Rob $tone emerged at a crossroads two years ago. The San Diego native had been trying to figure out his life goals after quitting college and, although he had aspirations of one day doing music, it wasn’t much of a priority. However, on one particular night he discovered that answer after being dealt with two options: get arrested or follow the music. “Me and my homies were trying to break into this house, but then we got stopped [by police] but then we got let go,” he revealed to REVOLT. “They didn’t have enough to arrest us that day.”

Still in a bit of tremble after the close call, $tone soon realized the path that had been calling him all along. “I hit my homie Spooks’ pad and J. Davis and they put on the beat and then we booked two hours out of a studio way out by Mexico at this warehouse and then we made this song, “Chill Bill.” With 13.6 million views on YouTube, 24.8 million plays on SoundCloud (including almost half a million likes), over 10 million streams on Spotify, it wasn’t long before a deal came crawling along. “I signed my deal with RCA Records on 4/20,” he recalled with a laugh.

Clearly, $tone made the right decision.

With a mixtape set to drop soon, according to the rap upstart “very soon,” $tone has a lot in store for the coming months. He also has an interesting story to tell, especially since he’s coming out of a city that often gets ignored in the rap region conversations (“It feels good to be putting Diego on the map”). Just recently, the “Chill Bill” rapper was announced to join A$AP Ferg’s upcoming “Turnt & Burnt” tour. As he preps the upcoming trek and an upcoming mixtape, $tone sat with REVOLT to break down his journey and the path ahead.

Interview | Rob $tone talks “Chill Bill” and putting San Diego on the map