[2] In his late teens, he began freestyling with friends in a local cypher series and released music as part of the group Pilot Nation later that year.

A boost to his drive to turn rapping into a full-time career came in 2013 with the early success of friend and fellow Boston rapper Michael Christmas.

Wide notice also came with the release on the internet of a video of Drake playing Stizz's single "Shoutout" at the star's birthday party.

It includes features from Offset (of Migos), G-Eazy, Big Leano, and Buddy, and production credits from Tee-WaTT, Tedd Boyd, Vinylz, FrancisGotHeat, Smash David, WondaGurl, and Dave Sava6e.

12 on Billboard's Next Big Sound chart, while viewers on YouTube had watched Stizz's videos (combined) over 8 million times.