Darien Hinton, known professionally as Mooski, is an American rapper and singer. Signed to

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

, he is best known for his 2021 viral single " Track Star", which peaked at number 31 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. It also gained popularity on

TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version ...

. He released a remix of "Track Star" (featuring

Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. According to '' Billboard'', Brown is one of the most successful R&B singers of his generation, having often been referred to by many contempo ...

, A Boogie wit da Hoodie and

Yung Bleu Jeremy Biddle (born April 5, 1994), known professionally as Yung Bleu and Bleu Vandross, is an American rapper and singer. He is best known for his 2020 single "You're Mines Still", which peaked at number 18 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 after it ...

) on May 18, 2021. Hinton later released his debut studio album, ''Melodic Therapy 4 the Broken'', on March 11, 2022.

Life and career

Hinton was born and raised in

Opp, Alabama Opp is a city in Covington County, Alabama, Covington County, Alabama, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 6,771. Opp is named after Henry Opp, a lawyer for the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. Geogr ...

and is of

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

descent. Both of his parents had health issues. Hinton grew up with an interest in music as part of the choir in a local church. He began his musical career as a Gospel rapper before switching to hip hop after he listened to

Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September 27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. His career began in 1995, at the age of 12, when he was signed by rapper Birdman (rapper), ...

and

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...

. Other hip hop artists that Hinton listened to include PnB Rock, Fetty Wap, and Kevin Gates. After graduating high school in 2015, Hinton served in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

for four years before he began working to establish his musical career. In June 2020, Mooski released "Track Star" through

where it gained rapid popularity, over 475+ million views. In February 2021, the song start streaming on other platforms and was released as a single by

. "Track Star" later entered the

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

at number 99 and peaked at number 31, remaining on the chart for a record-breaking 20 weeks. It also peaked at number 53 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. A remix of the song (featuring A Boogie wit da Hoodie,

and

) was released on May 18, 2021. On March 11, 2022, Hinton released his debut studio album ''Melodic Therapy for the Broken''. The album features guest appearances from Chris Brown, Yung Bleu, A Boogie wit da Hoodie, and

K Camp Kristopher Thomas Campbell (born April 27, 1990), better known by his stage name K Camp (stylized as K CAMP), is an American rapper from Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the ...

. The song "Counting Time" samples " Charlene" by Anthony Hamilton.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

As lead artist

Guest appearances

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mooski Year of birth missing (living people) Living people African-American male rappers American male rappers American hip hop singers American contemporary R&B singers Rappers from Alabama Singers from Alabama People from Opp, Alabama Capitol Records artists 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century African-American male singers 21st-century African-American musicians