Kirk Jerel Randle (born August 20, 1989), better known by his stage name Kirko Bangz, is an American rapper, known for his 2011 single " Drank in My Cup", which peaked at number 28 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and received

platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...

certification by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA). His guest appearance on

Meek Mill Robert Rihmeek Williams (born May 6, 1987), known professionally as Meek Mill, is an American rapper. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he embarked on his career as a battle rapper, and later formed a short-lived rap group the Blo ...

's 2012 single, " Young & Gettin' It", peaked at number 86. As his following releases have failed to chart, he has been regarded as a

one-hit wonder A one-hit wonder is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music performers with ...

Early life

Kirko Bangz was born Kirk Jerel Randle on August 20, 1989, in Houston, Texas. Bangz started rapping at the age of fifteen, due in part to witnessing his mother struggle as a single parent; using his mother's pain as motivation. He graduated from North Shore High School in Houston and would later go on to attend

Prairie View A&M University Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU or PV) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Prairie View, Texas, United States. Founded in 1876, it is one of Texas's two lan ...

where he would major in communications.

Career

2009–2012: Career beginnings and mixtapes

At Prairie View, he was able to focus on his music. In 2009, he released his first mixtape, ''Procrastination Kills''. He became acquainted with fellow student and soon-to-be manager, D Will, while studying. His stage name is a play on late singer

Kurt Cobain Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – ) was an American musician. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist, primary songwriter, and a founding member of the grunge band Nirvana (band), Nirvana. Through his angsty songwriting and anti-establis ...

's name. Bangz signed with

Warner Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

to release his first single, " What Yo Name Iz?", on February 7, 2011. According to Bangz himself, the song began as a

freestyle Freestyle may refer to: Brands * Reebok Freestyle, a women's athletic shoe * Ford Freestyle, an SUV automobile * Coca-Cola Freestyle, a vending machine * Abbott FreeStyle, a blood glucose monitor by Abbott Laboritories Media * '' FreeStyle'', ...

. It peaked at number 41 on the

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

chart. A remix was released on June 24, 2011, and features

Big Sean Sean Michael Leonard Anderson (born March 25, 1988), known professionally as Big Sean, is an American rapper. He met Kanye West as a teenager, and signed with his record label GOOD Music, an imprint of Def Jam Recordings in 2007. He gained popul ...

Wale Wale or WALE may refer to: Places * Wale, Devon, a hamlet in England * Wale, Tomaszów Mazowiecki County, a village in Poland People * Wale (surname) *Wale (rapper), stage name of American rapper Olubowale Victor Akintimehin Radio and televisi ...

and

Bun B Bernard James Freeman (born March 19, 1973), known professionally as Bun B, is an American rapper. He is best known as one half of the Southern rap duo UGK (Underground Kingz), a group he formed in 1987 alongside Pimp C. Aside from his work wi ...

. He released a mixtape shortly after on March 1, 2011, titled ''Procrastination Kills 3''. His second single, " Drank in My Cup", was released on September 16, 2011. During the week of February 25, 2012, the song debuted at number 96 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. It has since peaked at number 28 on the chart, as well as having peaked atop the

Hot Rap Songs Hot Rap Songs (formerly known as Hot Rap Tracks and Hot Rap Singles) is a chart released weekly by '' Billboard'' in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular hip-hop/rap songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio stat ...

chart. The song spawned remixes and freestyles from hip-hop artists including

J. Cole Jermaine Lamarr Cole (born January 28, 1985) is an American rapper and record producer. Born in a military base in Germany and raised in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Cole initially gained attention as a rapper following the release of his d ...

2 Chainz Tauheed K. Epps (born September 12, 1977), known professionally as 2 Chainz (formerly Tity Boi), is an American rapper and actor. Born and raised in College Park, Georgia, he gained recognition as one-half of the Southern hip-hop duo Playaz Ci ...

Tyga Micheal Ray StevensonMicheal Ray Stevenson

, Bow Wow,

Kid Ink Brian Todd Collins (born April 1, 1986), known professionally as Kid Ink, is an American rapper and singer from Los Angeles, California. His debut studio album, ''Up & Away (Kid Ink album), Up & Away'' (2012), was released independently and peake ...

Chamillionaire Hakeem Temidayo Seriki (born November 28, 1979), better known by his stage name Chamillionaire (), is an American rapper. He began his career in Houston's hip hop scene in the late 1990s. He was briefly signed with the local record label Swishah ...

and singer

Trey Songz Tremaine Aldon Neverson (born November 28, 1984), known professionally as Trey Songz, is an American Contemporary R&B, R&B singer and songwriter. After being discovered by record producer Troy Taylor (record producer), Troy Taylor in 2003, Songz ...

. Bangz released the mixtape ''Procrastination Kills 4'' on September 4, 2012. His single " Keep It Trill" was released on November 30, 2012.

2013–present: Atlantic Records and 300 Entertainment

On March 26, 2013, it was announced that Bangz would be a part of ''XXL'''s 2013 Freshman Class. Three days later, he announced the title of his debut album: ''Bigger Than Me''. On July 4, 2013, Bangz announced that he would release another mixtape, ''Progression 3'' on August 1, 2013, prior to his debut album. However he would announce that it would be pushed back a week later. The mixtape was released on August 12, 2013. Guest appearances came from Wale,

Nipsey Hussle Ermias Joseph Asghedom (born Airmiess Joseph Asghedom; August 15, 1985 – March 31, 2019), known professionally as Nipsey Hussle, was an American rapper, entrepreneur, and activist. Emerging from the West Coast hip-hop scene in the mid-20 ...

French Montana Karim Kharbouch (Moroccan Arabic, Arabic: IPA pronunciation, æɾiːm χɑɾbuːʃ born November 9, 1984), better known by his stage name French Montana, is a Moroccan-American rapper. Born and raised in Morocco, he immigrated to New York ...

Z-Ro Joseph Wayne McVey (born January 19, 1977), better known by his stage names Z-Ro and the Mo City Don, is an American rapper from Houston, Texas. He was named one of America's most underrated rappers by ''The New York Times'' in 2007. Early life ...

Paul Wall Paul Michael Slayton (born March 11, 1981), better known by his stage name Paul Wall, or the Ice Man, is an American rapper and DJ. He has spent much of his career affiliated with Swishahouse, and has released several albums under the label and ...

, YG and

Slim Thug Stayve Jerome Thomas (born September 8, 1979), better known by his stage name Slim Thug, is an American rapper. He gained mainstream attention for his guest performance alongside Paul Wall on Mike Jones' 2004 single "Still Tippin'". The followi ...

, among others. Production was handled by K.E. on the Track,

DJ Mustard A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music festivals), mobile DJ ...

and

Jahlil Beats Orlando Jahlil Tucker (born February 8, 1988), better known by his stage name Jahlil Beats, is an American hip hop record producer. He has produced for artists such as Lil Wayne, Fabolous, Meek Mill, Chris Brown, Tyga, Rick Ross, Ace Hood, Bobb ...

, among others. He was then moved to

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

, another subsidiarity of Warner Music Group. Then on January 28, 2014, Bangz released the single "Hoe", featuring YG and

Yo Gotti Mario Sentell Giden Mims (born May 19, 1981), known professionally as Yo Gotti, is an American rapper, singer, and record executive. Rooted in Memphis rap, he released five independent albums—''Youngsta's on a Come Up'' (1996), ''From da Dope ...

, which was intended to lead his

major label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and t ...

debut album. From March 6 to April 17, 2014, Kirko Bangz went on The Trillest

concert tour A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often, concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific ...

which was co-headlined by frequent collaborator Bun B. On December 16, 2014, Bangz released the ''Progression V: Young Texas Playa'' mixtape, which was produced primarily by Austinite, Kydd Jones and Sound M.O.B. (who produced Kirko's previous hit "Drank in My Cup"); the mixtape featured artists such as fellow Texas natives Bun B and Riff Raff. On July 21, 2015, it was announced that Bangz signed with

300 Entertainment Theory Entertainment LLC, doing business as 300 Entertainment, is an American record label founded by Lyor Cohen, Kevin Liles, Todd Moscowitz, and Roger Gold. The label's roster includes acts across multiple genres such as hip hop, rock, pop, ele ...

. Although he released several singles to promote his debut album ''Bigger Than Me,'' it remains unreleased. Bangz stated in an interview that much of his unreleased material is owned by

Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp., commonly abbreviated as WMG, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational entertainment and record label Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the "Record label#M ...

, making him unable to release it. On August 31, 2015, Bangz released his first extended play (EP), ''Fallin' Up Mix''. On February 19, 2016, Bangz released his second EP, titled '' Playa Made''. Then on August 26, 2016, Bangz released the mixtape ''Back Flossin'.'' On August 10, 2017, Bangz released an installment to his ''Progression'' series with ''Progression 17.''

Personal life

Kirko Bangz is of African American, Mexican and Dominican descent.

Discography

*'' Playa Made'' (2016) * ''Back Flossin'' (2016)

References

External links

Kirko Bangz
at YouTube
Interview with Boi-1da.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bangz, Kirko 1989 births Living people African-American male rappers 21st-century American male rappers 20th-century American male rappers American hip-hop singers American rappers of Mexican descent American rappers of Dominican Republic descent Atlantic Records artists Prairie View A&M University alumni Rappers from Houston Warner Records artists African-American record producers American hip-hop record producers Singers from Texas Songwriters from Texas North Shore Senior High School (Texas) alumni 21st-century American rappers Record producers from Texas 21st-century American male musicians African-American songwriters 21st-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American musicians American male songwriters