No matter how high his star rises, MO3 has never lost his connection to the streets. Growing up in the projects of North Dallas, the rapper, born Melvin Noble in 1993, was on a path toward a lifetime of incarceration when his father convinced him, after a stint in jail, to rap about his previous criminal activity rather than re-engaging in it. As such, Noble morphed into MO3, Dallas’ greatest hope since Big Tuck released his seminal 2004 D-Town hit, “Southside Da Realist." Despite his solid Texas roots, MO3 sees himself as his generation’s Boosie Badazz, the Baton Rouge baron of Southern spitters. MO3 first broke through off the strength of 2014’s Shottaz, a mixtape that blends Houston’s signature chopped-and-screwed sludge with melodic vocals and the minimal, synth-heavy beats of Dallas Boogie. The success of Shottaz led to a meeting with Badazz, who offered MO3 a label deal and guidance from one of rap's savviest MCs. That tutelage manifests itself most strongly on “Everybody,” the hit single (whose remix features Badazz) off 2018’s Shottaz 3.0, in which MO3 opens up about his previous legal struggles: “The jury don’t want me to make it/The DA I know that he working.” In 2020, the two rappers linked up again, this time for a full-fledged album, Badazz MO3. For MO3, it was a moment to celebrate, but he couldn’t help but lament the loss of incarcerated friends on the album track "My People in Prison": “I just got on my knees for the ones that I miss,” he raps, before emphatically adding, “Tell ‘em we need ‘em!” Even as MO3 surpasses his father’s hopes for him, his past lingers and stalks.