Amir Obeid, known professionally as Amir Obè (born August 26, 1989), is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, and record producer who started his music career in 2009 as Phreshy Duzit and signed to
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...
. He later left the label to reinvent his style and changed his name to Amir Obè and found his own collective Neighborhood PHCK$. Obè rose to fame by releasing the mixtape, ''Detrooklyn'' in 2014. In 2015, he released the EP, ''Happening in the Grey Area'' and then 2016's, ''Won't Find Love in the Hills''. On December 1, 2016, Amir announced that he had signed a deal with
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 l ...
, and that an album is set to release sometime in 2017. His debut single on Def Jam, "Wish You Well" was released on March 9, 2017.
After a brief break in between releases, Amir announced and released a single titled ''IGNITE + GOODNIGHT'' through Def Jam Recordings,
and eventually would release an EP titled ''before.'' On April 21, 2023, He would announce his debut album ''after''. which would release on April 28, 2023.
On April 2, 2025, He announced his second release “Looking for the Nearest Exit” which is scheduled to release April 25, 2025.
Life and career
1990–2012: Early life and career beginnings
Amir Obè was born in
Detroit
Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...
, then moved to
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. His mother is Polish and a music teacher and his father is Sudanese. Obè's father listened to
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...
growing up and was heavily influenced by
Pharrell Williams
Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973), also known mononymously as Pharrell, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, and fashion designer. He first became known as one half of the music production duo ...
and
Kanye Obè played football in the street and rode his bike. During high school, he kept going back and forth from
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
to visit his sister. Obè played basketball in high school. He played one and two, point guard and shooting guard. He also played AAU, but in high school he was best offensive player in junior year and senior year.
When Obè was 16 or 17, he bought a computer mic and made song called, "Step Your Swag Up", which was his first. His parents didn't know he made music because he did it privately, but basketball was his main priority at the time. After high school, Obè started pursuing a music career and moved back to Brooklyn. Obè was first known as an artist when he went by the name of Phreshy Duzit on
Myspace
Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...
. He had about 100,000 fans and every week he kept releasing new freestyles and started seeing attention and getting messages from record labels. He eventually got signed to
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...
. When Obè was 18, he made a friendship with
PartyNextDoor
Jahron Anthony Brathwaite (born July 3, 1993), known professionally as PartyNextDoor (often stylized in all caps), is a Canadian singer, songwriter, rapper and record producer. He was the first artist to sign with Drake's record label OVO Sound ...
on
Twitter
Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
, who at the time went by "Jahron B". At that time, he was always songwriting and producing, so he'd always send him beats.
Obè released his debut
EP, ''Brave New World'' on April 15, 2011, on Atlantic Records. The EP was entirely produced by NYLZ. Soon after, Obè left the label to revamp his style and described the record deal as "bullshit".
On August 27, 2012, he released his debut mixtape, ''The New Religion'' on his own independent record label Neighborhood PHCK$ and After Platinum Records. It has guest appearances from
Cory Gunz
Peter Cory Pankey, Jr. (born June 22, 1987), better known by his stage name Cory Gunz, is an American rapper from the Bronx, New York City.Jessica Koslow, "Interview: Cory Gunz: Youngest In Charge," February 1, 2005, found aHipHopDx website Acc ...
,
Jon Connor, and
Los and includes production from NYLZ, Daniel Worthy, Rich Flyer, and Obè himself. He revealed he got signed to After Platinum by releasing the mixtape.
2014–17: Rise to fame and collaborations
Obè changed his name to Amir Obè in 2014 when he released the mixtape, ''Detrooklyn''. The mixtape was released on After Platinum Records and included production from NYLZ,
Vinylz, and Daniel Worthy.
"I started feeling like both these places were the same place, so it was an imaginative project talking about my upbringing and my philosophies as an early teen 'till where I'm at now", says Obè. In the fall of 2014, Oliver El-Khatib (
Drake
Drake may refer to:
Animals and creatures
* A male duck
* Drake (mythology), a term related to and often synonymous with dragon
People and fictional characters
* Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family ...
's manager and co-founder of
OVO Sound
OVO Sound (short for October's Very Own) is a Canadian independent record label, founded in 2012 by rapper Drake, producer 40, and manager Oliver El-Khatib. The label operated as a subsidiary of Warner Music Group until 2022, after which it ...
) spoke to Obè and told him Drake is a fan of ''Detrooklyn.'' Because of that, Obè sent him music and got positive feedback.
In February 2015, Obè co-produced, "Star67" for Drake, which appeared on ''
If You're Reading This It's Too Late''. Soon after, there was a rumor being passed around that Obè signed to OVO Sound, but he confirmed it wasn't true. Obè opened for PartyNextDoor on tour and the two collaborated on multiple songs. Obè released his second EP, ''Happening in the Grey Area'' on December 11, 2015. The album contains guest appearances from PartyNextDoor and Eli Sostre and includes production from NYLZ, The Mekanics, Daniel Worthy,
Wondagurl, OZ and more.
On March 11, 2016, Obè released his third EP, ''Won't Find Love in the Hills'' on Neighborhood PHCK$ and
Empire Distribution
Empire Distribution, Records and Publishing Inc. (stylized as EMPIRE) is an independent American record label, distribution and publishing company founded in 2010 by Ghazi Shami. Based in San Francisco, EMPIRE has offices in New York, London, ...
. It has production from NYLZ, OZ, Eli Sostre, The Mekanics, STWO, and Ashton Mills. In late March 2016, AmirObèwas featured on Toronto R&B/Electro singer GOV's single ''Wrong One/Reflectin'' produced by frequent collaborator NYLZ and was the lead single from GOV's ''Nights'' EP which was premiered via Complex Magazine.
On December 1, 2016, AmirObèannounced his signing to Def Jam Records. In early 2017, Obèwas featured on Toronto based artist
keffaleng's EP, "Not So Famous" on the Davinci produced single, "Yeah, Yeah".
Obè's "Wish You Well" is featured on the soundtrack for
Madden NFL 18.
2018-Present: ''Can't Be A ____ Here'' and ''after.''
In 2018, Obè released a series of EP's titled ''Can't Be A ____ Here'', all released through Def Jam Recordings, led by the single ''Holy Sh*t''.
In July, 2020, Obè collaborated with producer Blitz//Berlin on the song ''Shadow'' which was featured in a trailer for the
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...
series
Lovecraft Country.
After three years without a release, Obè teased new music through a series o
social media posts eventually releasing his first single of 2023 titled ''IGNITE + GOODNIGHT'', produced by longtime collaborator NYLZ.
Soon after, he dropped his 8th extended play, titled ''before.'' which featured three tracks, as well as another appearance from PartyNextDoor.
The title of this EP would foreshadow the title of his
debut album, which he teased on April 22, titled ''after.'' which would release the following week.
Discography
Extended plays
Mixtapes
Singles
As lead artist
As featured artist
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Obe, Amir
Living people
African-American male rappers
21st-century American male rappers
Rappers from Brooklyn
Musicians from Detroit
African-American record producers
Record producers from New York (state)
Atlantic Records artists
21st-century American rappers
21st-century American male musicians
1989 births
21st-century African-American musicians
20th-century African-American musicians