Khalif Malik Ibn Shaman Brown (born June 7, 1993), known professionally as Swae Lee, is an American singer and rapper. Known for his wide vocal range and genre-bending, Swae Lee is one half of the hip hop duo

Rae Sremmurd Rae Sremmurd ( ; "Drummers Ear" spelled backwards) is an American hip hop duo originating from Tupelo, Mississippi, formed by two brothers, Slim Jxmmi and Swae Lee. In 2013, they signed a record deal with Mike Will Made It's EarDrummers impri ...

with his brother Slim Jxmmi. As a member of Rae Sremmurd, he achieved success with the singles "

No Flex Zone "No Flex Zone" is the debut single by American hip hop duo Rae Sremmurd. It was released on May 18, 2014, by EarDrummers Entertainment and Interscope Records, as the lead single from their debut studio album ''SremmLife'' (2015). The song was p ...

", "

No Type "No Type" is a hip hop song by American hip hop duo Rae Sremmurd. It was released on September 15, 2014, by EarDrummers Entertainment and Interscope Records, as the second single from their debut studio album ''SremmLife'' (2015). The song was ...

" and " Black Beatles", the last of which topped the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. In 2017, he was featured

French Montana Karim Kharbouch (Arabic: æɾiːm χɑɾbuːʃ born November 9, 1984), better known by his stage name French Montana, is a Moroccan-American rapper. Born and raised in Morocco, he emigrated to the United States with his family when he was 13. ...

's single "

Unforgettable Unforgettable may refer to: Film * ''Unforgettable'' (1996 film), a thriller starring Ray Liotta * ''Unforgettable'' (2014 film), a Bollywood film * ''Unforgettable'' (2016 film), a South Korean film * ''Unforgettable'' (2017 film), an America ...

", which earned him his first top ten on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 as a soloist, and was later certified

Diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the Chemical stability, chemically stable form of car ...

(10× Platinum) by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA). He was also nominated for the Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 2017 for co-writing

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

's single "

Formation Formation may refer to: Linguistics * Back-formation, the process of creating a new lexeme by removing or affixes * Word formation, the creation of a new word by adding affixes Mathematics and science * Cave formation or speleothem, a secondar ...

". In 2018, Swae Lee released his debut solo studio album '' Swaecation'' as part of Rae Sremmurd's third album, '' SR3MM'' (2018), which was a

triple album A double album (or double record) is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording i ...

. In the same year, his single "

Sunflower The common sunflower (''Helianthus annuus'') is a large annual forb of the genus ''Helianthus'' grown as a crop for its edible oily seeds. Apart from cooking oil production, it is also used as livestock forage (as a meal or a silage plant), as ...

" (with Post Malone) was promotional and lead single to the soundtrack for the film '' Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse'' (2018). The song peaked atop the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, was nominated for two

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

, and reached Diamond status, being certified 17× Platinum by the RIAA. He was also featured on the single " Close to Me" by

Ellie Goulding Elena Jane Goulding ( ; born 30 December 1986) is an English singer and songwriter. Her career began when she met record producers Starsmith and Frankmusik, and she was later spotted by Jamie Lillywhite, who became her manager and Artists and ...

and

Diplo Thomas Wesley Pentz (born November 10, 1978), known professionally as Diplo, is an American DJ and music producer. He is the co-creator and lead member of the electronic dancehall music project Major Lazer, a member of the supergroup LSD with ...

, which reached number one on the US Adult Top 40 airplay chart. In 2020, he released the single " Be Like That" with Kane Brown and

Khalid Khalid (variants include Khaled and Kalid; Arabic: خالد) is a popular Arabic male given name meaning "eternal, everlasting, immortal", and it also appears as a surname.

, which reached the top 20 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

Early life

Brown was born in

Inglewood, California Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 107,762. It was incorporated on February 14, 1908. The city is in the South Bay ...

, to a single mother who worked on tanks in the United States Army. Brown was raised in

Tupelo, Mississippi Tupelo () is a city in and the county seat of Lee County, Mississippi, United States. With an estimated population of 38,300, Tupelo is the sixth-largest city in Mississippi and is considered a commercial, industrial, and cultural hub of North M ...

, and began to make music in high school with his brother Slim Jxmmi and local rapper Lil Pantz as "Dem Outta St8 Boyz". After graduating high school, Brown, alongside his brother had a period of homelessness in which they squatted in an abandoned house.

Career

In 2013, he and Slim Jxmmi signed to Mike Will Made It's label EarDrummers Entertainment as

. They have since released three studio albums under EarDrummers, '' SremmLife'', ''

SremmLife 2 ''SremmLife 2'' (sometimes stylized as ''SremmLife II'') is the second studio album by American hip hop duo Rae Sremmurd. It was released on August 12, 2016, by Ear Drummer Records and Interscope Records. The album serves as a sequel to their p ...

'', and '' SR3MM''.

In March 2015, Swae Lee was featured on Mike Will Made It's "Drinks on Us", which also featured artists

Future The future is the time after the past and present. Its arrival is considered inevitable due to the existence of time and the laws of physics. Due to the apparent nature of reality and the unavoidability of the future, everything that currently ...

and The Weeknd, and became his first single as solo artist. In September 2015, he was featured on Wiz Khalifa's "Burn Slow", which peaked at number 83 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, making it Swae Lee's first solo entry on the chart. In April 2017, Swae Lee was featured on

's "

". The song peaked at number three on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, making it Swae Lee's first top ten single on the chart as a solo artist. In September 2018,

Jhené Aiko Jhené Aiko Efuru Chilombo (; born March 16, 1988) is an American singer who embarked on her music career contributing vocals and appearing in several music videos for R&B group B2K. In an effort to promote Aiko and cultivate a following for he ...

featured Swae Lee on her track "Sativa". Two months later, Swae Lee released a song titled "TR666" alongside Trippie Redd. On May 4, 2018, almost two years after its initial announcement in August 2016, Swae Lee released his debut solo album, '' Swaecation'' as a part of a triple album set, which also contained Rae Sremmurd's third studio album, ''SR3MM'' and Slim Jxmmi's debut studio album as a solo artist, '' Jxmtro''. In October 2018, he featured on the song " Close to Me" by

and

. Swae Lee also collaborated on XXXTentacion's song "

Arms Around You "Arms Around You" is a collaborative single by American rappers XXXTentacion and Lil Pump featuring Colombian singer Maluma and American singer and rapper Swae Lee. It was released on October 25, 2018, and is produced by Skrillex, Mally Mall, JonF ...

" after his death, along with Lil Pump and Maluma. On October 18, 2018, Swae Lee featured on Post Malone's song "

" for '' Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse'', which became Post Malone's third and Swae Lee's first song as a soloist to top the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. He appeared on Nicki Minaj’s 2018 album '' Queen.'' In May 2019, he collaborated on the song "

Crave __NOTOC__ Crave or Craving may refer to: Entertainment and media Companies and services * Crave (streaming service), a Canadian video-on-demand streaming service * Crave (TV network), a Canadian linear pay TV service operated in conjunction with ...

" with

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

on her album ''

Madame X ''Madame X'' (original title ''La Femme X'') is a 1908 play by French playwright Alexandre Bisson (1848–1912). It was novelized in English and adapted for the American stage; it was also adapted for the screen twelve times over sixty-five ...

''. In August 2019, Swae Lee released "

Won't Be Late "Won't Be Late" is a song by American singer and rapper Swae Lee featuring Canadian rapper Drake, released as a single by EarDrummers Records on August 16, 2019. It was produced by Tekno with additional production by Mike Will Made It, and relea ...

" featuring Canadian rapper and singer Drake, produced by Tekno and Mike Will Made It. In October 2019, he was featured on 88rising's "Walking", alongside Joji, Jackson Wang, and Major Lazer. As of 2020, he released the single "Someone Said", a reworked version of Travis Scott's " Sicko Mode". He also collaborated with Chloe x Halle on the Mike Will Made It-produced "Catch Up", from the former's album ''

Ungodly Hour ''Ungodly Hour'' is the second studio album by American Contemporary R&B, R&B duo Chloe x Halle. It was released through Parkwood Entertainment and Columbia Records on June 12, 2020. Originally scheduled for June 5, the album's release was delay ...

''. He was featured on the remix to

Arizona Zervas Arizona Zervas, (born April 19, 1995) is an American rapper and singer. He is widely known for his song " Roxanne", which reached number four on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 2019, after being prominently featured in Spotify playlists.

' hit song " Roxanne". On June 18, 2020, Swae Lee released the single, "Reality Check". Swae Lee invested in esports organization

XSET XSET is an American professional esports and entertainment organization based in Boston, Massachusetts. It has rosters competing in Fortnite, Valorant, Rocket League, Call of Duty: Warzone, Call of Duty: Mobile, PUBG Mobile, Madden NFL, Apex Le ...

in October 2020. Swae Lee has been working on his upcoming album ''Human Nature'' since 2020. In the same year, he appeared on Pop Smoke’s posthumous album ''

Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon ''Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon'' is the debut studio album by American rapper Pop Smoke. It was posthumously released on July 3, 2020, by Victor Victor Worldwide and Republic Records, and a deluxe edition of the album that includ ...

''. In 2021, he collaborated with Alicia Keys on the single " Lala (Unlocked)" at the

2021 MTV Video Music Awards The 2021 MTV Video Music Awards were held on September 12, 2021, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York City. This marked the first time in eight years that the venue hosted the show. The show was hosted by hip-hop rapper and singer Doja ...

Artistry

Swae Lee has become known for his hooks and melodies, as demonstrated in collaborations with the likes of

, Anitta,

, and Post Malone, among other artists. He has been described as 'the songbird of our generation', with several of his peers and critics praising his vocal ability. According to a 2017 interview with A Polaroid Story, Swae Lee describes himself more as a singer than a rapper.

Personal life

Brown has a daughter with Brazilian model Aline Martins, who was born in 2020. In 2022, he filed for joint custody.

Discography

* '' Swaecation'' (2018) * ''Human Nature'' (TBA)

Awards and nominations

Grammy Awards

The

are annual awards presented by The Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the mainly English-language

music industry The music industry consists of the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, train, ...

. ! , - ,

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, "

" (as songwriter) ,

Song of the Year Song of the Year may refer to: * Country Music Association Award for Song of the Year * Dove Award for Song of the Year * Golden Melody Award for Song of the Year * Grammis Song of the Year * Grammy Award for Song of the Year * Latin Grammy Awa ...

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, rowspan="2", " Sicko Mode" (with Travis Scott and Big Hawk) ,

Best Rap Performance The Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance is an honor presented to recording artists for quality rap performances. It was first presented at the 31st Annual Grammy Awards in 1989 and again at the 32nd Annual Grammy Awards in 1990, after which p ...

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" (with Post Malone) , Record of the Year , , style="text-align:center;" rowspan="2", , - , Best Pop Duo/Group Performance , , -

MTVU Woodie Awards

The MTVU Woodie Awards are semi-annual awards presented by MTVU which it states recognizes "the music voted best by college students". ! , - , 2017 , Swae Lee , Songwriter of the Year , , style="text-align:center;",

Soul Train Music Awards

The Soul Train Music Awards are annual awards to honor the best in Black music and entertainment. ! , - ,

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" (as songwriter) , The Ashford & Simpson Songwriter's Award , , style="text-align:center;",

Teen Choice Awards

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Swae 1993 births Living people 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century African-American male singers African-American male rappers Interscope Records artists People from Tupelo, Mississippi Rappers from Mississippi Singer-songwriters from Mississippi Southern hip hop musicians American hip hop singers People from Inglewood, California Rappers from California Singer-songwriters from California African-American male singer-songwriters Trap musicians OnlyFans creators Pop rappers