was delayed, you signed a major label record deal with Republic after being independent for years. Do you feel like you should have made the move earlier? Do you feel like this is the perfect timing for it?
It took a lot of thinking. It wasn’t nothing like a couple days. It wasn’t nothing like a couple weeks. It took like seven to eight months, almost, for me to make a decision. I think everything happened for a reason. It’s like this wasn’t even forced or rushed. It’s something I always wanted to do, but it wasn’t like on my mind.
You didn’t have any features on the album, but you did have producers from Memphis. How important was it to you to keep that M-town sound?
Because I just love paying homage to my roots. Touching back to where I came from.
One of the things people are highlighting about the album is the beat selection. What goes into your thought process for selecting beats?
It’s certain instruments, basically. And certain sounds hit the body different. It catches your attention, basically, before you even hear a word. Not even with my music, but just how instrumentals is period. Some songs, you’ll hear it all the time. You might not know a word, but you still might move to it.
You got some fire-ass samples on there. It seems like you just got an old soul.
Most def. That just comes from my childhood. I was raised by my grandma. I was always around my great grandma, too. I always was around them type of songs, that type of music. You don’t get away from it. It sticks with you.
King Wonka produced several tracks on there. Obviously, you had a hit with “Let’s
Go.” How did you guys initially link? What do you think makes your working chemistry so good?
It was crazy, bro. I don’t know nobody else got a story like this. Me and Wonka linked in 2016. I wasn’t even signed yet. I wasn’t even really just taking rap serious just yet. He was on YouTube. He was making Young Dolph-type beats, Chief Keef-type beats, Young Thug, Gucci Mane-type beats, stuff like that.
I was just starting to record. I’d go to YouTube and grab those beats, or I’d rap on an actual artist beat. I found him and I DM’d him on Instagram. We’ve been locked in ever since then. He’s been on every one of my tapes. He versatile as hell.
What are your thoughts on the Memphis rap scene these days? A lot of artists are doing their thing. You seem to be one of the artists that’s leading the pack.
I love to see it. It’s been going on, but I’m happy it’s getting more light now.
How do you feel you’re pushing the sound forward?
It feels good. The ones that’s under me got their own sound, too. Memphis as one got its own sound, but within Memphis, it’s different sounds, too.
There are times online recently where you mentioned that people counted you out. Were there any particular instances?
You know when you and other people start off together at a certain point, and y’all both grow, but one might grow faster than you. Or all might grow faster than you, so they feel that they can belittle you now or don’t have to f**k with you no more. So, it’s that kind of situation.
I don’t let it get to me. I just use it as motivation. Just to show you, like, alright, do y’all thing. I don’t need y’all. Y’all can be the Avengers. I’ll be Thanos.
There is an obvious Tupac Shakur connection with the album title. Why do you think ’Pac is so revered to this day?
It’s like when you’re a real person, like how everybody calls themselves real, when you’re just genuine and wise and just got good energy and a good spirit, it’s going to live on. Whether you want it to or not, people are going to represent you even if they met you or not.
“YOU CAN’T COMPARE NOBODY TO ME. NOT EVEN ON THE MUSIC LEVEL, BUT JUST PERIOD. I’M ONE OF ONE, FOR SURE.”
Is that something you strive to do as an artist?
I don’t strive to do anything as far as somebody looking up to me or trying to be like me. I want everyone in this world to be like them. I was hard-headed growing up. I just like finding out sh*t on my own because what might work for you might not work for me.
We could be on the same basketball team, but you could be a three-point specialist. They only drafted me strictly to get rebounds. They’re not going to put me in your position. That’s how I look at it.
You just had a headlining tour in the U.S. and you’re going on an interview run. What’s your favorite thing about touring?
The fans and their energy. The fans keep me going. The fans get me out of my little dark place.
Beyoncé used your 2018 song “Gang Sh*t No Lame Sh*t” during her Cowboy Carter Tour in May. Did she reach out to you for that, or did you peep it when everyone else peeped it?
I don’t even know who to reach out to reach out to her. Nah, it’s all love, though. It’s all love. I f**k with it.
What did you think when you saw that? She’s like the biggest female artist on the planet.
Nah, that’s love. That’s love. I rock with her husband. I rock with [Jay-Z]. When me and Jigga see each other, it’s all love, for sure.
The Kansas City Chiefs used your track “Watch Da Throne,” off the new album on social media, too. You’re getting a lot of big looks. Is it your team putting those plays together? Or folks seeing you shining and reaching out, or a little bit of both?
It’s really both. It depends on the situation. People that I show love to, they just show love back. It’s just genuine.
Is there someone you found out was a fan that surprised you?
Will Smith. Yeah, he was bumping “Gang Sh*t No Lame Sh*t.” Yup. Will Smith. Denzel Washington. Randy Orton. I got a couple guys, for sure.
Why do you think these huge stars are interested in your movement?
Basically, it’s the love I show them, too.
On your new song “Hallelujah,” you mentioned YNW Melly. Have you been keeping up with his legal situation?
Lately, I’ve been keeping up more with it. I feel like the system is dragging it along because they can. As long as bro keep his spirit high and his energy good, God definitely gonna figure it out for him. He can’t leave it in nobody hands but his.
On the track “Made a Way,” you said: “I’ve been f**ked up, down bad and snaked out.” Are there any instances you can think of that made you come up with that line?
It was just a time period I was going through. I was just using my frustration on the beat at the time. Instead of physically getting it off. And reminiscing at the same time.
Do you find that things like that put the battery in your back?
Yeah, most definitely. It made me push myself. The inner me pushes the outer me to make sure it keeps going.
What are Key Glock’s current keys to success?
One: Don’t take any opinion negative. Two: Trust your gut. No matter what. Even if your brain says otherwise. Your gut is God speaking to you. Three: Have faith in yourself.
So, what’s next for you after this tour?
I’m gonna chill for a couple weeks, and I’m going right back on tour. Going back on a European tour, and I’m gonna be working on my other album while I’m over there. Might have two albums this year. Glockaveli is done. Let’s get back to work. The work ain’t over.
What’s the most important thing you learned from Young Dolph about music and life in general? How do you apply that to your life?
His heart to give. It rubbed off on me like real big because I know how it feel to not have, and I know how it feel to be blessed. My partners ain’t got what I got, but they know what’s mine is theirs. So, it’s like I just be happy God blessed a ni**a to be able to bless somebody else. That’s part of what I cherish the most. His heart to give.
How do you want him to be remembered?
Like he is now. It’s being done the right way.
How do you want Key Glock to be remembered at the end of the day?
I just want everybody to remember me as being different. You can’t compare nobody to me. Not even on the music level, but just period. I’m one of one, for sure.
Listen to Key Glock’s Glockaveli: The Don Album
The summer 2025 issue of XXL magazine featuring Key Glock’s interview is available to purchase here. The issue also includes interviews with all 12 members of the 2025 Freshman Class and producer Cardo Got Wings, as well as conversations with Larry June, Aminé, Monaleo, Tech N9ne, Nardo Wick and more, plus a look back at what the 2024 XXL Freshman Class has been doing and a deep dive into who’s the biggest and best XXL Freshman ever.