Rob49 has the whole country yelling “WTHelly.” The New Orleans rapper created a viral hit with the release of the single this past March, which peaked at No. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. He capitalized on the momentum by putting out his latest album, Let Me Fly, last month. The LP, featuring guest appearances from Lil Wayne, Cardi B, Meek Mill and more, debuted at No. 180 on the Billboard 200. XXL recently caught up with Rob, who took part in our Off the Dome series by sharing quick thoughts on random topics, including how he came up with his latest hit song.
“We just came up with WTHelly just being confused. Instead of saying the F-word, we say WTHelly,” Rob tells XXL. “We was in the studio one day and my partner and nem kept saying it. So, I was like, ‘Man, we gon’ make the song right now.”
What may surprise some people is that even though he’s from the Dirty South, Rob is a huge New York rap fan. He names The Notorious B.I.G.‘s debut album, Ready to Die, as the best rap album on record. Rob grew up listening to a few Big Apple greats.
“I just grew up being a big fan of Biggie,” Rob reveals. “I wanted to be just like him, Slick Rick, Doug E. Fresh and them. Looking at Crush Groove. The whole New York thing, I was heavily influenced by it.”
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See Rob49 talk about his favorite rap album, the artists he needs to collab with, a dream job he always wanted and more below.
