Don Q Tickets

Don Q in Concert

"It's all about what you chasing at the end of the day: You chasing a legacy or you chasing the charts?" says Don Q in his signature low, husky tone on 2017's breakthrough Corner Stories mixtape. "I'm chasing a legacy." 

Sure enough, this Bronx-hailing MC earned his reputation by skipping over trends — mumbly verses, R&B melodies, stylistic flash — in favor of good, hard, heavy raps inspired by the genre's most timeless theme: starting from the bottom and hustling on up. Though he's known to spit over bare-bones trap beats that verge on the eerie, Don Q's rise is inseparable from that of his friend and labelmate A Boogie wit da Hoodie, a funk-loving trap star whose smooth singing makes him a disciple of Future, while Don seems cut from the mold that gave us Biggie. Together they present an unstoppable yin and yang of modern rap, as seen at their rowdy, chant-along shows, which wouldn't be complete without crowd-surfing.

Don Q came up in Highbridge, the same rough-and-tumble neighborhood that gave us Cardi B and Big Pun. He listened to Jay-Z, as well as similarly no-nonsense New Yorkers like Jadakiss, Fabolous, and Styles P — all three of whom would eventually end up on Don's own mixtapes. The infamous Smack DVD battle-rap series also was a major influence, and since Don couldn't afford studio time as a teen, he cut his teeth trading bars in the streets and at parks. 

In 2016, his friends started Highbridge the Label and immediately signed both Don and A Boogie. In March, they dropped the appropriately named The Takeover label sampler, and by June had forged a partnership with Atlantic Records. Both Highbridge heroes featured in the BET Hip Hop Awards annual cypher that year — a huge honor for any up-and-comer.

Since then, Don's built his career with a steady stream of collaborations (songs by Meek Mill, Cam'ron, and Dave East) and mixtapes. In 2018 alone he dropped Don Talk, featuring Pusha T and Tee Grizzley, and Don Season 2 with cameos from 50 Cent, G Herbo, and more. His career is a lot like his vocal: a bullish, nose-to-grindstone flow that's impossible to ignore.