Calboy recently sat down with Billboard as part of the “How It Went Down” video series, explaining how he created his song “Envy Me” and how it felt to see his song become a viral dance challenge.
The rapper tells Billboard that he was at Blackwood Studios going through some beats and he got to the last one of the night. While Calboy was reluctant at first to freestyle over it since he didn’t know what to say, one of his friends encouraged him to give it a try since it was a “raw beat,” and fortunately he did, because that ended up becoming “Envy Me.”
Speaking of his method, Calboy explains that he never writes any of his tracks and he freestyles everything, adding, “It’s really just the vibe. I just go in there and just feel the beat, and go from there…I really just express what I’m feeling – everyday struggles, situations that me and my peers go through.”
Calboy also opens up about how it felt to see the success of the track, which not only became a Hot 100 hit but also evolved into a viral dance craze.
“It’s so many different ways you can take the song in,” he says. “They created a dance challenge to the song, so, obviously somebody else is taking it and getting into their upbeat mode. It’s really a personal preference.”
He adds that he likes seeing the creativity in the dances and remixes people are making of the track, while noting that he also enjoys it because he started it.
“I created the whole wave,” Calboy says. “I went from zero to 100, not having much to having a lot, not doing many shows to doing plenty, selling out venues. It’s a blessing. It changed my life in a major way.”
You can check out the full video above, and listen to “Envy Me” below.