Gunna

Without ever elevating his volume, Gunna ranks among rap’s most commercially dominant figures. His delivery, frequently slurred and occasionally bordering on a stammer, nevertheless projected the assurance of a seasoned artist from his first appearance on Young Thug’s “Floyd Mayweather” (2016) onward through his initial mixtapes and the Top Ten Lil Baby joint project Drip Harder (2018). That stature was reinforced by the successive releases Drip or Drown 2 (2019), WUNNA (2020), and the Young Stoner Life compilation Slime Language 2 (2021), then by DS4Ever (2022), A Gift & a Curse (2023), and One of Wun (2024). Each project either reached or approached the summit of the Billboard 200, propelled by singles such as “Drip Too Hard,” “Too Easy,” and “FukUMean.” Non-album tracks including “Got Damn” have followed.

The College Park, Georgia-raised rapper Sergio Kitchens first treated music and rapping as a pastime during his early teenage years. Around 2016 he began to view hip-hop as a viable profession after a mutual acquaintance connected him with Atlanta MC Young Thug. Shortly afterward Gunna entered the studio to contribute a verse to Young Thug’s “Floyd Mayweather,” sharing the track with Gucci Mane and Travis Scott. The number 41 R&B/hip-hop-charting single brought him initial prominence, leading quickly to a signing with Young Thug’s YSL label. Before the close of 2016 he issued the Drip Season mixtape; its follow-up, Drip Season 2, appeared in 2017, and the Wheezy-produced EP Drip or Drown arrived in 2019.

Gunna first registered on the Billboard 200 with early 2018’s Drip Season 3, which debuted at number 55 and included appearances by Lil Yachty, Lil Uzi Vert, and Metro Boomin. Ten months later he joined Lil Baby for Drip Harder, which climbed to number four and was led by “Drip Too Hard,” his initial platinum-certified recording. By then primed for a full-length debut, he also made an early crossover step with a featured verse on Mariah Carey’s “Stay Long Love You.” After extended preparation, Drip or Drown 2 landed in February 2019 and entered the Billboard 200 at number three. In April 2020 the collaborative single “Quarantine Clean,” recorded with Young Thug and Turbo, emerged with a hook that alluded to worldwide COVID-19 lockdowns. The following month Gunna released his second studio album, WUNNA. Introduced by the atmospheric trap cuts “Skybox” and “Wunna,” the set featured Travis Scott and Young Thug among its guests and opened at number one on the Billboard 200.

His second chart-topping entry arrived in 2021 via the Young Stoner Life project Slime Language 2, which assembled an extensive roster including Travis Scott, Drake, Lil Uzi Vert, Big Sean, Skepta, Future, and Kid Cudi. In 2022 Gunna delivered DS4Ever, framed as a continuation of the Drip Season series, which became his second solo number-one debut. The single “Bread & Butter” preceded the 2023 album A Gift & a Curse, which peaked at number three. Following appearances on Turbo’s “Bachelor” and Sarz’s “Happiness,” Gunna launched his 2024 output with “Bittersweet” and then issued One of Wun, a number-two album anchored by “PradaDem” and “WhatsApp (Wassam).” After additional guest spots with artists such as Offset and Toosii, he issued the solo tracks “Him All Along” and “Got Damn.”