The closer you get to the flame, the brighter your fire burns. Coming back from the brink, Hott LockedN raps like his life depends on it. This urgency defines his own signature style of “slide music,” pairing bold bars and hypnotic hooks. Born and raised in the Southside Atlanta neighborhood of College Park, Hott picked up a microphone in 2017. However, the streets called to him, and various trouble followed. In late 2018, he sustained a gunshot wound in the neck, required a defibrillator twice, and spent thirty days in the hospital. During that time, he constantly listened to Lil Baby and wrote raps with a pen and pad of paper as he regained control of his voice throughout the ensuing four weeks down. Returning home, he dropped the Locked’N Da Streetz mixtape ignited by the fan favorite single “Buddy Dem.” One phone call changed his life. T.R.U. A&R advised him to get on a plane with Sleepy Rose. The next day, he found himself in Los Angeles and recorded thirteen songs with 2 Chainz and signed to T.R.U. (The Real University). His “slide” style goes worldwide on the first single from Looking Like It Records, Sleepy Rose’s “Shoot It Out” [feat. 2 Chainz, WORL, & Hott LockedN]. “Coming from College Park, people don’t believe you have a future,” he says. “However, I make it happen. I want to show everybody it’s possible for you to do whatever you believe in. The more you believe, the higher you’re going to get.”