Emerging from Pompano Beach, Florida, at the age of 18, Kodak Black drew audiences toward a sonic palette rooted in the Dirty South sound of the 1990s. Legal entanglements and public scandals shadowed his ascent, yet his aggressive delivery and defiant persona drove projects such as the 2020 release Bill Israel along with 2022’s Back for Everything and Kutthroat Bill, Vol. 1 into prominent chart positions. Ahead of the May 2023 arrival of Pistolz & Pearlz, he reached the upper tier of the R&B/Hip-Hop rankings with the Gucci Mane collaboration “King Snipe.” Later that November he delivered a second full-length studio effort for the year, the stark and introspective surprise project When I Was Dead. Two standout singles, “Shampoo” and “Hit Stick,” followed in 2024.
Dieuson Octave, who would become known professionally as Kodak Black, entered the world in Pompano Beach, Florida, in 1997. He first circulated his recordings publicly in 2013 while still sixteen, capturing early demos inside a narcotics operation and drawing from repeated juvenile-court encounters that lent authenticity to his depictions of street violence and neighborhood hardship. Those experiences underpinned the 2014 mixtape Project Baby. Its 2015 successor, Heart of the Projects, contained the breakout cut “SKRT,” which gained widespread traction after Drake posted the track online and spun it on his OVO Sound Radio program. Atlantic subsequently signed the rapper, and Institution, his third mixtape, surfaced before year’s end.
In 2016 Kodak Black joined French Montana on the charting single “Lockjaw” and issued his fourth mixtape, Lil B.I.G. Pac. The following year he unveiled his first proper studio album, Painting Pictures, which showcased appearances by Jeezy, Future, and Young Thug; the set led the R&B/Hip-Hop chart and climbed to number three on the Billboard 200. Before 2017 closed, he followed with the fifth mixtape, Project Baby 2. Valentine’s Day 2018 brought the R&B-tinged Heart Break Kodak, which settled at number twenty-five on the Billboard 200. Months afterward, amid ongoing legal proceedings and not-guilty pleas, he received a one-year prison sentence yet secured release after four months once time served was credited. While incarcerated he adopted the legal name Bill K. Kapri and obtained his GED. Upon freedom he issued the single “If I’m Lyin, I’m Flyin,” the opening track for his sophomore studio album Dying to Live, which debuted at the summit of the Billboard 200.
The bulk of 2019 was consumed by touring and courtroom appearances, yet Kodak Black found himself back behind bars by June 2020. Still imprisoned, he released his third studio album, Bill Israel, in November 2020; guest contributions came from Lil Yachty, Jackboy, Gucci Mane, and additional artists, and the project entered the Billboard 200 at number twenty-nine. May 2021 saw the arrival of the concise eight-track mixtape Haitian Boy Kodak, which reached number twenty-five on the Billboard 200. Later that year he dropped the EP Happy Birthday Kodak and several standalone tracks including “Killing the Rats.” In October 2021 he appeared on eight of the eleven cuts comprising the Halloween-oriented mixtape Sniper Gang Presents Syko Bob & Snapkatt: Nightmare Babies. One selection, “Super Gremlin,” quickly achieved platinum status and peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100.
February 2022 brought the fourth studio album Back for Everything, which rose to number two on the Billboard 200; alongside the charting single “Usain Boo,” the project carried “Super Gremlin” as a bonus track and featured only one external guest, Lil Durk on “Take You Back.” After contributing to Kendrick Lamar’s Top Ten single “Silent Hill,” Kodak Black issued the solo tracks “Walk” and “Spin,” both of which appeared on his fifth studio album Kutthroat Bill: Vol. 1. The Top Ten release also contained verses from Lil Crix on “Play,” VVSNCE on “Starter Kit,” NFL Tuewop on “Ammunition,” and Prince Swanny on “Bad Man.” During 2023 he registered a Hot 100 entry with “King Snipe” featuring Gucci Mane and placed “I Remember” (with Internet Money and Roddy Ricch) and “No Love for a Thug” inside the Top Forty of the R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart before unveiling the fifth studio album Pistolz & Pearlz in May. November 2023 brought the surprise sixth studio set When I Was Dead; only three of its nineteen tracks included outside voices—OG Bobby Billions, WizDaWizard, and Wam SpinThaBin—and the album debuted at number seventy-four on the Billboard 200. Among the numerous singles issued throughout 2024 were the solo cuts “Shampoo” and “Hit Stick” as well as joint efforts alongside Don Toliver, Busta Rhymes, and Luh Tyler.
