Get To Know Rising Canadian Rapper 404Vincent

404Vincent is an artist on the rise.

While the sentiment can be overused these days, in 404vincent's case, it speaks perfectly to where the Canadian rapper is on his journey; he hasn't "made it" in the household name sense, but he has what it takes to do just that.

In an interview with iHeartRadio, the 21-year-old, who said he was raised to the sounds of Adele, Prince, and 50 Cent, spoke about still perfecting his craft. So much so, he called himself a visitor rather than a student of hip hop, explaining that he hasn't yet earned his stripes but is putting in the work to do so.

His honesty about his journey speaks to who 404Vincent is as an artist. As he explained, he became who he is today out of tragedy. The loss of his best friend Ryan nearly two years ago "changed everything for him." It was after Ryan's death that, in the "Talk a Lot" rapper's own words, he "stopped making corny a** sh*t that wasn't full of substance" and began making music he knew his best friend would be proud of.

Today his music is very much so authentic to who 404Vincent is now — a 21-year-old rapper who is still figuring things out but has locked in on who he wants to be as an artist as well as the goals he's working to achieve. It's his authenticity that he says separates him from his peers and what will undoubtedly ensure his longevity in the industry.

Keep scrolling to learn more about the rapper.

Let's talk about your name 404Vincent. Where does it come from?

Vincent is my middle name, and then 404 is actually an angel number. And that goes back to Ryan. A couple of summers ago, I was rebranding, 'cause I used to just go by my actual name, my initials: MVGV. But, I was always just posting dog sh*t music, I wasn't taking it seriously. It was a joke, at that point. And then I really was wanting to take it seriously, and I saw 404 everywhere.

Every time I looked on my phone, I just saw that sh*t everywhere. And I take angel numbers very seriously. I just wanted something more sentimental to me. [404Vincent] just means something to me.

You've spoken about being influenced by a number of rappers, including fellow Canadians Drake and Tory Lanez. Do you consider yourself a student of hip-hop?

I feel like a visitor.

Why do you feel like a visitor?

I feel like mostly I'm a visitor because well, first of all, I'm not sh*t yet, I'm 404vincent, but realistically I'm nobody, and that's why I'm a visitor. I'm just getting my feet wet. I'm just getting started. I have a lot of respect to earn and I have a lot of stuff I gotta do for myself to feel like I'm more than just visiting or a guest in this, which is fine with me. I like that.

I was first introduced to your music with your "Dopamine" freestyle. When it comes to freestyling, how comfortable are you in that realm? Would you ever do a cypher?
Yeah, absolutely. That's how I make every song. I haven't, honestly, written a single song. I just freestyle — punch record stuff. I could probably freestyle for hours on end, half of it won't make sense, but I could still do it.

That's how half of my songs even get made. I'll just be like playing the beat on loop, like, I'll have like an eight-bar loop on the hook or the verse and I'll just be freestyling stuff until something sticks. And then I just punch record freestyle from there.

Where do you draw inspiration from?

Just life. I have a lot of sh*t going on all the time. Whether it's family stuff or just business or girls or stress, it's just easy to get inspiration from life.

Before we talk about your new music, I wanna talk about "I'm So Stressed," which you dropped at the top of the year. On the track, you speak candidly about drug use. Are you cognizant about the way discuss drugs in your music? And on this track specifically, would you say your speaking of your truth glamorizes drugs?

At first, it was kind of like, "F**k it, whatever, cancel me", type sh*t. But, I made that song years ago. I had that entire hook. It was pretty direct of what I was doing; what I was going through at the time. But as time went on, I got help and [realized] I don't wanna be making music that really glorifies sh*t like that anymore. I don't even make the same type of stuff anymore. I had to humble myself a lot the past few years.

I really don't like making songs like that, I don't wanna talk about drugs or my issues like that. It just influences kids who look up to you and it's not what I wanna do at all.

Now let's talk about your latest single"Girlfriend." What inspired that track and how did it come to be?

Honestly, I was just being a d*ck. I had the idea in my head for a few years now. It just finally came to life this year. I heard the beat —I found it on YouTube — and then within, like, 30 minutes, I had the entire hook done, half the verse, and I just sent it off to the team and they loved it.

So, what does the rest of the year look like for you? What's dropping next?

I was planning on dropping an EP really soon, but I decided it just makes more sense to drop them all as singles and then lead up into another EP. I'm really excited for the fans to hear this new music. I have over 300 songs on my private SoundCloud. We got songs.

What are your career goals?

My goal for the next few years is to be the best version of myself that I have been. Music is my therapist and that's just what I like to do. I want to have longevity in it. I know it's gonna be there if I just remain myself. So, I'm not worried about that at all. I have a really good fan base. I have really, really great team behind me. I've got everything I need right now, so as long as I can maintain this, anything's possible.

I could see myself on Billboard within the next year. I could already see all that. So now I'm just trying to focus on being healthy.

This conversation has been edited for clarity and length.