Before they became some of the greatest rappers in hip-hop, J. Cole was a bill collector, Nicki Minaj worked at Red Lobster and Kendrick Lamar briefly had a stint as a bank security guard. All jobs that are far from the glitz and glamour that comes with big checks from lucrative record deals. Now fast-forward to the newer class of rappers, who recall their gigs before rapping became a full-time job.

Ahead of becoming an XXL FreshmanComethazine got his start as a mechanic and then eventually switched into the food industry, where he worked as a pizza maker in a mall. "Before I started rapping, I was a fucking mechanic, and I used to flip pizzas, man," he shares. "And deliver them bitches, so what."

Chicago native Dreezy tells XXL that her first few jobs were in food service before her music began to take off. "My first job was at Subway, inside a Walmart, making sandwiches," she reveals. "I was a cashier or whatever. Then I elevated to the Pancake House, I was a host." She eventually quit her hosting job after fans began to recognize her during her shifts.

Making Footlongs are no strange task for Lil Keed, who also worked at a Subway before singles like "Blicky Blicky" gained mass popularity. "I did Subway before, like a week or two weeks and I quit ’cause I would never come to work," he admits. Keed was also a member of the McDonald's staff when he was a teenager in Atlanta. "I used to work at McDonald's when I was 16," Keed says.

Rico Nasty reveals the world's most rewarding job—motherhood—as well as her former places of employment before she became the rage machine her fans know and love. "Before I was a rapper, I used to be a cashier at Popeyes," she expresses. "  worked at the hospital, so the hospital was very cool. It was very depressing, it was so dark in there and it smells like germs."

Georgia-bred, Queens-reppin' rapoer LouGotCash once worked at a kid's amusement park called Johnny G's Fun Center. Lou recalls memories of this job fondly, remembering the times he would take his girlfriend to laser tag and "do the nasty on my lunch break."

Coi Leray, Kash Doll, Flipp Dinero and OMB Peezy also detail their past jobs for XXL. Watch some of your favorite artists open up about the jobs they had before rapping below.

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