Malik Perry Flint, known professionally as Black Party (stylized as "bLAck pARty") is an American singer, songwriter, and producer. Originally based in

Little Rock Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

and now living in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, he is from a military family that moved to Arkansas in 2008. He began his musical life by playing

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

in middle school bands, and by high school had taught himself guitar, keyboards, and bass, as well as engineering and recording. He DJ-ed, promoted shows, and performed in hip-hop groups. In 2011, while a senior at Bryant High School, Flint launched rap-rock group Flint Eastwood with guitarist Marcus Meier, drummer Philip Cottingham, bassist Tyler Inmon, and keyboardist Jon-Michael Harper. Malik was the lead vocalist/rapper. The band name was a play on his last name, Flint. The band released a six-song EP, ''Hometown Glory'', in July 2012, followed by a full-length album titled ''Flint Eastwood'' in December of that year. Their tour history included opening for MGK,

Big K.R.I.T. Justin Lewis Scott (born August 26, 1986), known professionally as Big K.R.I.T. (a backronym for King Remembered in Time), is an American rapper and record producer. Born in Meridian, Mississippi, he began his musical career in 2005. He was sign ...

, Bush,

Nappy Roots Nappy Roots is an American alternative Southern rap group. The group met in Bowling Green, Kentucky, in 1995 while attending Western Kentucky University. They have worked with Rob Run Corleone of Empire Distribution. On the South Rituals mixt ...

, and others. After Flint Eastwood broke up, Flint adopted the name Black Party, stylizing it with capital letters to single out "LA" for Los Angeles, where he lives, and "AR" for Arkansas where he was raised. In 2013, he began producing for

Kari Faux Kari Rose Johnson (born June 11, 1992) better known by her stage name Kari Faux, is an American rapper from Little Rock, Arkansas. She is best known for her flamboyant dress, and conversational style of rap. Her songs are most commonly characteri ...

. (The two had met when both were in their mid-teens). Their collaboration, "No Small Talk," caught the attention of

Childish Gambino Donald McKinley Glover Jr. (; born September 25, 1983), also known by his musical stage name Childish Gambino (), is an American actor, comedian, musician, and filmmaker. While he studied at New York University and after working in Derrick ...

(

Donald Glover Donald McKinley Glover Jr. (; born September 25, 1983), also known by his musical stage name Childish Gambino (), is an American actor, comedian, musician, and filmmaker. While he studied at New York University and after working in Derrick ...

), who remixed it and featured it on his ''STN MTN/Kauai'' mixtape. In 2014, Black Party released the mixtape ''Prototype''. He moved to

, where Gambino signed him to his Royalty collective. Malik contributed production to Gambino's Grammy Award-winning album '' "Awaken, My Love!"'' as well as to tracks on the soundtracks/scores to the TV series ''

Dear White People ''Dear White People'' is a 2014 American comedy-drama film written, directed and co-produced by Justin Simien. The film focuses on escalating racial tensions at a fictitious, prestigious Ivy League college from the perspective of several black ...

'', ''

Insecure Insecure may refer to: * Lack of security, in an objective sense: ** Risk ** Data security ** Computer security * Food insecurity * Insecurity (emotion), lack of confidence or self esteem Media * ''Insecure'' (TV series), a television series on ...

'', and ''Atlanta''. He also executive produced Faux's 2016 album ''Lost en Los Angeles''. In November 2016, he released the nine-track album ''Mango'', describing the music as "tropical funk". His 2019 album ''Endless Summer'' is his first release through Wolf + Rothstein and

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

. The first single, "No Complaints," features DMP Jefe and was released May 5, 2019. Also, in 2019, he collaborated with Jacquie on her song "Grim". On August 5, 2022, Black Party released his third album ''

Hummingbird Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the Family (biology), biological family Trochilidae. With approximately 366 species and 113 genus, genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but most species are found in Cen ...

''.

References

{{Authority control 1992 births Living people Musicians from Arkansas American male singer-songwriters American record producers 21st-century African-American male singers 21st-century American male singers 21st-century African-American musicians Musicians from California