Haile Malik Salaam (born August 16, 2000), known professionally as Xanman, is an American rapper from

Landover, Maryland Landover is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 25,998. Landover is contained between Sheriff Road and Central Avenue to the so ...

. He gained significant attention in 2019 with his single "Gucci Down". Xanman has worked with a number of other Maryland rappers including his cousin

YungManny Emmanuel Okanlawon (born October 3, 2003), known professionally as YungManny, is an American rapper from Bowie, Maryland. Career YungManny raps about many topics while using youth pop culture references, such as Hello Kitty, Moana, The Magi ...

and frequent collaborator Goonew. Goonew died in March 2022 from gunshot wounds.

Early life

Xanman was born Haile Salaam on August 16, 2000, in

, a suburb of

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Raised in Landover, he was exposed to music at an early age. He claims Brightseat Road in Landover as his home. Salaam began to take an interest in the drums at age 5, and was influenced by his uncle, who was a drummer for

Go-go Go-go is a music subgenre, subgenre of funk music with an emphasis on specific rhythmic patterns, and live audience Call and response (music), call and response. Go-go was originated by African-American musicians in the Washington, D.C. area du ...

legend

Chuck Brown Charles Louis Brown (August 22, 1936 – May 16, 2012) was an American guitarist, bandleader and singer known as "The Godfather of Go-Go". Go-go is a subgenre of funk music developed around the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area in the mid-197 ...

. He began recording music while in elementary school, and became proficient with the music software program

Pro Tools Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed and released by Avid Technology (formerly Digidesign) for Microsoft Windows and macOS. It is used for music creation and production, sound for picture (sound design, audio post-productio ...

when he was 11 years old.

Music career

Xanman released his first mixtape "''Finesse Lord''" in 2013. He went on to release a number of mixtapes in the following years, including ''No Plug'' and ''Broken''. As of 2020, Xanman has released 34 mixtapes and a long list of singles. Xanman has collaborated with a number of different artists including

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 ...

and fellow DC-Area rapper Lil Dude. Their single ''Many Men'' was ranked 7th on the Washington Post's list of the best DMV rap songs and albums of 2018. Citing his influences, Salaam named

Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September 27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. His career began in 1995, at the age of 12, when he was signed by rapper Birdman (rapper), ...

as one of the most important people in sparking his interest in making rap music. Describing Xanman's energetic stage presence,

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

music critic Chris Richards wrote, "it signals a lust for life, a yearning, an exaggerated stride into the future."

Legal issues

Salaam was arrested on November 8, 2018, and charged with assault. He was sentenced to six months in jail. While incarcerated, a #FreeXan movement gained momentum on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

. Upon his release, Xanman released a song entitled ''First Day Out'' featuring his cousin and collaborator

References

{{authority control 2000 births Living people 21st-century American rappers Trap musicians Drill musicians Rappers from Maryland