Kenny Beats just kicked off the second season of The Cave, his biweekly show where he invites rappers to his studio, structuring a beat around the artist’s requests. This week, 6LACK made an appearance on the series—and he laid down “more than enough bars” in the process.
At the beginning of the episode, the crooner specified how he’s approaching the freestyle. “We’re not singing today. That’s what we’re not doing,” he told Kenny. “I think tempo-wise, something I can lay down my head to… like almost boom-bap-y, but not too boom-bap-y.”
The Atlanta artist said he developed his voice by “spending hella nights in the studio by myself and making a lot of shit that I don’t want anybody to hear.”
He recalls rapping at 6 years old. “I battle rapped in middle school, high school,” he said. But he went in a different direction when it came to recording music. “I gotta figure out how to make those songs, otherwise it might be over for my career.”
When 6LACK hit the booth, he went hyper-referential with his freestyle:
Undercover singer boy but rap a profession
Me and Kenny Beats is like witness protection
So don’t try me or you going to jail, bitch
All head goes, no Kenan and Kel, bitch
It was just the other day in line this lady tried to skip
Said she was a Crip, let me ask Vince
Find out that you lyin', we gon call Zack Fox
He gon' stuff yo' body in a tiny black box, wait
He gon' suffocate you with his mustache, ho
Fox’s appearance on The Cave brought us the viral hit, “Jesus Is The One (I Got Depression).” During the episode, Kenny came up with a beat that matched the comedian-rapper’s specifications: “I want a beat that sound like Runescape mixed with Jodeci mixed with almond milk mixed with domestic violence. Put a domestic violence filter on it. Make me a pro-lifer beat. Make me a Bernie bro beat. Make me a post-9/11, pre-death of Whitney Houston-style beat. Make me a beat that Whitney Houston would get on right now, from the grave.”
The duo previously spoke to Genius about the track:
“This song is bigger than all of the serious shit that I’m working on,” Kenny deadpanned. “It’s TikTok’s fault, it’s Zack’s fault… It’s ruining my career slowly.”
The beatmaker opened the second season of The Cave with guest Danny Brown. He’s previously featured Denzel Curry, Rico Nasty, and Vince Staples.
Watch 6LACK’s episode above, and read all the lyrics to his freestyle on Genius now.
