In Rotation: Honestav

Avrey Freeman grew up in a Pierce City, Missouri house so packed with siblings and relatives that the headcount hovered around fifteen on any given day. Poverty and addiction were just the local weather. But his stepmom caught onto something early—at four years old, he wasn't just bobbing his head to the noise; he was actively dissecting the lyrics. With older brothers playing guitars and drums in local bands, the musical foundation was laid amidst the chaos.

Hip-hop has always been the ultimate voice of the forgotten, whether you're surviving the Marcy Projects or rural Missouri. Honestav—Freeman’s moniker—channels that exact survivalist energy. He merges rap cadences with alternative rock textures. When he spits, his vocal tone carries the rasp of someone who has smoked too many cheap cigarettes outside a hospital waiting room. His 2024 breakout "I'd Rather Overdose" was a pure gut punch. The drums hit with a heavy, deliberate thud beneath acoustic guitar loops, giving his delivery a raw, unvarnished pocket to sit in. Frankly, the industry usually sanitizes this kind of rural pain to safely package it for the suburbs, but his writing stays entirely too jagged for that corporate polish. It takes serious guts to keep the edges rough when the major labels come knocking.

Right now, I've got his new album Sweet American Boy spinning heavy. He recently inked with Rebel Music and gamma, and the backing is translating into real movement. The standout joint is "Crash First" featuring mgk. The official video just hit, and the momentum is palpable. Major radio markets are catching on fast—stations from KYSR in Los Angeles to WWDC in D.C., WRFF in Philly, and KTBZ in Houston are throwing it right into the daily mix. He even built some immediate folklore around the release, missing a Toronto gig with mgk because he got jammed up in "Canadian jail."

He’s building a bridge between the backroads and the mainstream, anchored entirely by a pen that refuses to lie.

Check it out below.