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Sergio Giavanni Kitchens (born June 14, 1993), known professionally as Gunna, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He is signed to
Young Thug Jeffery Lamar Williams (born August 16, 1991), known professionally as Young Thug, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He is considered to be an influential figure of his generation, with his music impacting the modern sound of hip ...
's record label
YSL Records YSL Records (also known as Young Stoner Life Records) is an American record label based in Atlanta, Georgia. It was founded in 2016 by the Atlanta-based rapper Young Thug. The company is a label imprint of 300 Entertainment. Its artists include ...
, as well as 300 Entertainment and
Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...
. He released his debut studio album, ''
Drip or Drown 2 ''Drip or Drown 2'' is the debut studio album by American rapper Gunna, released on February 22, 2019, by YSL Records and 300 Entertainment. It serves as the sequel to his 2017 EP ''Drip or Drown'' with American producer Wheezy. The album feature ...
'' in 2019 and followed it up with his second studio album '' Wunna'' in 2020, which debuted atop the '' Billboard'' 200. His third album ''
DS4Ever ''DS4Ever'' (stylized in all caps and alternatively titled ''Drip Season 4Ever'') is the third studio album by American rapper Gunna. It was released on January 7, 2022, by YSL Records and 300 Entertainment. The album features guest appearances f ...
'' was released in 2022, becoming his second consecutive number one album.


Early life

Gunna was born in
College Park, Georgia College Park is a city in Fulton and Clayton counties, Georgia, United States, adjacent to the southern boundary of the city of Atlanta. As of the 2020 census, the population was 13,930. Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport is part ...
. He was raised by his mother and has four older brothers. He started making music at age fifteen. He grew up listening to Cam'ron,
Chingy Howard Earl Bailey Jr. (born March 9, 1980), known professionally as Chingy, is an American rapper. Chingy grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, and began rapping in his late teens. He toured as an opening act with Nelly in the summer of 2002 and the ...
and Outkast, among others. Gunna attended
North Springs Charter School of Arts and Sciences North Springs Charter High School (formerly called North Springs High School from 1963 to 2007) is a charter high school located in Sandy Springs, Georgia, United States. It is the only magnet school in the Fulton County School System that off ...
and
Langston Hughes High School Langston Hughes High School (LHHS) is a public secondary school located in Fairburn, Georgia, United States, a suburb of metropolitan Atlanta. LHHS is in South Fulton County adjacent to Renaissance Elementary and Renaissance Middle School. Histo ...
. In 2013, Gunna released the mixtape ''Hard Body'' under the name Yung Serg.


Career


2016–2018: Career beginnings and ''Drip Season'' series

Gunna was introduced to fellow rapper
Young Thug Jeffery Lamar Williams (born August 16, 1991), known professionally as Young Thug, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He is considered to be an influential figure of his generation, with his music impacting the modern sound of hip ...
through Keith "King" Troup, a mutual friend and community figure who died in December 2015. He was later featured alongside rappers Travis Scott and
Gucci Mane Radric Delantic Davis (born February 12, 1980), known professionally as Gucci Mane, is an American rapper and record executive. He helped pioneer the hip hop subgenre of trap music alongside fellow Atlanta-based rappers T.I. and Young Jeezy, ...
on Thug's song, "Floyd Mayweather", from his commercial mixtape ''Jeffery''. On October 14, 2016, Gunna released his debut mixtape ''Drip Season'' through YSL Records. It featured members from YSL, such as Young Thug, Lil Duke, and Nechie. He released the mixtape ''Drip Season 2'' on May 11, 2017. It featured many popular Atlanta and YSL artists such as Young Thug,
Playboi Carti Jordan Terrell Carter (born September 13, 1996), known professionally as Playboi Carti, is an American rapper. Carter was initially signed to local underground label Awful Records prior to signing with ASAP Mob's AWGE Label under Interscope ...
, and Offset. From the mixtape, "YSL", featuring Playboi Carti, was on a "
Grand Theft Auto ''Grand Theft Auto'' (''GTA'') is a series of action-adventure games created by David Jones and Mike Dailly. Later titles were developed under the oversight of brothers Dan and Sam Houser, Leslie Benzies and Aaron Garbut. It is primarily d ...
" radio station. On November 30, 2017, he released his debut extended play ''Drip or Drown'', in which his record producer and close friend
Wheezy Wesley Tyler Glass (born October 26, 1992), known professionally as Wheezy, is an American record producer and songwriter. He has worked with artists such as Lil Uzi Vert, Young Thug, Lil Baby, Future, King Von, 21 Savage, Gunna (rapper), Gunna ...
entirely produced it, with a sole guest appearance from Young Thug. On February 2, 2018, he released the commercial mixtape ''
Drip Season 3 ''Drip Season 3'' is the third mixtape from American rapper Gunna. It was released on February 2, 2018, by his record label, YSL Records. The album features guest appearances from Hoodrich Pablo Juan, Lil Durk, Nav, Metro Boomin, and Lil Yach ...
''. It featured notable guest appearances from Hoodrich Pablo Juan, Lil Durk, Nav,
Metro Boomin Leland Tyler Wayne (born September 16, 1993), professionally known as Metro Boomin, is an American record producer, record executive, beatmaker, and DJ. He is known for his dark production style and its influence on modern hip hop and trap. ...
, and
Lil Yachty Miles Parks McCollum (born August 23, 1997), known professionally as Lil Boat, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and producer. He first gained recognition on the internet in 2015 for his singles "One Night" and "Minnesota" (featuring ...
, while the deluxe edition featured additional appearances from
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 facial tattoos, facial piercings, eccentric hairstyles and androgynous fashion, ima ...
, Young Jordan, Young Thug, and
Lil Baby Dominique Armani Jones (born December 3, 1994), known professionally as Lil Baby, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He rose to mainstream fame in 2017 following the release of his mixtape ''Perfect Timing''. *Alt URL* * His deb ...
. The regular and deluxe editions were simultaneously released together. On April 17, 2018, Gunna released a single titled "Sold Out Dates!" featuring
Lil Baby Dominique Armani Jones (born December 3, 1994), known professionally as Lil Baby, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He rose to mainstream fame in 2017 following the release of his mixtape ''Perfect Timing''. *Alt URL* * His deb ...
, a close friend and frequent collaborator. The song became one of his mainstream recordings and received millions of streams on platforms like
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 ...
and
SoundCloud SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform and music sharing website that enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming se ...
. It was eventually released as a non-album single after leaks. On August 3, Gunna also appeared alongside Canadian rapper Nav on Travis Scott's single " Yosemite", a standout song from his third studio album, '' Astroworld'', which happened to also be the highest-selling album of the year. The verse in the song, which was performed by Scott mimics Gunna's verse in "Sold Out Dates". The majority of the song's popularity went towards Gunna's appearance on the chorus. On September 12, 2018, Gunna and Lil Baby released a collaborative single "
Drip Too Hard "Drip Too Hard" is a song by American rappers Lil Baby and Gunna (rapper), Gunna, released by YSL Records, Quality Control Music, Motown and Capitol Records on September 12, 2018 as the lead single from their collaborative album ''Drip Harder'' ( ...
", which would turn out as the lead single of their collaborative mixtape ''
Drip Harder ''Drip Harder'' is a collaborative mixtape by American rappers Lil Baby and Gunna. It was released on October 5, 2018, by YSL Records, Quality Control Music, Motown and Capitol Records. The mixtape features guest appearances from Lil Durk, ...
''. The single peaked at number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. The mixtape was released on October 5. It featured guest appearances from Lil Durk, Nav, Young Thug, and
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 * ...
. It peaked at number 4 on the ''Billboard'' 200.


2019: ''Drip or Drown 2''

On February 1, 2019, Gunna released the single " One Call", which was certified platinum and serves as the lead single of his debut studio album, ''
Drip or Drown 2 ''Drip or Drown 2'' is the debut studio album by American rapper Gunna, released on February 22, 2019, by YSL Records and 300 Entertainment. It serves as the sequel to his 2017 EP ''Drip or Drown'' with American producer Wheezy. The album feature ...
''. On February 11, he released the second and final single, "Speed it Up". The album was released on February 22, featuring guest appearances from fellow Atlanta rappers Lil Baby, Young Thug, and Playboi Carti, and charted at number three on the 200 Chart. On August 16, 2019, he was featured on Young Thug's single "
Hot Hot or the acronym HOT may refer to: Food and drink *Pungency, in food, a spicy or hot quality *Hot, a wine tasting descriptor Places * Hot district, a district of Chiang Mai province, Thailand **Hot subdistrict, a sub-district of Hot Distric ...
" from the latter's debut studio album, ''
So Much Fun ''So Much Fun'' is the debut studio album by American rapper Young Thug. It was released on August 16, 2019, by YSL Records, 300 Entertainment and Atlantic Records. The album features guest appearances from Future, Machine Gun Kelly, Gunna, Li ...
''. The song peaked at the number-one spot on
Apple Music Apple Music is a music, audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users select music to stream to their device on-demand, or they can listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the Internet radio stations Apple M ...
. The song was given a remix with an extra feature on a verse from Travis Scott on October 31 (
Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observanc ...
), because of which the song eventually peaked at number 11 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Gunna is also featured on "Surf" from the album, as well as "Diamonds" from the deluxe version, the latter which was released in December 2019.


2020–2022: ''Wunna, DS4EVER and Slime Language 2''

In February 2020, Gunna was featured on three songs. He appeared on Pop Smoke's " Dior" remix, released on February 12. He was also featured on Marlo's "My Hood" alongside
Roddy Ricch Rodrick Wayne Moore Jr. (born October 22, 1998), known professionally as Roddy Ricch, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He rose to fame in 2018 with his single, " Die Young", which peaked at number 98 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. ...
and
London on da Track London Tyler Holmes (born March 27, 1991), known professionally as London on da Track, is an American record producer, rapper, and songwriter. He is a frequent collaborator of fellow Atlanta rapper Young Thug and has also worked with Kodak Black, ...
on A Boogie wit da Hoodie's song "
Numbers A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The original examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers can ...
", both released on February 14. Gunna later released a collaborative single with Nav, titled "
Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic ...
", featuring Travis Scott. The song was released on March 27, 2020, and serves as the lead single to Nav's third studio album, '' Good Intentions'' (Gunna is also featured on the track " Codeine" from the album). "Turks" marks the second time the three artists had collaborated on the same song following Scott's song "Yosemite". Six days later, on April 2, 2020, he released a collaborative track with producer
Turbo In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pr ...
and Young Thug, titled " Quarantine Clean", referencing the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
. On March 6, 2020, he released " Skybox", the lead single of his second studio album, '' Wunna''. It was released with an accompanying music video. On May 18, 2020, Gunna released the title track of the album, which was the second single. Four days later, on May 22, Gunna released the album It features guest appearances from Young Thug, Nechie, Lil Baby, Roddy Ricch, and Travis Scott. The album debuted at number one on the ''Billboard'' 200, becoming his first number one album. On July 24, 2020, he released the deluxe edition, with eight more songs, featuring additional guest appearances from Yak Gotti, Future, Nav, and
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 facial tattoos, facial piercings, eccentric hairstyles and androgynous fashion, ima ...
. On August 14, 2020, Gunna and hip hop collective and record label
Internet Money Internet Money Records, often credited as Internet Money, is an American record label and record producer collective. It was founded by American record producer Taz Taylor, who serves as the chief executive officer (CEO). The producer collecti ...
released the single "
Lemonade Lemonade is a sweetened lemon-flavored beverage. There are varieties of lemonade found throughout the world. In North America and South Asia, cloudy still lemonade is the most common variety. There it is traditionally a homemade drink using ...
", featuring
Don Toliver Caleb Zackery "Don" Toliver ( ; born June 12, 1994) is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He released his first major label mixtape, ''Donny Womack'', in August 2018. He is known for his singles " No Idea" and " After Party", from his de ...
and Nav. On April 16, 2021, Gunna released a collaborative album with Young Thug and their record label Young Stoner Life titled ''
Slime Language 2 ''Slime Language 2'' is the second compilation album by American record label Young Stoner Life. It was released in conjunction with the label’s founder, Young Thug, and one of the label’s artists, Gunna. The compilation was released via t ...
''. On January 7, 2022, Gunna released his third studio album, ''
DS4Ever ''DS4Ever'' (stylized in all caps and alternatively titled ''Drip Season 4Ever'') is the third studio album by American rapper Gunna. It was released on January 7, 2022, by YSL Records and 300 Entertainment. The album features guest appearances f ...
'', which is the fourth and final installment in his ''Drip Season'' series. The album features guest appearances from Future, Young Thug, 21 Savage, Drake, Kodak Black, Chlöe, Lil Baby,
G Herbo Herbert Randall Wright III (born October 8, 1995), better known by his stage name G Herbo (formerly Lil Herb), is an American rapper from Chicago. G Herbo is signed to Machine Entertainment Group. He has released the mixtapes '' Welcome to Faz ...
, Nechie, Chris Brown,
Yung Bleu Jeremy Biddle (born April 5, 1994), known professionally as Yung Bleu and Bleu Vandross, is an American rapper and singer. He is best known for his 2020 single "You're Mines Still", which peaked at number 18 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 after it ...
, and Roddy Ricch.


Philanthropy

In February 2022, Gunna teamed up with sustainable food waste management and hunger relief company Goodr to open a free grocery store at Ronald E. McNair Middle School, which he attended as a teenager.


Legal issues

In May 2022, Kitchens and Jeffery Williams were among 28 persons associated with YSL who were charged in a 56-count
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization. RICO was en ...
(RICO)
indictment An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felonies, the most serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use the felonies concept often use that of a ...
. On May 11, 2022, Kitchens turned himself in to authorities. Kitchens was denied
bond Bond or bonds may refer to: Common meanings * Bond (finance), a type of debt security * Bail bond, a commercial third-party guarantor of surety bonds in the United States * Chemical bond, the attraction of atoms, ions or molecules to form chemica ...
, and his trial was scheduled to begin January 9, 2023. On October 13, 2022, Kitchens was again denied release from jail ahead of his January trial. On December 14, 2022, Kitchens pleaded guilty to a single charge of racketeering and was sentenced to five years in prison, with one year commuted to time served and the rest of the sentence suspended subject to probation conditions, including 500 hours of community service; he was released from jail the same day.


Discography

* ''
Drip or Drown 2 ''Drip or Drown 2'' is the debut studio album by American rapper Gunna, released on February 22, 2019, by YSL Records and 300 Entertainment. It serves as the sequel to his 2017 EP ''Drip or Drown'' with American producer Wheezy. The album feature ...
'' (2019) * '' Wunna'' (2020) * ''
DS4Ever ''DS4Ever'' (stylized in all caps and alternatively titled ''Drip Season 4Ever'') is the third studio album by American rapper Gunna. It was released on January 7, 2022, by YSL Records and 300 Entertainment. The album features guest appearances f ...
'' (2022)


Awards and nominations


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gunna 1993 births Living people African-American male rappers Rappers from Atlanta 21st-century American rappers People from College Park, Georgia Atlantic Records artists 21st-century African-American male singers Crips American hip hop singers African-American male singer-songwriters Trap musicians