Rob49

Powered by decisive charisma and a speaker-busting New Orleans drawl, Rob49 makes propulsive anthems to get rich to. Since unloading “Vulture Island” in 2020, the 26-year-old’s made hits out of local tradition, distilling the exuberant aggression of early Hot Boys and the grizzled self-assurance of Soulja Slim into a booming oeuvre of get-money theme songs and Crescent City chronicles for a new generation. The combination has earned him millions of streams and status as the face — and unmistakable voice — of his city. His gifts shine once again on his viral hit “WTHELLY,” a swaggering new single from his aptly titled new project, Let Me Fly.

“WTHELLY” topped TikTok’s Top 50 Music Chart, generating over 5 million fan creates and over 10 million global streams in less than a month. It started a relatable viral social trend that incited the likes of Madonna, Viola Davis, Justin Bieber, Cardi B, Angel Reese, Tyrese Haliburton, and more. On its success Rob says, “I knew it was going up because it made me feel good.”

Sprinting over a dystopian blend of ominous bells and twitchy lasers, Rob unloads a barrage of playboy flexes: “My new watch on Prezi, diamonds on baguetti / Pop outside, with that sauce — spaghetti / Bad hoes in a telly, what the helly?” Fusing warp-speed boasts with an irrepressible refrain, “WTHELLY” plays out like “Tha Block Is Hot” for 2025. As stylish as it is relentlessly confident, the track is an inflection point for an artist looking to the sky and beyond. Sure, he’s earned cosigns from Scott, Birdman, NBA YoungBoy, and Lil Wayne himself, but Rob’s stepped into 2025 with new peaks to summit and — in his own mind — waves of unfinished business.

Just as on his songs, he has no issues with telling it like it is. “I told myself, ‘They just don’t want to let me fly,” he adds. “So now we just letting the music fly, back to back, to the point that no one can deny it.”

Long before he had plans for musical dominance, Rob was raised between the 4th and 9th wards of New Orleans, the home of area legends like Soulja Slim. If Rob wasn’t completely defined by his locale, he was guided by it. As a pre-teen, he remembers smoking Black & Milds with friends every day after school. When he wasn’t playing sports, he’d fill up his grandmother’s gumbo pot with water bottles and sell them in front of the Superdome. When he wasn’t indulging his entrepreneurial spirit, he was living through a veritable war zone. “I was 12 years old with bullets flying by my head,” he solemnly recalls of the neighborhoods that shaped him.

Before the age of 22, Rob had lost two brothers and an uncle. Despite the trauma, he made it through high school while developing a casual hobby as a rapper. He enlisted in the national guard and majored in nursing. All the while he’d been inspired by the sounds of G-Unit, Wayne, and Nino Calvin, the prospect of an actual rap career wasn’t even an idea back then. That possibility began to materialize during a spontaneous recording session with some friends. When they left him to record by himself, they were shocked to discover that he’d already surpassed them, with his voice emanating a palpable sense of authority. “I really put my life into the song,” says Rob, “and everybody was just like, ’Man, what the fuck is this?’”

From there, it was up. Loaded with kinetic anthems, a trio of 2020 mixtapes — 4our the World, Vulture, and Krazy Man — made him a local star. “After the first album I ever dropped, I was the hottest in my city,” he remembers. Tracks like “Vulture Island” only crystallized his come up, earning him a slot as a 2023 XXL Freshman, a deal with Geffen Records, and collaborations with Lil Baby (“Vulture Island 2”), Lil Wayne (“Wassam Baby”), Cardi B (“On Dat Money”), Travis Scott (“Topia Twins” with 21 Savage), Cash Cobain (“Trippin on a Yacht”), and Moneybagg Yo (“BUSSIN”).

As he’s leveled up his career, Rob’s used his music to both elevate his hometown, too. He’s bailed out fathers jailed for nonviolent offenses so they can celebrate Father’s Day with their children, hosted a bicycle giveaway for kids ahead of the holidays, and now spearheads an annual Vulture Island concert that includes performances from Rob and others. Earlier this year, he opened a Magazine Street restaurant and lounge, The Nest NOLA, that he hopes will one day become a famous hangout. “New Orleans never had nothing like that — this is like when Birdman was on fire,” he says. “I just want to turn it into a staple for my city.” But if he’s looking to create local monuments, he can already look at his own body of work. “If something happened to me in 30 years, they’re still going to be hearing about Rob49,” he shares proudly.

For now, he’s still building that legacy — one he’ll add new dimensions to with Let Me Fly. Suffused with pained reminiscences (“Honest”) and d-boy theme songs (“Pack Flipper”), it’s Rob49 at his most effective, varied, and virtuosic. It’s also a bridge to much, much more.

“It’s my turn. You just gotta accept it,” he says. “I’m a legend in my city.”