Raleigh, North Carolina rapper Toosii has seen the heights of success since his entrance to the music world a few years ago. His 2020 album Poetic Pain debuted within the Billboard 200’s top 20, his single “Love Cycle” recently went gold, and he received glowing co-signs from his South Coast Music label DaBaby and others as he becomes a prominent hitmaker in his own right. On his new song, “What It Cost,” however, he spends some time contemplating the downsides of his rise to stardom and the work it takes to remain at the top.
“I came from rags to riches, I ain’t tryna go back to the rags,” he reflects on the chorus. “I never knew tears was what it cost.” The video opens with a side profile shot of Toosii in the studio, explaining his worries to an unseen listener before launching into a split-screen narrative that contrasts his prior conditions with his current ones, making “rags to riches” about as literal as it gets.
“What It Cost” is the second single from Toosii’s upcoming mixtape Thank You For Believing, due May 7 via South Coast Music and Capitol Records, following “Back Together” released earlier this month. You can pre-order the tape here.
Watch Toosii’s “What It Cost” video above.