Protect on the Bills, Ballhog, and Gossip Girl

New York rapper Protect has an uncanny ear for beats, but don't let his easygoing raps fool you. Although he's armed with instrumentals by Cade, ok, Rio Levya, CXO, and prettifun, Protect isn't content to coast off his producers' hard work, tracing out earworm melodies and indelible cadences on tracks like "Ballhog Summer" and "bbysit." I'm especially partial to the hook of "Ion Wanna Talk (Instagram Live)," where Protect realizes he's too high to be on social media, and the soaring "IfUGotMe" from last year's 500 Days of Summer (he's a bit of a cinephile).

The FADER caught up with Protect at Rolling Loud 2026 in Orlando to chat about the performance of the Buffalo Bills, improving as a rapper, and his best advice for rappers just starting out.

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The FADER: What's the best thing to do in Buffalo?

PROTECT: *pfft* Shit… watch the Bills and eat.

How’d you feel about the Bills this past season?

We got a little shit to work on bro, feel me? But bro, we close bruh. We getting close. People love to hate on Josh Allen, but they know he’s close to the gold man. So give him a shot man. Give him a chance.

Can you tell us about the first song you ever made?

Yeah, it's called “IGNORANT FREESTYLE.” I was 14, ignorant.

When you think about “IGNORANT FREESTYLE” compared to the music that you've been putting out recently, like “Pwned” or “Whitney,” where do you feel like you've grown the most as a rapper?

Man, I feel like I'm just saying — I rap from the heart. So whatever I'm doing in my life, I rap about it. So it's fun to see what I'm rapping about because it's always a little sneak peek into my life.

You're not a traditionally lyrical rapper, but some of the bars you've been getting off lately, like the Collin Sexton line on “Pwned,” have been cleaner. As a rapper, what makes you feel like this bar or this verse is good enough?

I'm not gonna lie bro, I just have fun. Like, I just think about what rappers that I listen to say and I'm like, damn that shit hard – and I say my own version of it. I just trust myself and the fans lowkey fuck with it so I keep going with it.

You've got a couple songs titled after video games like “Fall Guys” and “Sly Cooper.” What are your favorite video games right now?

Resident Evil 9, Resident Evil 9, Resident Evil 9.

If you had to pick a character from Resident Evil 9 that’s most like Protect, who would it be?

I would say Leon. We don't really act alike, but he's just cool as fuck. He's a cool ass character.

One of your songs that I really love is “Gossip Girl.” Why did you name a song after Gossip Girl?

Bro, it's funny. A girl in eighth grade made me watch that show. And then I watched it, and that shit is fire, bro, I love Gossip Girl. Blair Waldorf is one of my favorite characters, and I heard that clip – I'm like damn, that's some real shit. Not everybody can be you, so you just got to live your life, you know what saying? Just being you. So shout out Gossip Girl, bro, shout out Blair.

How did you and [Twitch streamer] BruceDropEmOff meet?

We always knew each other, bro. We just always knew each other and then our relationship just grew over time to where it's at now.

Could you explain Ballhog?

Aye man, don't shoot the ball, man. If you shoot, you score. You win. [Editor's note: Ballhog is the name of Bruce's rap crew.]

What's the song of the summer?

Fuck, bro. Song of the summer, bruh… Snow Strippers, “I'm a Freak.”

What’s the best thing that you’ve bought for less than $100?

Less than $100? Shit, AT2020 mic. If you want to rap, AT2020, it'll get you far.

For somebody out there trying to start rapping and get right for the first time, what's Protect’s advice?

Just stay true to you bro, you feel me? At the end of the day, it’s just you, the man in the mirror. So just stay true to yourself and then whatever you get in life, you're supposed to get, because you was being you.

What's coming for Protect the rest of this year?

Hey man, I'm rapping every day. So just know something. Something, bro.