When it comes to roasting rivals, DB.Boutabag literally wears his reputation as a badge of honor.

Just look at his jewelry. When we meet for our interview at a Berkeley rooftop bar on a recent afternoon, the Sacramento rapper rolls up wearing a half dozen chains with heavy, gem-encrusted pendants. One features a 3D, cartoon version of himself perched on a toilet, an homage to one of his best-known bars: “I’m not rappin’ / I just shit talk.”

Fans have yelled that line back to DB at sold-out clubs from his hometown of Sacramento to Reno to Phoenix. Now the 25-year-old lyricist wants to prove that he can do more than casually eviscerate opponents over thunderclaps of bass.

The cover of DB’s latest album, The Real Boutabag II, independently released in July, features him holding his infant

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