DYK – DID YOU KNOW? 15 FEB
KENDRICK LAMAR
- Kendrick Lamar went by K-Dot from 2003 to 2009, but reverted back to his birth name for the sake of artistic intimacy
- Kendrick Lamar is known for his progressive musical styles and socially conscious songwriting
- Kendrick Lamar cites Tupac Shakur as his greatest musical influence
- Notorious B.I.G, Jay-Z, Nas and Eminem are among Kendrick Lamar’s top five favorite rappers.
- In high school, Kendrick Lamar was a straight-A student
POPCAAN
- Popcaan is the only dancehall artist to win the MOBO Awards for two years in a row
- Popcaan is known as the “Unruly Boss” because of all the crazy music he has made over the years
- Popcaan says that if he didn’t become a dancehall artist, he would have joined the military
- Popcaan’s close friend gave him his nickname
- Popcaan has a daughter named ‘Rihanna’
AYRA STARR
- Ayra Starr’s real name is Oyinkansola Sarah Aderibigbe
- Ayra Starr chose the Arabic name, “Ayra,” meaning honorable and respected
- At the age of 10, Ayra Starr sang in a high school choir and began writing songs with her brother
- Ayra Starr attended Les Cours Sonou University and received a BA degree in international relations and political science
- Ayra Starr sings in English, Pidgin English and Yoruba
CHLOE
- Chloe, together with her sister Halle Bailey won the Radio Disney’s The Next Big Thing in December 2012
- Chloe is signed to Beyonce’s management company, ‘Parkwood Entertainment’
- When Chloe was 4 years old, she played little Beyoncé on the set of The Fighting Temptations
- Chloe’s first paying job was for an ad for The Gap when she was 4 years old
- Beyonce is Chloe’s mentor
LIL UZI VERT
- Symere Bysil Woods is known professionally as Lil Uzi Vert
- Lil Uzi Vert is ‘obsessed’ with Marilyn Manson and cites him as their greatest inspiration
- Lil Uzi Vert developed an interest in rapping after listening to Marilyn Manson and Kanye 808.
- Lil Uzi Vert has a tongue tattoo of a cross
- Lil Uzi’s first studio album was released in August 2017
BLEU
- Jeremy Biddle is known professionally as Yung Bleu and Bleu Vandross
- Bleu is best known for his 2020 single “You’re Mines Still”, which peaked at number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100 after it was remixed by Drake
- Bleu is a 2x Grammy nominated artist
- Bleu has 5.7M monthly listeners on Spotify
- Bleu was born in Mobile, Alabama, U.S
CHLOE & LATTO
- Latto’s real name is Alyssa Michelle Stephens
- Latto first appeared on the reality television series, The Rap Game in 2016
- Latto started rapping at the age of 10
- Chloe is best known for being one half of the musical duo Chloe x Halle with her sister Halle Bailey
- Chloe starred in the hit show ‘Grownish’
ARIANA GRANDE
- Ariana Grande first rose to fame as a young actress on the Nickelodeon show ‘Victorious’.
- Ariana Grande was born in Boca Raton, Florida
- All of Ariana Grande’s albums have gone platinum
- Ariana Grande’s name is inspired by Princess Oriana from Felix the Cat
- Ariana Grande’s fandom are known as Arianators
PINK
- Pink’s real name is Alecia Beth Moore
- Before breaking into the music industry, Pink used to work at McDonald’s
- In her downtime, Pink enjoys working in her garden
- Pink is a UNICEF ambassador
- After dating for four years, Pink took matters into her own hands and promised to her now husband
L-TIDO & AKA
- Thato Madonsela is better known by his stage name L-Tido
- L Tido is a Hip Hop recording artist from Alexandra
- L-Tido was raised by a single mother
- L-Tido is best known for being one of the few independent artists in the country to reach commercial success
- L-Tido was an independent artist for 10 years before signing to a record label
TOBE NWIGWE
- Tobe Nwigwe’s full name is Tobechukwu Dubem “Tobe” Nwigwe
- Tobe Nwigwe’s name means ‘Praise God’
- Tobe Nwigwe was a star linebacker at the University of North Texas.
- Tobe Nwigwe is a first-generation born in the U.S. to Nigerian parents
- Tobe Nwigwe is a Best New Artist Nominee at 2023 Grammys
BRENT FAIYAZ
- Brent Faiyaz started creating music when he was 12 years old
- Brent Faiyaz made his debut in 2014 by uploading his music which was ‘Black Child EP’ on SoundCloud
- Brent Faiyaz’s debut single called ‘Allure’ was released by Faiyaz in 2015
- Brent Faiyaz’s music style is referred to as grunge aesthetic
- Brent Faiyaz has the word “sonder” tattooed over his right eyebrow — a reference to the group he fronts with frequent producers Dpat and Atu
AKA
- AKA was a multi award winning South African artist
- AKA’s real name is Kiernan Jarryd Forbes
- AKA started making music professionally in 2011
- Besides rapping, AKA was a songwriter, music producer, and brilliant entrepreneur.
- AKA’s first hit single was Victory Lap in 2010
TAYLOR SWIFT
- Taylor Swift appeared on “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” in 2009
- Although Taylor Swift writes all of her own music, she specifically wrote her entire Speak Now album all by herself
- Taylor Swift is the first and only woman solo artist to win the Grammy for Album Of The Year three times for her solo albums
- The very first song Taylor Swift ever wrote was called “Lucky You.”
- Taylor Swift’s fandom are called ‘Swifties’
AKA
- AKA’s music career spans over 13 years
- AKA co-founded The I.V League that signed artists such as ProKid and JR
- AKA was the first South African rapper to win the Nickelodeon Kid’s Choice Award for Favorite South African Star
- AKA and his friends, Vice Versa and Greyhound, created the Entity hip-hop music group while they were still in high school
- AKA belonged to the Beam Group record label
