Ahmir the King is growing up right before our eyes. The 19-year-old, whom CL named Best Up and Coming Rapper in last year's Best of Charlotte issue, is ready to release some new, more developed material, and he brought some along to play on our podcast.

He also brought along the squad: Fresco and Orpheus, both local rappers who have come up with Ahmir since high school — and earlier than that in the case of Fresco, his older brother. We talk about how Ahmir and the trio as a whole have used music as a coping mechanism for hard times and why when it comes to the fam, friendship comes before making music.

Make sure to keep up with the rest of our team at Queen City Podcast Network, and catch up with all our past episodes on iTunes or Stitcher. You can also just type "Local Vibes" into your Spotify search bar and you're good to go.

• [From left] Ryan Pitkin, Fresco, Mark Kemp, Ahmir the King and Orpheus.