Deja Monét Trimble (born April 8, 1991), better known by her stage name Dej Loaf (stylized as DeJ Loaf), is an American rapper, singer and songwriter from Detroit, Michigan. She began her music career in 2011, and released her debut single "Just Do It" in 2012. In October 2014, she released her second mixtape, ''Sell Sole''.
Early life
Deja Trimble was raised on the East side of
Detroit, Michigan
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 ...
.
As a child, she often listened to music with her parents and grandmother, including
2Pac
Tupac Amaru Shakur ( ; born Lesane Parish Crooks, June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known as 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper. He is widely considered one of the most influential rappers of all time. Shakur is among the b ...
,
Rakim
William Michael Griffin Jr. (born January 28, 1968), better known by his stage name Rakim Allah or simply Rakim (), is an American rapper and record producer. One half of golden age hip hop duo Eric B. & Rakim, he is widely regarded as one of t ...
and
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...
.
Her father was killed when she was four years old.
A self-described "good kid and a decent student" who mostly kept to herself, she began writing her own original music at the age of 9.
In 2009, she graduated from
Southeastern High School in Detroit,
playing
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
at the junior varsity level. She then attended
Saginaw Valley State University
Saginaw Valley State University (SVSU) is a public university in University Center, Michigan in Saginaw County. It was founded in 1963 as Saginaw Valley College. It is located on in Saginaw County's Kochville Township, approximately north of ...
and studied nursing for three semesters before deciding to focus full-time on her music career.
Music career
In 2011, Dej Loaf began her career as a
hip hop artist. Her stage name is a portmanteau of a shortened version of her first name, "Deja", and "loafer", as she took a keen interest in
Air Jordan
Air Jordan is an American brand of basketball shoes produced by American corporation Nike. The first Air Jordan shoe was produced for Hall of Fame former basketball player Michael Jordan during his time with the Chicago Bulls in late 1984 an ...
s when growing up.
In 2013, she released her first official mixtape, ''Just Do It.''. That mixtape attracted the attention of a fellow Detroit-native rapper SAYITAINTTONE. She was later signed to his indie record label, called IBGM (I Been Gettin' Money) under his management team.
In July 2014, she released her track, called "
Try Me" (produced by DDS), as a single,
which earned her viral popularity. Canadian hip hop
recording artist
A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...
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
* ...
quoted lyrics from the song in his
Instagram
Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
post.
In October 2014, she signed a major record deal to
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...
. After signing the deal, she released her second official mixtape, called ''Sell Sole''.
The mixtape was given an "A−" by music critic
Robert Christgau
Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...
, who wrote in his review for ''
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 ...
'', "What's irresistible is the form-content disparity—a rapper who brags so un-macho, a rapper whose greed is so explicitly for her family, a rapper who's 'Grindin' ' at music. Plus her flow is a brook, her producer respects her space, and her two sex rhymes are into it and into it more."
Dej Loaf rapped on the song "
Detroit vs. Everybody" featured on a fellow American high-profile
rapper
Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...
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 compilation ''
Shady XV
''Shady XV'' (stylized as ''SHADYXV'') is a hip hop compilation album performed by various artists of Shady Records. The double disc album was released on November 24, 2014, by Shady Records and Interscope Records. The album was released in honor ...
'' (2014). In 2015, she opened for
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 in her rapping, alter egos and accent ...
during the North American leg of
The Pinkprint Tour. Later that year, she was chosen as part of the
''XXL'' magazine 2015 Freshman Class.
In February 2016, Dej Loaf released a mixtape called ''All Jokes Aside.'' In July 2017, she released a joint mixtape with
Jacquees
Rodriquez Jacquees Broadnax (born April 15, 1994), better known as Jacquees (pronounced jah-kwees), is an American singer, songwriter, and rapper from Decatur, Georgia. In 2015, he signed a recording and management contract with Cash Money Reco ...
titled ''Fuck a Friend Zone''.
After several years of delays, Dej Loaf split from Columbia Records in 2019 independently released her debut album, ''Sell Sole II'' on October 23, 2020. It features appearances from
Big Sean
Sean Michael Leonard Anderson (born March 25, 1988), known professionally as Big Sean, is an American rapper. Anderson began his music career in 2007 and gained popularity in 2010 with his third mixtape '' Finally Famous Vol. 3: Big''. He then s ...
,
Gunna,
Rick Ross
William Leonard Roberts II (born January 28, 1976), known professionally as Rick Ross, is an American rapper.
Prior to releasing his debut single, "Hustlin'", in 2006, Ross was the subject of a bidding war, receiving offers from Sean Combs, D ...
,
Lil Uzi Vert
Symere Bysil Woods ( ; born July 31, 1995), known professionally as Lil Uzi Vert, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. They are characterized by their face tattoo, facial tattoos, facial piercings, eccentric hairstyles and androgynous ...
, and
6LACK
Ricardo Archibald Valentine Jr. (born June 24, 1992), known professionally as 6lack (stylized as 6LACK, pronounced "black"), is an American singer and rapper.
He initially gained notable recognition following the release of his single, "Prblms" ...
. The album is the sequel to Dej Loaf's 2014 mixtape ''Sell Sole''. The album holds a 72/100 rating on
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, indicating "generally favorable reviews."
In February 2021, Dej Loaf was featured on
's single "Guilty" along with
Chris Brown
Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. According to '' Billboard'', Brown is one of the most successful R&B singers of his generation, having often been referred to by many contempo ...
and
A$AP Ferg
Darold Durard Brown Ferguson Jr. (born October 20, 1988), known professionally as ASAP Ferg (stylized as A$AP Ferg), is an American rapper from New York City's Harlem neighborhood. Aside from his solo career, he is a member of the hip hop collec ...
.
Discography
Studio albums
Extended plays
Mixtapes
* ''Just Do It'' (2012)
* ''Sell Sole'' (2014)
* ''All Jokes Aside'' (2016)
* ''Fuck a Friend Zone'' (2017)
Singles
As lead artist
As featured artist
Guest appearances
Notes
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Loaf, Dej
1991 births
Living people
21st-century American singers
American women rappers
African-American women rappers
American hip hop singers
Columbia Records artists
Midwest hip hop musicians
Rappers from Detroit
Saginaw Valley State University alumni
21st-century American rappers
21st-century American women singers
21st-century African-American women singers
21st-century women rappers