Valee Taylor, known mononymously as Valee, is an American rapper known for his

mixtape A mixtape (alternatively mix-tape, mix tape or mixed tape) is a compilation of music, typically from multiple sources, recorded onto a medium. With origins in the 1980s, the term normally describes a homemade compilation of music onto a cassette ...

''1988'' which got him signed to

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

's record label

GOOD Music GOOD Music (also known simply as GOOD, stylized as G.O.O.D. Music; a backronym for Getting Out Our Dreams) is an American record label founded by rapper Kanye West in 2004. The label signed an exclusive long-term worldwide label agreement with t ...

and

Def Jam Recordings Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The ...

. He released ''GOOD Job, You Found Me'' on March 2, 2018. The first song he released was with Ty Money ("Cash Don't Bend").

Early life

Valee Taylor grew up on Chicago's South Side, living in the

Robert Taylor Homes Robert Taylor Homes was a public housing project in the Bronzeville neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois from 1962 to 2007. The largest housing project in the United States, it consisted of 28 virtually identical high-rises, set ...

and moving repeatedly once they were demolished. Valee has said his mother exposed him to musicians such as

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 rhythm and blues, R&B, Soul music, soul, and hip hop, Badu rose to prominence in the ...

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, Jill Scott all at an early age. To this day, he still references the artists showed to him at a young age as heavily influential on his current music. Taylor was well trained as an auto mechanic and made money by working on people's automobiles from his mothers garage. Throughout his schooling, he had repeated issues with anger and his outbursts led to him being kicked out of numerous schools. The rapper cites Cash Money, and

Project Pat Patrick Earl Houston (born February 8, 1973), better known by his stage name Project Pat, is an American rapper from Memphis, Tennessee. He is the older brother of Juicy J, the co-founder of Three 6 Mafia. Houston was formerly a member of hip h ...

as early hip hop influences. Taylor says he decided to make music on a whim while living in the South Side of Chicago. He says he was on his way to purchase a video game system, but on the way decided to go to

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instead. He purchased the necessary equipment to start making beats and shortly after he began rapping over them.

Music

Valee's early work includes collaborations with producers such as Rio Mac and Chase the Money. Between 2015 and 2017, Valee would go on to release five independent projects; ''12:12'' (2015), ''1:11'' (2016), ''2:22'' (2016), ''12:12'' ''Again'' (2016) and ''1988'' (2017). Valee's first official commercial project was, ''GOOD Job, You Found Me'' EP, which was released in March 2018, and was executive produced by

. This EP received minimal attention from the mainstream, however

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reviewed the project and gave it a score of 7.4/10. In May 2018, Valee released "Womp Womp", featuring

Jeremih Jeremy Phillip Felton (born July 17, 1987), known professionally as Jeremih ( ), is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. In 2009, he signed a record deal with Def Jam Recordings. Jeremih's commercial debut single, "Birthday Sex", ...

. The song was later featured on the soundtrack of the 2019 Netflix film '' Beats'' leading its debut at number 98 on the ''Billboard'' Canadian Hot 100 and at 24 on the

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

. In 2019, he released a surprise EP, ''Runnin Rich'', which included features from

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 ...

King Louie King Louie is a fictional character introduced in Walt Disney's 1967 animated musical film '' The Jungle Book''. He is an Orangutan who leads other jungle primates and wants to become more human-like by gaining knowledge of fire from Mowgli. L ...

, and

Vic Mensa Vic (; es, Vic or Pancracio Celdrán (2004). Diccionario de topónimos españoles y sus gentilicios (5ª edición). Madrid: Espasa Calpe. p. 843. ISBN 978-84-670-3054-9. «Vic o Vich (viquense, vigitano, vigatán, ausense, ausetano, ausonense): ...

. The cover art is a picture of the rapper's pet dog, whom he was publicly condemned for dying red. Valee responded to the critics explaining he used "edible vegan dye" in order to color the pet's fur. He also released tracks with

Big Baby DRAM ''Big Baby DRAM'' is the debut studio album by American rapper DRAM. It was released on October 21, 2016, by Empire Distribution and Atlantic Records. The album features guest appearances from Young Thug, Erykah Badu, Lil Yachty, Playboi Carti, Tr ...

("About U"),

Matt Ox Matthew Grau (born December 13, 2004), known professionally as Matt Ox, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter from Philadelphia. He is best known for his 2017 single "Overwhelming", and for being featured on the 2018 album track "$$$" on X ...

("Awesome"), 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 ...

("Wombo") and appeared on YG's album '' 4Real 4Real''. Valee is currently managed by Andrew Barber, founder of notable Chicago Hip-Hop Blog: Fake Shore Drive.

Personal life

Valee has two children and three dogs (Furrari, Ravioli and Sophia).

References

{{Reflist American rappers Living people Rappers from Chicago 1988 births 21st-century American rappers