Mawuli Kulego (better known by his

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

Lazee) is a Swedish rapper from the

Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal populat ...

suburb

Lindängen Lindängen is a neighbourhood in Söder in Malmö, Sweden. It has 6,874 inhabitants. In its 2017 report, Police in Sweden placed the district in the most severe category of urban areas with high crime rates. Demographics Lindängen had 5,958 ...

Biography

Lazee was born in

, Sweden, to parents of

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

ian origin. His passion for music grew at a young age and he was heavily influenced by the musical tastes of his father who was a DJ. He introduced Lazee to

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

, R&B and

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

. Lazee first became interested in Hip Hop when he was seven years old and wrote his first rhyme at the age of ten. Just before 13th birthday his mother sent him to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

where she believed he could "be someone". He attended Elliott School in Putney,

Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality *Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record *Greater (song), "Greate ...

. Whilst still a teenager at school heard the song "Players Anthem" by

The Notorious B.I.G. Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), better known by his stage names the Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, or simply Biggie, was an American rapper. Rooted in East Coast hip hop and particularly gangsta ...

and describes it as a "turning point" in his life. Together with Marcus Nzaku Curtis he started writing lyrics and rap battling with other students. continued to listen to Hip Hop and began work on his first mixtape until he eventually moved back to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

in 2004, where he attended John Bauergymnasiet High School in his native

Career

He released his first major work as a mixtape entitled ''It Is What It Is'' with the help of New York

DJ Kayslay Keith Grayson (August 14, 1966 – April 17, 2022), professionally known as DJ Kay Slay, was an American disc jockey (DJ) from New York City. He is referred to by ''The New York Times'' as "Hip Hop's One-Man Ministry of Insults". He released fou ...

; the mixtape was a free sample given to 5000 members of the Swedish urban underground from which Lazee gained critical acclaim and notoriety. The mixtape included tracks like "Top Notch" and "Bigga *****" and there are two music videos for the tracks as well. Things became serious for in 2007 when he moved to

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

and began working with producer

iSHi Ishi ( – March 25, 1916) was the last known member of the Native American Yahi people from the present-day state of California in the United States. The rest of the Yahi (as well as many members of their parent tribe, the Yana) were kill ...

. The collaboration gave birth to debut single "Rock Away" on his new label 2Stripes and major label Sony BMG which was released across

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...

in 2008. The single was met with high regard across Scandinavia and wider

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

with some critics giving it 9/10. Since then has released several critically acclaimed songs including "Drop Bombs", "Pusherman, featuring Swedish rapper J-Son" and his current hit single "Hold On" featuring

Neverstore Neverstore is a Swedish punk rock band. The band was formed in 2000 in Skövde. Neverstore released their first album, '' Sevenhundred Sundays'' January 24, 2007. The songs ''So Much of Not Enough'' and ''L.Y.D.'' (Live Your Dreams) were inclu ...

, a Swedish punk rock band and the song has been a featured single on UK radio stations including

Radio 1 Radio 1 or Radio One most commonly refers to: *BBC Radio 1, a music radio station from the BBC ** BBC Radio 1Xtra, a digital radio station broadcasting black music *CBC Radio One, a talk radio station operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporatio ...

and

Kiss100 Kiss is a British digital radio station owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Kiss Network. It is primarily aimed at the 15-34 age group and broadcasts nationally to the UK on DAB Digital Radio, as well as on FM in London, Bristol and ...

receiving listeners choice selects and ranking highly in song request tables.

Discography

Albums

*2008: ''Setting Standards'' *2011: ''Supposed II Happen''

Mixtapes

*2006: ''It Is What It Is'' *2008: ''Back for the 1st Time'' *2009: ''First Class Five Stars'' *2009: ''First Class Five Stars Season 2'' *2011: ''One Way Ticket''

Compilations

*2011: ''Global Attack Mixtape, Vol. 2''

Singles

*2009: "Hold On" (feat.

) (#46 United Kingdom) *2010: "Just Like That" (feat. Danny Saucedo) *2010: "Do It" (feat. Mohombi) *2010: "Young n Restless" (feat. Eric Turner and Adam Tensta) *2010: "Calling Out" (feat. Apollo Drive) *2011: "Gotta Go" *2011: "Do It" *2011: "TAG" (feat. Madcon and

Julimar Julimar Silva Oliveira Junior (born 25 January 2001), commonly known as Julimar, is a Brazilian association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for Club Athletico Paranaense, Athletico Paranaense. Career ...

) (Remixes)

Guest appearances

*2009: "Gå Loss" (Kartellen feat. Lazee, Adam Tensta, J-Son, Glaciuz, Eboi and Mofo the Maverick) *2009: "Creamy Girls" (Mathieu Sanders feat. Lazee and Anonis) *2010: "Stronger" (Lazee feat. Dead by April) *2012: "Shake That Ass" (Danny Saucedo feat. Lazee) *2017: "Get Lit" (DJ Cruze feat. Mawuli and Idrise)

References

{{Authority control Living people 1985 births Swedish rappers Swedish people of Ghanaian descent Swedish expatriates in the United Kingdom Singers from Malmö English-language singers from Sweden Musicians from Malmö