Before André Benjamin and Antwan Patton were André 3000 and Big Boi, they were just a couple of kids from Georgia. And that’s the same path that Atlanta emcee Tez McClain is trying to blaze.

“I like to have an emotional connection with the listeners,” says McClain. “I want to talk to them like I know what they are going through. I believe that everybody goes through the same things, at least in an emotional aspect. Everybody’s felt shame, love, happiness, guilt, doubt, lust, even depression.”

Though he caught the rap bug as a teenager watching OutKast perform live, it wasn’t until his sophomore year at Clark Atlanta University that Tez broke off from his former group and started catching the city’s attention as a solo artist. Since then, he’s been gaining a steady following ever since.

With that, check out his latest video for the track “Cruel Intentions” from his Don Cannon-hosted mixtape, Wishful Thinking Vol. II.