As the child of Ghanaian actor-satirist Kwaku Sintim-Misa, Blackway vividly remembers the day he chose to pick up a microphone instead of a script. That moment came about 16 years ago, back when Blackway was just a middle school student. His brother’s friend—a high schooler who he’d impressed with a freestyle one week prior—asked him to make a rap that would encourage students to vote him into a position in student government. The dilemma was that Blackway had rehearsal for the leading role in his own school play at the same time. Naturally, Blackway snuck over to the high school and delivered an impressive freestyle over Freeway’s “Flipside” instrumental, earning the respect of the high schoolers (and helping his friend clinch the election). While ditching his play cost Blackway his role, he knew he’d found his true calling. “That was the day I realized,” Blackway tells XXL. “Even walking back to the middle school I was like, ‘Damn I killed that shit.'” Now Blackway has over 1 Billion global streams headlined by his platinum selling single “What’s Up Danger” from the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Soundtrack.