9lokknine

Florida rapper 9lokknine first gained widespread notice during 2019 through his featured appearance alongside YNW Melly on the track “223’s” and through several cuts from the Bloodshells Revenge mixtape. Themes of violence, crime, and direct confrontation in his lyrics aligned with real events, coinciding with repeated arrests and ongoing legal matters around the August 2020 arrival of AFNF.

Born Jacquavius Smith in Orlando, Florida in 2000, he had already begun writing rhymes by age seventeen and issued his debut project, the mixtape Kold Face Kold Case, in early 2018. The remainder of that year proved decisive: three additional mixtapes appeared, and he secured a contract with Cash Money/Republic Records before December closed. Bloodshells Revenge, which surfaced in April, drew significant interest thanks to the viral tracks “Crayola” and “Ten Percent.” He next delivered Loyalty Kill Love, then finalized the Cash Money/Republic deal in August. In the months that followed, further encounters with law enforcement produced multiple weapons- and drug-related charges. Amid those developments, the YNW Melly collaboration “223’s” became his strongest commercial success to date, accumulating hundreds of millions of streams and reaching the Billboard Top 50. October 2019 brought Mind of Destruction, his first release under the new label, which included contributions from Rich the Kid, Asian Doll, and Lil Durk. While facing additional firearm and attempted-murder charges in mid-2020, he issued AFNF that August as a seven-track set containing no guest appearances.