Gavin Weiland Huff (born 22 October 2000), better known under his middle name Weiland, is an American rapper, singer, music producer, and songwriter from

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

. Weiland is currently signed to

Steven Victor Steven William Victor (born September 6, 1980) is a Haitian-American record executive, artist manager, music publisher, and A&R representative. He is the founder & CEO of Victor Victor Worldwide and SVP of A&R at Universal Music Group. He former ...

's Victor Victor label in a joint venture with

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

and is known for his studio albums ''Weiland'' and ''Vices'' released under the labels. He is also known for providing American rapper and collaborator

Yeat Noah Olivier Smith (born February 26, 2000), known professionally as Yeat (occasionally stylized as YEAT ), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He gained recognition in mid-2021 after the release of his mixtape ''4L' ...

with his recording template.

Career

2016-2019: Beginnings, Packrunner, and Grimey Youth

Weiland began releasing music on the music platform

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 ...

in 2016. After the release of a number of songs on the platform, he recalls getting noticed by members of the rap collective ''Slayworld'' along with its associated producers. His rise to fame was accredited to schemes such as a supposed

Auto-Tune Auto-Tune (or autotune) is an audio processor introduced in 1996 by American company Antares Audio Technologies. Auto-Tune uses a proprietary device to measure and alter pitch in vocal and instrumental music recording and performances. Auto-Tu ...

implant and misdemeanors involving rocket launchers. In April 2018, he released his single "Who's Better" with American rapper and member of the ''Slayworld'' collective

Summrs Deante Adam Johnson (born November 18, 1999), known professionally as Summrs, is an American rapper, singer and songwriter from Louisiana. He is known as one of the pioneers and is a prominent figure of the pluggnb genre. Summrs was also one of t ...

. In May 2018, he released his EP ''Grimey Youth''.

2020-present: Victor Victor, Weiland, and Vices

Weiland signed to music executive

's Victor Victor record label in 2020, notable for being the label of notable musicians like drill rapper Pop Smoke and producer 808 Melo. In 2021, he grabbed the attention of record producer Mike Dean who helped him with the production of his album ''Vices''. In October 2021, he released his single "Heart Stop". In December 2021, he released a single titled "Blaming Myself" with Mike Dean. In a February 2022 interview with

Lyrical Lemonade Cole Michael Bennett (born May 14, 1996) is an American business executive, videographer, and music video director. His multimedia company, Lyrical Lemonade, started in 2013 as an internet blog while he was in high school. Early life Cole Be ...

, American musician

KayCyy Mark Makora Mbogo (born September 23, 1997), known professionally as KayCyy or KayCyy Pluto, is a Kenyan-American rapper, singer and songwriter. Born in Kenya, Mbogo moved with his family to St. Paul, Minnesota at an early age. Throughout his ...

hinted at a collaboration between Weiland and American singer

Toro y Moi Chaz Bear (born Chazwick Bradley Bundick; November 7, 1986), known professionally as Toro y Moi, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and graphic designer. He is often recognized as a spearhead of the chillwave genre in the 2010s, ...

for his upcoming album. In April 2022, he released his second studio album titled ''Vices'' on

UMG Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch–American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

Victor Victor Worldwide Steven William Victor (born September 6, 1980) is a Haitian-American record executive, artist manager, music publisher, and A&R representative. He is the founder & CEO of Victor Victor Worldwide and SVP of A&R at Universal Music Group. He forme ...

. It debuted at number six on the

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

"Top Albums Debut USA" chart.

Musical style

Weiland's earlier music was notable for his signature usage of vocal effects like reverb and AutoTune along with the unique style of plugg trap beats that he used. This style largely contained elements from genres such as trap rap,

cloud rap Cloud rap is a subgenre of Southern rap and trap music that has several sonic characteristics of lo-fi in its hazy, dreamlike and relaxed sound. Many music experts credit rapper Lil B and producer Clams Casino as the early pioneers of this style. ...

, and plugg music. In late 2020, he revealed he had transitioned from this older sound to a newer retro

synthpop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...

and coldwave esque sound. Weiland unveiled this sound with the release two singles and his most recent album ''Vices''. It is also noted that the rapper drives inspiration from musicians such as

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 ...

Imogen Heap Imogen Jennifer Heap (born 9 December 1977) is a British musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. Her work has been considered pioneering in pop and electropop music. Heap classically trained in piano, cello and clarinet starting at ...

, and

Daft Punk Daft Punk were a French electronic music duo formed in 1993 in Paris by Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. Widely regarded as one of the most influential acts in dance music history, they achieved popularity in the late 1990s as p ...

Discography

Studio albums

Mixtapes

Extended plays

Singles

* "Colors" (2018) * "slilppnyhik6febe.onion" (2020) * "Heart Stop" (2021) * "Blaming Myself" (2021) (with Mike Dean)

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2000 births 21st-century American male musicians Living people People from Tampa, Florida Rappers from Florida