HOME

TheInfoList



Click Here for Items Related To - Angel Haze
OR:
Angel Haze on:   [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Amazon]

Raykeea Raeen-Roes Wilson (born July 10, 1991) known professionally as ROES (fka Angel Haze), is an American rapper and singer. In 2012, Wilson released the mixtape ''Reservation'' and later signed a record deal with
Universal Republic Records Republic Records is a New York City–based American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). It was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially an i ...
before moving to
Republic Records Republic Records is a New York City–based American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). It was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially an ...
. On December 31, 2013, Wilson released their debut album ''
Dirty Gold ''Dirty Gold'' is the debut studio album by American rapper Angel Haze. It was released on December 30, 2013, by Island Records and Republic Records. The 12-song effort features production from Markus Dravs, Mike Dean, Greg Kurstin, Malay, Ru ...
'', which featured the singles "Echelon (It's My Way)" and "
Battle Cry A battle cry or war cry is a yell or chant taken up in battle, usually by members of the same combatant group. Battle cries are not necessarily articulate (e.g. "Eulaliaaaa!", "Alala"..), although they often aim to invoke patriotic or religious ...
.” Wilson has released a number of mixtapes, including '' Reservation'', which was ranked the sixth-best mixtape of 2012 by Mike Diver of the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
, the most recent one ''Back to the Woods'' appeared in 2015.


Early life

Wilson was born in
Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
,
Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
to a military family. Their father, who died from a gunshot wound before their birth, was
African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
and their mother is Native American Cherokee. When Wilson was a young child, their mother met a preacher in the Greater Apostolic Faith and the two moved into his home with his wife and children, into what Wilson describes as a cult. Growing up in the church, Wilson witnessed
domestic violence Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for ''intimate partner ...
and manipulation at a very young age. As a child, they were
sexually abused Sexual abuse or sex abuse, also referred to as molestation, is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using force or by taking advantage of another. Molestation often refers to an instance of sexual assau ...
by a man close to the family. Wilson also recalls being told that they would die spontaneously if they did not behave correctly. In an interview with ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', Wilson stated: "We all lived in the same community, within 10 minutes of each other. You weren't allowed to talk to anyone outside of that, you weren't allowed to wear jewelry, listen to music, to eat certain things, to date people … you weren't allowed to do pretty much anything." Wilson's family moved around frequently, mainly due to their mother running away from the church. At one point the family was living in a shelter and Wilson was teased at school for it. They were also mocked for their clothes and had difficulties making friends and connections due to moving around. They switched between
homeschool Homeschooling or home schooling, also known as home education or elective home education (EHE), is the education of school-aged children at home or a variety of places other than a school. Usually conducted by a parent, tutor, or an onlin ...
and
public school Public school may refer to: * State school (known as a public school in many countries), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government * Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging independent schools in England an ...
for many years and finished high school a year early. After a pastor threatened Wilson's mother, the family left the church, moving to
Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, New York, when they were 15 years old. The pastor told Haze's family that God was going to kill them, and they lived in fear for years afterward. Wilson began writing as a form of therapy and expressed an interest in
creative writing Creative writing is any writing that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary ...
,
poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...
and
journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...
. Their first poem was published at the age of 13 after winning a school competition. As a child, Wilson took creative writing lessons and wanted to be a songwriter or gospel artist. Eventually, they began making
YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
videos and
freestyle rap Freestyle is a style of improvisation, with or without instrumental beats (Mystrodamus), in which lyrics are recited with no particular subject or structure and with no prior memorization.Kevin Fitzgerald (director), '' Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme' ...
ping at the age of 18. Wilson began distributing music on the Internet through sites such as
Tumblr Tumblr (stylized as tumblr; pronounced "tumbler") is an American microblogging and social networking website founded by David Karp in 2007 and currently owned by Automattic. The service allows users to post multimedia and other content to a sho ...
, where a fan base began to form.


Career

From 2009 to 2012, Wilson put out a number of
mixtape A mixtape (alternatively mix-tape, mix tape or mixed tape) is a compilation of music, typically from multiple sources, recorded onto a medium. With origins in the 1980s, the term normally describes a homemade compilation of music onto a cassette ...
s for free download on the Internet: ''New Moon'', ''Altered Ego'', ''King'', and ''Voice''. In July 2012, they released the free mixtape ''Reservation'' to critical acclaim, receiving an 88/100 score from Metacritic. The title ''Reservation'' is an homage to their Native American heritage. Wilson was nominated for
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
the Sound of 2013 poll. In 2012, Wilson recounted their experience of being sexually assaulted as a child in "Cleaning Out My Closet," a song from the mixtape ''Classick'' that uses segments from
Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in middle America and is critically acclai ...
's song of the same name. On August 28, 2013, Wilson released "Echelon (It's My Way)" as the lead single from the debut album ''Dirty Gold''. The entire album was leaked on December 18, 2013, prior to scheduled March 2014 release. The album release date was advanced, and it appeared through
Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...
and Republic Records on December 30, 2013, to positive reviews. It had low first-week sales of just over 500 copies. On September 14, 2015, Wilson released the mixtape ''Back to the Woods'' announcing that the project was just "something to share before a sophomore". In March 2017 Wilson released "Resurrection".


Artistry


Influences

After Wilson moved to New York and began listening to
secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...
music, they became inspired by artists such as
Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in middle America and is critically acclai ...
,
Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...
,
Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (; born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian-born rapper based in the United States. She is known for her musical versatility, animated Flow (rapping), flow in her rapping, alter e ...
,
Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...
and
Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September 27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. His career began in 1995, at the age of 12, when he was signed by rapper Birdman (rapper), ...
. "The artists that I identify
ith The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometres, is the longest line of crags in North Germany. Geography Location The Ith is immediatel ...
mostly are the ones who are so uncompromisingly themselves," Wilson said in a 2014 ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' interview. "Like, 'Fuck you. I don't care what you think about it. This is who I am. And I can either force-feed you this shit, or you can take it as you will.'"


Public image

Wilson raps about themes such as
homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitude (psychology), attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, h ...
,
rape culture Rape culture is a setting, studied by several sociological theories, in which rape is pervasive and normalized due to societal attitudes about gender and sexuality. Behaviors commonly associated with rape culture include victim blaming, slut-s ...
and
racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...
. They use their personal experiences to condemn a culture that breeds the self-harm of queer youth. Wilson has also been open about their experience with mental illnesses such as
addiction Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to engage in certain behaviors, one of which is the usage of a drug, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use o ...
,
posttraumatic stress disorder Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental and behavioral disorder that can develop because of exposure to a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, domestic violence, or other threats on ...
(PTSD), depression and
anorexia Anorexia nervosa, often referred to simply as anorexia, is an eating disorder characterized by low weight, food restriction, body image disturbance, fear of gaining weight, and an overpowering desire to be thin. ''Anorexia'' is a term of Gre ...
in their music and in interviews and social media. Wilson sees their goal as an artist to reach out to people who are similar to them or going through difficult experiences. They said, "It's not about the Bible. It's not about going to church. It's not about anything other than that we are all energies connected with a force that's greater than us. It's an energy that's omniscient, it covers the whole world, and everybody here is created for a reason. Mine happens to be to make the music and inspire the people who are stuck in dark places." In a 2014 ''
Vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character tra ...
'' column, Wilson discussed cultural appropriation and white artists making hip hop, saying "There seems to be this hypocrisy because people want to appropriate black culture but only when it's cool or beneficial to them … And that's the reason that people don't have a right, to some extent, to use black music to their own gains."


Personal life

Wilson is
pansexual , meaning "all" , definition = Sexual or romantic attraction to people regardless of gender , classification = Sexual identity , parent = Bisexuality , synonyms = , associated_terms = Polysexual, queer, heterofl ...
and
agender Non-binary and genderqueer are umbrella terms for gender identities that are not solely male or femaleidentities that are outside the gender binary. Non-binary identities fall under the transgender umbrella, since non-binary people typically ...
. They have said: "People talking about me, like, 'I'm glad there's an actual woman of color representing
queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual or cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against those with same-sex desires or relationships in the late 19th century. Beginning in the lat ...
ness and pansexuality, someone who is like me in the spotlight.'" In 2015, Wilson noted that in an interview with ''
BuzzFeed BuzzFeed, Inc. is an American Internet media, news and entertainment company with a focus on digital media. Based in New York City, BuzzFeed was founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John S. Johnson III to focus on tracking viral content. Ken ...
'' that they identify as neither male nor female and explained, "I feel like my agenderness and my gender identity have evolved". In 2016, they told the ''
Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...
'' that they preferred he/him or she/her pronouns, expressing their feeling that, when reading articles about themself, "I sound like four people when I get written about as 'they.' It drives me crazy ..If you call me 'him' or 'her,' it doesn't matter to me. I don't consider myself of any sex. I consider myself an experience." Wilson has since begun using
they/them Singular ''they'', along with its inflected or derivative forms, ''them'', ''their'', ''theirs'' and ''themselves'' (or ''themself''), is a gender-neutral third-person pronoun. It typically occurs with an unspecified antecedent, in sentence ...
pronouns. In an interview with ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', Wilson stated that, "Love is boundary-less. If you can make me feel, if you can make me laugh—and that's hard to do—then I can be with you." In 2014, Haze was in a relationship with model Ireland Baldwin. The two broke up a year later. Wilson recorded a cover of Macklemore's "
Same Love Same may refer to: * Sameness or identity Places * Same (Homer), an island mentioned by Homer in the ''Odyssey'' * Same (polis), an ancient city * Same, East Timor Same ( ) is a town in the Same administrative post in the interior of East ...
," which chronicled their own personal experiences. They opened up about their struggles with family over sexuality and growing up LGBTQ. In a 2017 ''Billboard'' interview they stated, "When I was young … I didn't understand what was going on. I didn't understand that I could be attracted to men and women at the same time." In 2015, Wilson began working on a body image project titled "The Naked Eye" incorporating nude photographs and interviews of people with body dysmorphia. The project aims to create a conversation about conventional and mainstream beauty standards. Wilson is self-taught in the
Cherokee language 200px, Number of speakers Cherokee or Tsalagi ( chr, ᏣᎳᎩ ᎦᏬᏂᎯᏍᏗ, ) is an endangered-to-moribund Iroquoian language and the native language of the Cherokee people. ''Ethnologue'' states that there were 1,520 Cherokee speaker ...
and celebrates their multiracial heritage.


Discography

* ''
Dirty Gold ''Dirty Gold'' is the debut studio album by American rapper Angel Haze. It was released on December 30, 2013, by Island Records and Republic Records. The 12-song effort features production from Markus Dravs, Mike Dean, Greg Kurstin, Malay, Ru ...
'' (2013) * '' Back to the Woods'' (2015)


Filmography


Television


Awards and nominations


See also

*
LGBT culture in New York City New York City is home to one of the largest LGBTQ populations in the world and the most prominent. Brian Silverman, the author of ''Frommer's New York City from $90 a Day,'' wrote the city has "one of the world's largest, loudest, and most power ...
* List of LGBT people from New York City


References


External links

*
Pitchfork: Angel Haze
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haze, Angel 1991 births 21st-century African-American musicians 21st-century American rappers 21st-century LGBT people American hip hop singers American people of Cherokee descent American people who self-identify as being of Native American descent Feminist musicians LGBT African Americans LGBT people from Michigan LGBT rappers LGBT singers from the United States Living people Midwest hip hop musicians Non-binary musicians Pansexual musicians Rappers from Brooklyn Rappers from Detroit Pansexual non-binary people