Summer Marjani Walker (born April 11, 1996) is an American R&B singer. In 2017, she signed to

Love Renaissance Love Renaissance (LVRN) is an American record label and management company founded by Carlon Ramong, Justice Baiden, Junia Abaidoo, Sean Famoso McNichol and Tunde Balogun, and based in Atlanta, Georgia. The label is currently distributed through ...

and Interscope Records. The following year, she released the mixtape '' Last Day of Summer,'' which spawned the single " Girls Need Love", that became her first top 40 entry on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart following a remix featuring

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 * ...

. In October 2019, Walker released her debut studio album '' Over It,'' which spawned the US top 20 single " Playing Games". ''Over It'' was released to universal acclaim from music critics, it also debuted at number-two on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart, breaking the record for the biggest streaming debut-week ever for a female R&B artist; while also being

certified platinum Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). On November 5, 2021, she released her sophomore studio album '' Still Over It'', which debuted at number-one on the ''Billboard'' 200. The album broke the record for most album streams in a single day by a female artist 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 ...

, and broke her previous record for largest streaming debut-week for a female R&B artist; while they also tied with

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bor ...

as the only two female artists that have held 18 songs concurrently on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Her accolades include a

Billboard Music Award The ''Billboard'' Music Awards are honors given out annually by ''Billboard'', a publication covering the music business and a music popularity chart. The ''Billboard'' Music Awards show has been held annually since 1990, with the exception of t ...

, two

Soul Train Music Awards The Soul Train Music Awards is an annual music awards show which previously aired in national broadcast syndication, and honors the best in African-American culture, music and entertainment. It is produced by the makers of '' Soul Train'', the p ...

, and a

Grammy Award 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 pr ...

nomination.

Early life

Walker was born in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. From 2016 to 2018, she had a small cleaning business, and was also stripping in Atlanta before she taught herself how to play the guitar by watching tutorials on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and 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 Google, and is the second mo ...

. Soon after, she began performing covers, posting various videos of herself to the platform.

Musical career

2018–2019: Career beginnings and ''Last Day of Summer''

Walker was discovered by a woman, who has the same name as her and works as the studio manager of an Atlanta-based label called

. In 2017, she signed with this label and Interscope Records. On October 19, 2018, Walker released her debut commercial mixtape, titled '' Last Day of Summer'', supported by the lead single, " Girls Need Love". Walker's album contained her thoughts on love, doubt, and womanhood. Towards the end of 2018, Walker went on tour with

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 ...

on the From East Atlanta With Love Tour. Following the success of Walker's mixtape,

named Walker as its newest Up Next artist in 2019, and she became the number 8 R&B artist worldwide across the platform. On January 25, 2019, Walker released her first EP titled ''Clear'', consisting of four tracks of acoustic recordings. On February 27, 2019, she released the remix to her song, "Girls Need Love", with

2019–2020: Breakthrough and ''Over It''

On August 23, 2019, Walker released a track, called " Playing Games" as the first official single for her debut studio album, titled '' Over It''. The song, which contains an interpolation of Destiny's Child's number-one hit "

Say My Name "Say My Name" is a song by American group Destiny's Child from their second studio album, ''The Writing's on the Wall'' (1999). It was written by Beyoncé Knowles, LeToya Luckett, LaTavia Roberson, Kelly Rowland, LaShawn Daniels, Fred Jerkins ...

", was produced by

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 September 12, Walker revealed that ''Over It'' would be released on October 4 via LVRN and Interscope Records. Along with her album announcement, she shared the official artwork. ''Over It'' debuted at number two on the US ''Billboard'' 200 with 134,000

units Unit may refer to: Arts and entertainment * UNIT, a fictional military organization in the science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' * Unit of action, a discrete piece of action (or beat) in a theatrical presentation Music * Unit (album), ...

in its first week. Its debut week marked the largest streaming week for an R&B album by a female artist, in terms of on-demand audio streams. The album also topped the

R&B Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated J ...

chart for 14 nonconsecutive weeks, and as of July 2020, has yet to chart below number 7. Walker supported ''Over It'' with their accompanying The First and Last Tour, which kicked off on October 20. Due to her social anxiety, Walker canceled the remaining 20 out of 29 dates on the tour committing to 9 of them. On November 17, Walker won their first

Soul Train Music Award The Soul Train Music Awards is an annual music awards show which previously aired in national broadcast syndication, and honors the best in African-American culture, music and entertainment. It is produced by the makers of ''Soul Train'', the pro ...

for Best New Artist, she later received backlash from fans for her short speech and was accused of faking their

social anxiety Social anxiety is the anxiety and fear specifically linked to being in social settings (i.e., interacting with others). Some categories of disorders associated with social anxiety include anxiety disorders, mood disorders, autism spectrum disor ...

. During early 2020, Walker collaborated with an American rapper

21 Savage Shéyaa Bin Abraham-Joseph (born October 22, 1992), known professionally as 21 Savage, is a rapper based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Born in London, he moved to Atlanta with his mother at age seven. He became known after releasing two m ...

on a song, titled "Secret". Walker also appeared on a remix for

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Bieber is recognized for his genre-melding musicianship and has played an influential role in modern-day popular music. He was discovered by American record executive Scooter ...

's song Yummy. In April 2020, she was featured on

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.

's remix of "Eleven". On June 29, Walker announced the release of an EP, titled ''Life on Earth'' to be released on July 10. The announcement came a day after she performed "Session 32" and " Come Thru" with Usher at the 2020's BET Awards, where Walker was nominated for Best New Artist and Best Female R&B/Pop Artist. ''Life on Earth'' debuted atop the ''Billboard'' Top R&B Albums chart, becoming Walker's second number one. It also debuted at number 8 on the ''Billboard'' 200 becoming Walker's second top 10 project on the chart. Two tracks from the EP charted on the "Billboard" Hot 100, "Let It Go", and "My Affection" featuring

PartyNextDoor Jahron Anthony Brathwaite (born July 3, 1993), known professionally as PartyNextDoor (stylized as PARTYNEXTDOOR), is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and record producer. PartyNextDoor was the first artist signed to Drake's OVO Sound record labe ...

, at numbers 84 and 86, respectively. " Come Thru" featuring Usher was certified platinum on August 20 by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). A few days later, on August 25, her song "Body" was certified gold, " Playing Games" was certified two-time platinum, and " Girls Need Love" was certified three-time platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), respectively. On September 14, Walker was a musical guest on

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jimmy Fallon that airs on NBC. The show premiered on February 17, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. It is the seventh incar ...

, performing "Body" from their debut album ''Over It''. The performance received praise from music-critics and fans alike, with

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

describing the performance as "beatific". On October 14, Walker won the

for the Best Female R&B Artist at the 2020's Billboard Music Awards beating out Beyoncé and

Lizzo Melissa Viviane Jefferson (born April 27, 1988), known professionally as Lizzo, is an American singer, rapper, and flutist. Born in Detroit, Michigan, she moved to Houston, Texas with her family when she was 10 years old. After college she ...

. It became Walker's first Billboard Music Award win from three nominations respectively. Walker was also nominated for Top R&B Artist and Top R&B Album for ''Over It''. On November 23, they released a repackaged version of the ''Over It'' album, titled ''Over It (Complete Edition)''. The repackaged version of the album features all 18 songs from the standard version of the album plus additional

instrumentals A backing track is an audio recording on audiotape, CD or a digital recording medium or a MIDI recording of synthesized instruments, sometimes of purely rhythmic accompaniment, often of a rhythm section or other accompaniment parts that live mus ...

a capella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

versions, live renditions and more. On December 10, Walker's debut song, "Session 32" was certified gold and her collaboration featuring Jhené Aiko, titled "I'll Kill You" was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), respectively. On the ''Billboard'' 200 year-end chart of 2020, ''Over It'' was the second best performing R&B album of the year behind

The Weeknd Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (born February 16, 1990), known professionally as the Weeknd, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. Known for his sonic versatility and dark lyricism, his music explores escapism, romance, and ...

's '' After Hours'' and was the seventeenth best performing album overall.

2021-present: ''Still Over It''

On November 5, 2021, Walker released her second album '' Still Over It'' which has since broken the record for biggest R&B debut on the US albums chart since Beyoncé's album ''Lemonade''. The album surpassed 166,000 units within the first week of release. On November 29, Walker and

Ari Lennox Courtney Shanade Salter (born March 26, 1991), known professionally as Ari Lennox, is an American R&B singer from Washington, D.C. She is the first female artist to be signed to J. Cole's record label, Dreamville Records. She began gaining re ...

performed the song "Unloyal" together at the

2021 Soul Train Music Awards The 2021 Soul Train Music Awards took place on November 28, 2021, to recognize the best in soul, R&B and Hip-Hop music. The ceremony aired on BET, BET Her, VH1 and MTV2, with actors Tisha Campbell & Tichina Arnold hosting the ceremony for the f ...

. The "

No Love "No Love" is a song by American rapper Eminem, featuring fellow American rapper Lil Wayne, from Eminem's seventh studio album '' Recovery'' (2010). It was released as the third official single from the album. It impacted radio on October 5 ...

" extended remix featuring Cardi B was announced on March 21, 2022. On March 25, it was released along with a music video. In May, Walker was featured on

Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper and songwriter. Known for his progressive musical styles and socially conscious songwriting, he is often considered one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generat ...

's track "Purple Hearts" from the 2022 album '' Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers'', for which Walker earned her first

nomination. On September 28, 2022,

Ciara Ciara Princess Wilson ( ; Harris; born October 25, 1985) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, model and entrepreneur. She released her debut studio album, '' Goodies'' in 2004, which spawned four singles: " Goodies" (featuring Petey Pa ...

released the single "Better Thangs", featuring Walker. The official music video, directed by Mia Barnes, premiered online on September 30.

Personal life

While teaching themselves guitar through

tutorials, Walker worked as a stripper in an

strip club. In an interview with ''The Face'' she stated that the experience was "helping her grow out of her shell" and that it was "a fun experience". Walker has well over 23 tattoos as of 2019, including face tattoos. In November 2020, Walker announced that she was expecting her first child, with then-boyfriend

. Her daughter was born in March 2021. Months later, the pair ended their relationship. On June 25, 2022, Walker announced on Instagram Live that she was expecting her second child with her current boyfriend rapper Larry A.K.A. Lvrd Pharaoh.

Artistry

Walker has said that she draws inspiration from

Amy Winehouse Amy Jade Winehouse (14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011) was an English singer and songwriter. She was known for her deep, expressive contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres, including soul, rhythm and blues and jazz. A membe ...

, Jimi Hendrix, and

Erykah Badu Erica Abi Wright (born February 26, 1971), known professionally as Erykah Badu (), is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. Influenced by R&B, soul, and hip hop, Badu rose to prominence in the late 1990s when her debut al ...

Discography

;Studio albums *'' Over It'' (2019) *'' Still Over It'' (2021) ;Mixtapes and EPs * ''Last Day of Summer'' (2018) * ''Clear'' (2019) * ''Life on Earth'' (2020)

Tours

Headlining

*The First and Last Tour (2019) *The Summer Walker Series (2022)

Awards and nominations

American Music Awards The American Music Awards (AMAs) is an annual American music awards show, generally held in the fall, created by Dick Clark in 1973 for ABC when the network's contract to air the Grammy Awards expired, and currently produced by Dick Clark Pro ...

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Summer 1996 births Living people Interscope Records artists 21st-century African-American women singers African-American women singer-songwriters American contemporary R&B singers American people of English descent Singer-songwriters from Georgia (U.S. state)