DB.Boutabag, 25, a rapper from Sacramento, Calif., poses for a portrait in Berkeley, Calif., on Aug. 5, 2025. (Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)

When it comes to roasting rivals, DB.Boutabag literally wears his reputation as a badge of honor.

Just look at his jewelry. When we meet for our interview at a Berkeley rooftop bar on a recent afternoon, the Sacramento rapper rolls up wearing a half dozen chains with heavy, gem-encrusted pendants. One features a 3D, cartoon version of himself perched on a toilet, an homage to one of his best-known bars: “I’m not rappin’ / I just shit talk.”

Fans have yelled that line back to DB at sold-out clubs from his hometown of Sacramento to Reno to Phoenix. Now the 25-year-old lyricist wants to prove that he can do more than casually eviscerate opponents over

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