Craig J. Gordwin (born October 24, 1994), known professionally as Craig Xen, is an American rapper, best known for his collaborations with

XXXTentacion Jahseh Dwayne Ricardo Onfroy (January 23, 1998 – June 18, 2018), known professionally as XXXTentacion, was an American rapper and singer-songwriter. Though a controversial figure due to his widely publicized legal troubles, XXXTentacion ga ...

and hip hop collective Members Only.

Early life

Gordwin was born on October 24, 1994, in

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

. He was raised

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and frequented a Catholic school until 6th grade. In an interview with

Adam22 Adam John Grandmaison (born November 24, 1983), more commonly known as Adam22, is an American podcaster and YouTuber. He is best known for being the creator and host of pop culture-oriented podcast ''No Jumper''.Grierson, Tim. How Adam22 Tur ...

in February 2016, he stated that he was raised by his mother while his father spent time in jail and that he started rapping when he was 6 years old with his cousin. He grew up listening to

Screwed Up Click The Screwed Up Click (or S.U.C.) is an American hip hop collective based in Houston, Texas, that was led by DJ Screw. Its most notable members include DJ Screw, Big Hawk, Big Mello, Big Moe, Big Pokey, the Botany Boyz, E.S.G., Fat Pat, Lil ...

Green Day Green Day is an American rock band formed in the East Bay of California in 1987 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, together with bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt. For most of the band's career, they have been a powe ...

Linkin Park Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. The band's current lineup comprises vocalist/rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Mike Shinoda, lead guitarist Brad Delson, bassist Dave Farrell, DJ/turntablist Joe Hahn and drummer ...

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in middle America and is critically acclai ...

and

Lil B Brandon Christopher McCartney (born August 17, 1989), professionally known as Lil B and as his alter ego The BasedGod, is an American rapper. Lil B has recorded both solo and with Bay Area group The Pack. His solo work spans several genres, ...

, the last one being one of his biggest musical inspiration. The last name in his stage name, Xen (formerly

Zen Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...

) came from the time he was in high school when Xen was interested by

spirituality The meaning of ''spirituality'' has developed and expanded over time, and various meanings can be found alongside each other. Traditionally, spirituality referred to a religious process of re-formation which "aims to recover the original shape o ...

, used

hallucinogen Hallucinogens are a large, diverse class of psychoactive drugs that can produce altered states of consciousness characterized by major alterations in thought, mood, and perception as well as other changes. Most hallucinogens can be categorized ...

s and practised

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally cal ...

Career

Craig Xen released his first song, "H.D.A.B.", in April 2013 on

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 ...

featuring his cousin Kay Rillo. In 2015, before joining Members Only, he was a member of the Schemaposse collective, which included rappers JGRXXN,

Lil Peep Gustav Elijah Åhr (November 1, 1996 – November 15, 2017), known professionally as Lil Peep, was an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He was a member of the emo rap collective GothBoiClique. Helping pioneer an emo revival-style of Rapp ...

and

Ghostemane Eric Whitney (born April 15, 1991), known professionally as Ghostemane or Eric Ghoste, is an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He has released eight solo albums and three collaborative albums under his Ghostemane moniker, primarily mer ...

, until their dissolution. In February 2016, he released the song "Good Fellas" featuring

Pouya Kevin Pouya (born December 20, 1994), known mononymously as Pouya, is an American rapper from Miami, Florida. Considered as a pioneer of the early underground rap scene that began on SoundCloud in 2012, along with discovering the well known hi ...

and Shakewell. In 2016, Craig Xen joined the hip hop collective Members Only, which was originally a duo between

and

Ski Mask the Slump God Stokeley Clevon Goulbourne (born April 18, 1996), known professionally as Ski Mask the Slump God (formerly stylized as $ki Mask "The Slump God"), is an American rapper. He initially rose to prominence alongside XXXTentacion and their collectiv ...

. Xen appeared on 4 songs from the mixtape Members Only, Vol. 3, released on June 26, 2017. The hip hop collective's debut album,

Members Only, Vol. 4 ''XXXTENTACION Presents: Members Only, Vol. 4'' is the only studio album by American hip hop collective Members Only (hip hop collective), Members Only, led and presented by XXXTentacion. It was released on what would have been XXXTentacion's 21s ...

, was released on January 23, 2019, by

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

. The project debuted at number 18 on the US

Billboard 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of art ...

and Craig Xen appeared on 8 songs. During the year 2016, Xen released few songs like "Death to He Who Cross Me", "Six Men, One Casket" and "Blueberry Lemonade" featuring Lil Peep and Nedarb. Craig Xen was featured on XXXTentacion's single "I Wonder If Bloods Watch Blues Clues". Another collaborative single, "Crucify Thy Infant, Son of Whore" with XXXTentacion and Garette Revenge was released in May 2017. His first studio album, Voltage, was released by label Cruel World in October 2017. His second studio album, Hell Bent, was released in May 2018 by

with singles like "Killa" featuring

Yung Bans Vas Coleman (born May 25, 1999), known professionally as Yung Bans, is an American rapper and songwriter. He is best known for his singles including "Ridin'", "Lonely", "Dresser", "Right Through You", and "4TSpoon" featuring Playboi Carti; as wel ...

or "Murder" featuring

Wifisfuneral Isaiah Rivera (born March 20, 1997), professionally known as Wifisfuneral, is an American rapper from West Palm Beach, Florida. He is best known for his breakthrough mixtapes ''Black Heart Revenge'', ''When Hell Falls'', ''Ethernet'' and ''Boy W ...

. Craig Xen was featured alongside

Lil Skies Kimetrius Christopher Foose (born August 4, 1998 ), better known by his stage name Lil Skies, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter from Waynesboro, Pennsylvania signed to All We Got Entertainment through Atlantic Records. His three hi ...

on Gnar's song "Death Note". The music video for the song was directed by

Cole Bennett 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 ...

and was published on Lyrical Lemonade YouTube channel on June 4, 2019. Craig Xen's first

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

, Broken Kids Club, was released in June 2019 by Cruel World and Empire. The project is supported by songs "Run it Back!" with XXXTentacion and "Stain" featuring Ski Mask the Slump God and

Smokepurpp Omar Jeffery Pineiro (born May 15, 1997), known professionally as Smokepurpp, is an American rapper. Originally a record producer, Pineiro later found success on the audio distribution platform SoundCloud in 2017 from his surge in popularity due ...

. A music video for the project's song "Cry Baby, Cell 17", directed by JMP, was published on July 17, 2019 and another music video for the song "Run it Back!", also directed by JMP, was released on July 30, 2019. was released. Craig Xen was featured on the song "The Only Time I Feel Alive" from XXXTentacion's posthumous album

Bad Vibes Forever ''Bad Vibes Forever'' is the fourth and final studio album by American rapper and singer XXXTentacion. It is his second posthumous solo album following his Murder of XXXTentacion, death on June 18, 2018. The album was released on December 6, 2019 ...

, which was released in December 2019.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''

'' (2019) with Members Only * ''Why'' (2020)

Mixtapes

* ''Infinite ☥ Militia'' (2015) with Kay Rillo * ''CHAPTER ONE – ENTER REALM'' (2015) with GG Neeks * ''CHAPTER TWO – THE ORACLE'' (2015) with GG Neeks * ''Decay'' (2015) * ''Brute'' (2015) * ''Xen'' (2015) * ''DARKWATER'' (2015) * ''5 ★ THREAT'' (2015) * ''Resilient'' (2016) * ''Waist Deep'' (2016) * ''Revelation'' (2016) * ''Martyr'' (2016) * '' Members Only, Vol. 3'' (2017) with Members Only * ''Voltage'' (2017) * ''Hell Bent'' (2018) * ''PROTECT ME FROM MYSELF'' (2019)

Extended plays

* ''Broken Kids Club'' (2019) * '' God is Watching'' (2020)

Singles

* ''Bare Flesh'' (2016) * ''Voltage'' (2016) * ''Succubus'' (2016) * ''Chopstix'' (2018) * ''Stain'' (2018) * ''

Run It Back! "Run It Back!" is a song by American rappers Craig Xen and XXXTentacion. The song was released as a single for Craig Xen's 2019 EP ''Broken Kids Club''. It was produced by DJ Patt and STAIN. Background "Run It Back!" was first previewed in No ...

'' (2019) with

References

{{Portal bar, Biography, Music, United States 1994 births American hip hop musicians Hardcore hip hop artists Mumble rappers Trap metal musicians Rappers from Houston Living people 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American male musicians