MIC/LINE (formerly named Sound Check) is HYPEBEAST Radio‘s music-centric show that looks to bring you in-depth conversations with your favorite artists, digging into their origin stories and asking the questions you want answered. On our second episode, we sat down with Atlanta’s Young OG, Key!, a.k.a. FatManKey!

Key! is one of the more important faces in Atlanta’s music scene right now. The charismatic rapper has not only built his fanbase with his music but has also introduced, or had his hand in the beginnings, of so many young rappers’ careers out of the ATL and beyond: Father, ILoveMakonnen, OG Maco, Two-9, Post Malone, 21 Savage; the list of Key’s protégés goes on. Always evolving and always looking for ways to make fresh music, Key!’s mind is always set on progression.

“The whole point for me is to conquer everything I hear or comes to my mind, so I never tried to limit myself on it,” he explains. “I like discovering new things and try to attack it. I don’t feel anybody who makes music will have the same experience, so this should be an instrument. I’m the saxophone and this saxophone needs to go everywhere… I don’t think about it as staying new or nothing, I just don’t want to make the same song twice.”

Most recently, Key! has been running with A$AP Mob and was featured on the collective’s Cozy Tapes Vol. 2: Too Cozy, which dropped in August 2017. Earlier this year, the “Wrist” rapper linked up with Kenny Beats to drop their impressive collaborative album, 777, this past May.

You can listen to Key!’s 777 album right now.

Keep up with everything HYPEBEAST Radio and subscribe to MIC/LINE on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, Overcast or wherever else you enjoy your podcasts. Feel free to reach out to our host, Manny, on Twitter at @ECM_LP and follow HYPEBEAST Music for more original content and music news.