YNW Melly

YNW Melly, a Florida-based rapper, crafts emotionally raw rap tracks drawn from his unsettled personal history. He started dropping material in the mid-2010s and achieved wider recognition through his first mixtape, I Am You, released in 2018.

Raised amid the perilous surroundings of Gifford, Florida, the artist launched his work early in life. Born Jamell Demons in 1999, he posted self-made tracks on SoundCloud at age 15, developing an approach that blended melodic singing with direct rhymes addressing violence, crime, sex, money, and the difficult conditions surrounding his teenage years. Demons experienced the circumstances he depicted in his music and served time in 2017 after weapons-related charges stemming from a shooting incident at age 16. Following his release, he increased his output, delivering numerous singles, videos, and projects that included cuts such as "Murder on My Mind" and "Catching Feelings." The Collect Call EP came out in 2017 and included appearances by established names like Lil B and John Wicks.

Throughout 2018 Melly maintained a steady pace, dropping the singles "Melly the Menace," "Virtual," and "Slang That Iron" in quick succession before unveiling the complete I Am You project. He also contributed to the late-2018 track "Just Woke Up" by Supreme Patty. Early the next year he issued We All Shine, which featured Kanye West on the song "Mixed Personalities." August brought a chart entry for the standalone single "223's" that included 9lokkNine. Legal troubles mounted during the same period. Beyond additional lesser charges, Melly faced two counts of first-degree murder in February 2019 tied to the October deaths of his associates and collaborators YNW Juvy and YNW Sakchaser. Still held while awaiting trial, he saw his first studio album, Melly vs. Melvin, surface in November 2019. The single "Thugged Out" featuring Kodak Black arrived in 2021 and was followed soon after by the second studio album Just a Matter of Slime, assembled while the rapper remained incarcerated.