Star power can look like a lot of things. Sold-out shows. Millions of monthly Spotify listeners. Magazine covers. Over the last several months, Florida spitter BossMan Dlow has come to collect all of those ascendant Rap Star Infinity Stones as he’s become one of the most exciting new acts in the industry. He earned his most recent one when he was publicly announced as a 2024 XXL Freshman earlier this week. While folks love to play the classic Old Head game of “I don’t know who any of these people are” whenever these Freshman covers are unveiled you should have definitely known about Dlow if you’ve been paying attention to hip-hop this year. At his June 18 show at Gramercy Theatre, we saw him perform for the first time, and let’s just say he more than proved his status as an emerging titan.

BossMan Dlow is one of the most exciting rappers on this year’s XXL Freshman list.

Photo by Julien Mitchell.

Taking the stage for a little over an hour, BossMan performed tracks like “Finesse” and “Mr. Pot Scraper” for a sold-out audience. At the very end of the show, he performed his breakout single, “Get In With Me,” a cappella before spitting it over the beat. The crowd rapped every word. He might be a XXL Freshman, but he held down the stage like an upperclassman.

See scenes from the show below: