As a teenager, Cousin Stizz enjoyed freestyling and liked to rap for fun, but didn’t think much about making it a life career until his friend Michael Christmas started to become popular in the hip hop community. With the inspiration from his friend’s success, he owed it to himself and his family and friends to take his talent seriously and started recording music. This led to the release of his first mixtape Suffolk County.

Today, Cousin Stizz has shared a new song and video for “Say Dat.” With the new track and accompanying video, Stizz pays homage to his hometown with visuals filmed throughout the city, including shots from the historic Boston Public Library. On “Say Dat,” the rapper is back to floating confidently over bouncy production with each verse as he flexes up and dishes motivation. “Kept my head down and got to work until we made it out,” he raps.

The new single marks the artist’s return from hiatus since his 2019 release Trying To Find My Next Thrill. Being the artist’s first independent release since his Suffolk County project in 2015, the new single also finds Stizz combining the lessons learned from years of working in the major label system along with the creative spontaneity that led to his artistic breakout. Earlier this year, Stizz appeared on a handful of features including the Jonah Lennox collaboration “Phases,” and “Nothin 2 Me,” with Jazz Cartier.

Born and raised in a rough part of Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood, Stizz was forced to mature quickly. At the age of 13, Stizz was faced with a harsh reality when his close friend was killed by a gunshot wound, causing Stizz to misbehave. His mother then had to give him an ultimatum; he could either attend military school or high school in the suburbs to stay out of trouble. Stizz chose the latter, which served as both a huge culture shock and turning point in his life.