Felix! is looking back on a pivotal moment in his trajectory, reflecting on the night he opened for Cousin Stizz in 2019, a performance that pushed him to leave his day job and pursue music with full commitment.
The Brockton artist revisited the memory on social media, writing that “after niggas opened up for stizz 2019 i had a shift at barneys the next day. i no call no showed n never looked back.”
Felix! performed as part of the Van Buren collective during Red Bull’s Beantown Uprising event on September 27th, 2019, at Boston’s Artists for Humanity Epicenter. The showcase highlighted emerging voices in the city’s hip-hop scene, with Van Buren delivering a set that helped introduce the group to a wider local audience.
The performance has since stood out as a career inflection point for the rapper. The next day, Felix! chose not to return to his job, marking the moment he shifted his focus solely to music. That decision aligned with a period of rising visibility. Felix! later earned New Artist of the Year at the 2019 Boston Music Awards, solidifying the momentum that began with opening for Stizz.
By revisiting the experience, Felix! underscores how one performance contributed to a long-term career transition. The reflection also highlights the role of Boston’s live scene in shaping the early paths of artists who continue to build from those formative stages.
