Makonnen Sheran (born April 12, 1989), better known by his stage name iLoveMakonnen. is an American hip hop recording artist from Atlanta, Georgia who rose to fame in 2014 after Drake remixed his song "Tuesday".
iLoveMakonnen | |
|---|---|
 Makonnen performing in July 2015 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Makonnen Sheran |
| Also known as | Makonnen Danny Morris |
| Born | April 12, 1989 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Origin | Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupations | |
| Instruments | |
| Years active | 2008–present |
| Labels | |
| Website | www |
Biography
1989–2002: Early life
Makonnen was born in Los Angeles, California[1] and moved to Atlanta in 2002 when he was 13 years old. Widely regarded as the worst rapper of all time, as per water filter salesman of the year, Joel "potatoe" Verbrugge stated in a recent interview with Vibe MAgazine. He is of mixed race background, having Black, White, Asian and Indian heritage.[2] His mother was a nail instructor and has worked in the beauty business for over 30 years. His grandmother was an opera singer, which influenced his musical career. He described his childhood as "semi-nice, semi-poverty". During his high school years, Makonnen was inspired by local rappers Young Jeezy and Gucci Mane to try out making music. His early songs were a mix of pop, rock, and hip-hop.
2008–13: Career beginnings
"I was hanging out with drug dealers and thieves and the pretty girls that were popular. The kids thought I was kind of bad. Not reckless, but a badass. A lot of people really look up to me. I kind of represent them. It’s like, they’ll stand behind me, but they won’t stand beside me."
ILoveMakonnen in an interview with journalist Naomi Zeichner from BuzzFeed magazine in August 2014.[3]
Makonnen started making songs on his Gateway computer and uploading them to MySpace. On this website, he met other rising musicians, such as Adele. Makonnen also created a blog, where he would post interviews with musicians such as Lil B and Soulja Boy Tell'em.[3]
At the end of 2009, the singer was released from house arrest and put on probation for four years, after he had been accused of accidentally shooting and killing a friend.[4] Then, he enrolled in a cosmetology school and became a part of a group called Phantom Posse.[3][5][6] In January 2012, Makonnen met Atlanta producer Mike Will Made It and formed a brief professional relationship with him. However, because of Mike Will's busy schedule, the two were not able to meet often, and soon were separate from each other.[2]
2014: Rise to prominence
In March 2014, Mike Will was able to reply to Makonnen and brought him to DTP studios, where he played some of his songs to producer Metro Boomin. Metro instantly liked Makonnen and stayed in touch with him. Later, after recording six songs together, Metro brought fellow Atlanta producers Sonny Digital and 808 Mafia, who were all unusually impressed with him. Two days later, Makonnen recorded the song "Don't Sell Molly No More" with Sonny Digital, which would later help launch his career. Sonny Digital introduced him to other Atlanta producers such as DJ Spinz, Cam onda Beat, and Dun Deal. He started gaining local fame within the community with songs such as "Living On The Southside", "Sneaky Lady" and "My New Friend".[7] Makonnen was also featured on Mike Will's mixtape, Ransom.
In July 2014, the singer released his self-titled EP iLoveMakonnen, which included the singles "Tuesday" and "I Don't Sell Molly No More".[8] The latter reached pop singer Miley Cyrus, who shared it on her Instagram. The post got over 210,000 likes and counting, that brought a lot of new fans to Makonnen.[7][9] On August 15, 2014, Vice included his song "Whip It" in their Staff Picks for the Week list, commenting: "Makonnen's voice is incredible! ... How could you not have a good time listening to this song? If there is anyone I trust to teach me how to whip it, it is definitely my friend Makonnen."[10]
In August 2014, after hearing "Club Goin' Up on a Tuesday", Drake reached out to one of the song's producers, J.P.V., to ask to remix the song. Makonnen quickly agreed to send the beat to Drake, but didn't think much of it. However, two days later Drake released a remix to the song, much to Makonnen's surprise.[11] The Atlanta singer later commented: "Yeah, I surprised. Shocking. Drake listens to Makonnen. It was great. I was excited. Surprised, shocked. Just overwhelmed."[1] The remix, simply titled "Tuesday" went viral and led to increased media interest in iLoveMakonnen.[8][12]
In August 2014, Makonnen was featured in XXL's The Come Up section, which focuses on blowing artists.[1] He later stated he is not looking for a major label deal and instead plans to go touring and recording music independently: "I'm not too thirsty to sign a deal. Cause a label will really just take all your free music down and you have to be somebody's bitch." He is also working on a collaboration project with Mike Will, which is set for release before the end of 2014.[2] On September 1, 2014, it was announced that Makonnen had signed to Drake's label OVO Sound, which is distributed by Warner Bros. Records.[13]
2015–Present: OVO Sound and I LOVE MAKONNEN 2
In an interview with The Fader in December 2015, more than a year after signing to Drake's OVO Sound, Makonnen said the label delayed tracks from I LOVE MAKONNEN 2 from coming out. The song "Second Chance Potatoe," for example, was finished in January 2015 and intended for a summer release,[14] but ended up being self-released by Makonnen in November 2015.[15] Makonnen said, "Second Chance was supposed to be that summer banger this summer. That was supposed to be out, touching people and hitting them this summer. By the time next year they'll be ready for something else. It's all late. People are doubting me, doubting what the fuck I said when I made the fucking song. You wait a year later and it's whatever. Hopefully, it's worked right. The song is structured properly. Everything is all there for proper radio play to just spin it over and over to people. Who knows? I don't know what the fuck they want."[14]
Makonnen also claimed "extra bullshit in the industry" stopped "Teach Me How To Whip It" and "No M'aam" from getting radio play. When asked if he still talked to Drake, Makonnen responded, "Here and there. By the time this comes out, I'll probably see him six more times or no more times. I don’t know. I just wish everybody well in all that they do and I just go on and live my life and try to uplift motherfuckers. At the end of the day I'm tired of uplifting people. I just gotta uplift myself now because everything else is a waste of time."[14]
Makonnen also described the music scene: "There's not even any money here anymore. It's all lies. The money's gone and everybody is now keeping up this front as if there's money there."[14]
On February 8, 2016 it was announced that among Travis Scott and Vic Mensa, that Makonnen will be part of the "WANGSQUAD", an Alexander Wang's campaign.[16]
Discography
Extended plays
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [17] |
US R&B/HH [18] |
CAN | ||
| iLoveMakonnen |
|
72 | 48 | — |
| iLoveMakonnen 2[19] |
|
— | — | — |
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | ||||
Mixtapes
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| 3D |
|
| 4G |
|
| 5 |
|
| 6 |
|
| Holiday Special |
|
| LTE |
|
| A Trillion Light Years |
|
| Drink More Water |
|
| Drink More Water 2 |
|
| 3 Suns |
|
| Drink More Water 3 |
|
| Drink More Water 4 |
|
| Drink More Water 5 |
|
| Whip It Up (with Rich The Kid) [20] |
|
| Drink More Water 6 |
|
Singles
As lead artist
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [21] |
US R&B/HH [22] |
US R&B [23] |
CAN [24] |
FRA [25] | ||||
| "Tuesday" (featuring Drake) |
2014 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 56 | 86 | iLoveMakonnen | |
| "Sellin" | 2016 | — | — | — | — | — | Drink More Water 6 | |
References
- ^ a b c Diep, Eric. "The Come Up: iLoveMakonnen (page 2)". XXL. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
- ^ a b c Friedman, Skinny. "EVERYBODY LOVES MAKONNEN". Vice. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
- ^ a b c Zeichner, Naomi. "Meet ILoveMakonnen, The Eccentric Rapper Drake And Miley Cyrus Want To Be Down With". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
- ^ "Itunes biography". Itunes. Apple. Retrieved November 10, 2014.
- ^ Skinny Friedman (July 11, 2014). "Everybody Loves Makonnen". Noisey. Retrieved March 21, 2015.
I was on house arrest and was going to cosmetology school. I was hanging around a whole bunch of girls, learning how to do hair and shit.
- ^ Benjy Hansen-Bundy (February 2015). "ILoveMakonnen on Becoming Famous Overnight". GQ. Retrieved March 21, 2015.
He sings, he makes videos, he plays piano, and he's...a licensed cosmetologist.
- ^ a b Diep, Eric. "The Come Up: iLoveMakonnen (page 3)". XXL. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
- ^ a b Sundermann, Eric. "MAKONNEN EXPLAINS THE DRAKE REMIX: "IT'S THE BEST TUESDAY EVER!"". Vice. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
- ^ Cyrus, Miley. "Photo by mileycyrus". Instagram. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
- ^ Kramer, Kyle. "STAFF PICKS AND GOOD SHIT FOR THE WEEK OF AUGUST 15". Vice. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
- ^ Fleischer, Adam. "ILOVEMAKONNEN Wept When He Heard Drake's 'Club Goin' Up On A Tuesday' Remix". MTV. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
- ^ Camp, Zoe. "Drake Jumps on iLoveMakonnen's "Tuesday"". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
- ^ Brandle, Lars. "ILoveMakonnen Signs To Drake's OVO Sound". Billboard. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
- ^ a b c d "Damn, Makonnen". The FADER. Retrieved 2016-01-22.
- ^ "iLoveMakonnen Shares DJ Mustard-Produced "Second Chance", Announces iLoveMakonnen 2". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2016-01-22.
- ^ Smith, Trevor. "Ilove Makonnen part of Wang Campaign". Hotnewhiphop. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
- ^ "I Love Makonnen – Chart History: Billboard 200". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved January 20, 2015.
- ^ "I Love Makonnen – Chart History: R&B/Hip-Hop Albums". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved January 20, 2015.
- ^ https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/i-love-makonnen-2/id1059086855
- ^ http://www.hotnewhiphop.com/rich-the-kid-and-ilovemakonnen-to-release-whip-it-up-mixtape-news.18140.html
- ^ "I Love Makonnen – Chart History: Hot 100". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved November 29, 2014.
- ^ "I Love Makonnen – Chart History: R&B/Hip-Hop Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved November 29, 2014.
- ^ "I Love Makonnen – Chart History: R&B Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved November 29, 2014.
- ^ "I Love Makonnen – Chart History: Billboard Canadian Hot 100". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved January 17, 2015.
- ^ "Singles ILoveMakonnen". lescharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved January 20, 2015.
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