How IBT Celly Went From A Library Studio To Pittsburgh’s Stages At 18

For the photo shoot behind his album, IBT Cellybando went and grabbed toys. Toy cars, blocks, the kind of stuff he never really played with when he was little. Laying them out for the shoot, he said, made him realize the idea meant something. He’d put it together with real structure.

The album is called Above My Age, and the title fits. IBT Celly is 18, born in Braddock and raised on Pittsburgh’s North Side, and he sat down with First Impressions TV for Episode 7 to talk about growing up making songs at the library, meeting J. Cole, why his videos beat his audios, and the 12-song project he’s finishing now.

From a Federal Street Library Studio to BandLab

He’s been doing music for about six years. It started at a library on Federal Street that had a studio inside when he was 11 or 12. It was something to do besides sitting around reading books. The setup was simple: a desktop computer, a mic in front of you, upload the beat, press record. Nobody was there running the session. The kids recorded themselves.

When he got home, he kept going on BandLab, recording on his own.

First Impressions TV dug up the oldest track it could find with him on it, a feature on Dana3x’s song “Hardo” from about six years ago, when he was around 12. He laughed that nobody really heard that one. That was him finding his flow, he said.

He started taking music seriously around 15 and 16. At 15 he was making songs every day, working out his sound. By 16, he was going at it like an artist.

His childhood on the North Side, he said, was cool. He had struggles, but he had everything he needed. If he asked for something, he’d usually get it, and if he didn’t, that was fine too. Outside of music, he likes playing the game, going out, eating, trying new things, and being around good people with good energy.

Ah Ha, Summer Anthem and the Cute Like Aspen Remix

His YouTube catalog goes back about two years, but UnitedMasters shows releases going back to 2020. He explained the gap. When he first dropped “101 Type of Pretty,” he took down his older songs to get a fresh start. He said he still has music from all those quiet stretches that he never put out.

His early run of videos included “Hey,” “Rough Days,” “Rockstar Moment” and the “Backlit Remix,” many of them shot with Seth Welch, who he called a good cameraman who’s on point.

His most streamed song, “Ah Ha,” came out of an idea he’d been holding onto: he wanted to wear a mask. Someone helped him find the right one, the timing landed right around Halloween, and his first live performance came right after. He performed the song there.

“Summer Anthem,” another of his most streamed, started with him turning on the beat and writing. For whatever reason, he wanted a song where he was just naming people. He started writing names down, the words came to him, and he made it a song.

His remix of Topoppgen’s “Cute Like Aspen,” which picked up a lot of traction recently, came down to the beat. When he heard Topoppgen’s version, the beat kept getting to him. Once he hears a beat he really likes, he said, that’s it.

Different Eras, Different Flavors

He describes his catalog in chapters. The run with “Good Life Mic Drop,” “Love No Thotties” and the “Opera” video was about giving the city and the world a different flavor of him. Now that it’s out, he’s on to the next. The era after that, with “Same Side,” “Pour Up” featuring Bdok, “Matrix” and “101 Type of Pretty 2.0,” he called another book of himself.

One thing the numbers keep telling him is that videos win. Sometimes he just wants to drop audios, he said, but every time he compares the two, the videos do way better. “Hey” is the proof. He dropped it as an audio first, then put it back out with a video, and the second release did far more than the first. People want to see it like a movie, he said.

Meeting J. Cole, And Wukaduk

Meeting J. Cole was a blessing, he said, and he couldn’t believe it. He’d done his research on Cole before the meeting, and afterward the music hit harder. He started listening more. He even got to say something to him and tap his hand.

He also connected recently with Wukaduk, the Chicago rapper and OTF co-founder. He credits that to being around the right people, staying consistent, networking, and showing people what he’s capable of. One connection led to the next. He said he’s grateful, but he knows he has to put in a lot more work.

His approach to networking starts before he says a word. He reads a person’s energy first. Once he feels comfortable, he walks up and introduces himself: his name, what he does, who he’s around and what rooms he’s in. Some people freeze in those moments by overthinking, he said.

Bodybag Breezo comes up a lot in his catalog, including their remix of Chief Keef’s “Save That Shit.” He called Breezo a genuinely cool person outside of music. They’ve hung out on their own time without recording anything. They also have a stack of unreleased songs together, and Breezo is one of the artists he plans to put on the album’s deluxe.

Melonated Festival and Rapping Things Volume 23

His recent shows have been getting bigger. At the Melonated Festival, he said, he knew it would be packed, but he didn’t expect that many people on stage with him. The booking came out of nowhere. Someone reached out on Facebook needing an artist, and separately Malcolm hit him up on Instagram with an offer to perform. He took it, and he gave Malcolm a shout out.

He also performed at Rapping Things Volume 23 alongside Young Ju and Wexter. He met a lot of underground artists that day he hadn’t heard of and ended up liking their music.

Acting Above His Age

Most people have no idea how young he is. He said people guess he’s 20, 21, even 25. He’s been getting into clubs he’s too young for, and his explanation is short. “I act above my age.”

That’s part of why prom and graduation hit the way they did. He’d been away from posting, and plenty of supporters didn’t know he was still in school. When that time came, he decided to show them what was really going on, and the posts took off.

He also talked about Damar Hamlin, who he said means a lot to him and has helped him a long way on his journey through certain times. He called him someone he looks up to and a real big inspiration in his life.

The album itself is 12 songs, all singles, mostly just him, all melodic. People tell him his melodies give them a different vibe, and he likes that. The deluxe is where the features go, and he’s aiming for four or five.

Asked if there was anything he wanted the world to hear before the interview wrapped, he kept it to one idea. “Don’t get caught up in one moment in your life, like, weather the storm.” One thing going wrong doesn’t mean the world is ending, he said. You’ve got the rest of your life ahead of you.