D.Y.K – Did You Know?

TAYLOR SWIFT

Taylor Swift’s mother named her ‘Taylor’ because she didn’t want people knowing her gender just by reading her name
Taylor Swift’s grandmother was a professional opera singer, which inspired her from a young age
At age 11, Taylor Swift performed at a Philadelphia 76ers game and sang “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
At age 12, a computer repairman taught Taylor Swift how to play three chords on the guitar, which inspired her to learn to play the guitar and start songwriting
Taylor Swift can play the guitar, piano, ukulele, electric guitar, and banjo

ICE SPICE

American rapper, Isis Gaston, is known professionally as Ice Spice
Ice Spice grew up in The Bronx, New York City
Ice Spice rose to prominence in late 2022 with her song “Munch (Feelin’ U)”
Ice Spice began her career in 2021 after meeting record producer RIOTUSA while attending SUNY Purchase
Ice Spice’s musical genre consists of Drill music, Trap music & Hip/Hop/Rap

BRENT FAIYAZ

Brent Faiyaz started making music when he was 12 years old
Brent Faiyaz rose to prominence after he was featured on the GoldLink single “Crew” alongside Shy Glizzy in 2016, which was certified 6× Platinum by the RIAA
Brent Faiyaz was born in Maryland but calls L.A. home
Brent Faiyaz says he takes inspiration from movies
Brent named his band (and solo album) after a tattoo. The word “sonder” means “the realization that each random passerby lives a life as vivid and complex as your own”

LIBIANCA

Libianca Kenzonkinboum Fonji is known mononymously as Libianca
Libianca is a Cameroonian-American Afrobeats singer
Libianca competed in the twenty-first season of American TV show The Voice in 2021
Libianca is best known for her 2022 breakout single “People”, which was inspired by her cyclothymia
Libianca has 12.2M monthly listeners on Spotify

KENDRICK LAMAR

Kendrick Lamar and Kanye West have more than 40 songs together, even though they have not all been released yet
Kendrick Lamar is from Compton, Los Angeles
The original title of Kendrick Lamar’s ‘To Pimp A Butterfly’ was ‘Tu Pimp A Caterpillar’
Kendrick Lamar was on the set of the video shoot for Tupac and Dr Dre’s ‘California Love’
Kendrick Lamar won three Grammy’s at the 2023 Grammy Awards

POPCAAN

Andrae Hugh Sutherland is famously known as Popcaan
In 2008, Popcaan joined Vybz Kartel’s Gaza Music Empire
In 2010, Popcaan released his breakthrough international hit “Clarks” with Kartel, an ode to the popular shoe brand
Popcaan is the only dancehall artist to win the MOBO Awards for two years in a row
Popcaan’s affinity for music manifested from an early age

AYRA STARR

Ayra Starr’s real name is Oyinkansola Sarah Aderibigbe
Ayra Starr chose the Arabic name, “Ayra,” meaning honorable and respected
During her college years, Ayra Starr was bullied for her appearance and decided to counter the feelings she experienced from being taunted by turning to music
Ayra Starr began a fashion career at the age of 16 with Quove Model Management before deciding to pursue her musical career properly
Ayra Starr is signed to Mavin Records

CHLOE

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’

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

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

COI LERAY

Coi Leray began posting music to SoundCloud and released her single “Huddy”, along with her debut mixtape Everythingcoz in 2018
Coi Leray is the daughter of rapper and media mogul Benzino, and has five brothers
Coi Leray started making music at age 14
At age 16, Coi Leray dropped out of high school and started working in sales
Coi Leray appeared in the movie ‘Secrets of the Magic City’

MAROON 5

Maroon 5’s Adam Levine Is Ambidextrous
In high school, the band was originally called Kara’s Flowers before they became Maroon 5
Maroon 5 features members Adam Levine, Jesse Carmichael, Mickey Madden, James Valentine and PJ Morton
Maroon 5 writes their own music
Maroon 5 have been nominated for 12 Grammy Awards

PINKPANTHRESS

PinkPantheress is an English singer, songwriter, and record producer.
PinkPantheress’ songs include samples of music from the 1990s and 2000s
PinkPantheress is signed to Parlophone and Elektra Records
PinkPantheress’s song “Pain” went viral on TikTok in January 2021 and peaked at number 35 on the UK Singles Chart in August 2021
PinkPantheress’s stage name comes from one of her favourite movie, ‘The Pink Panther’

TYLA

Tyla is a South African singer and songwriter from Johannesburg
Many people call Tyla the ‘Pop Princess of South Africa’
Tyla has mentioned that she would like to work with artists such as Doja Cat and Burna Boy
Tyla has coined the term ‘popiano’ to define her blend of amapiano and pop music
Tyla’s song ‘Overdue’ was released as part of the soundtrack for the popular Netflix original drama series, Blood & Water

ARIANA GRANDE

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 started making music in 2013
Bleu began rapping at the age of 11
Bleu says that he is a fan of the Amapiano