Deja Monét Trimble (born April 8, 1991), known professionally as Dej Loaf (stylized as DeJ Loaf), is an American rapper and singer from

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

, Michigan. She is best known for her 2014 single " Try Me" and its 2015 follow-up, "

Back Up Backup is the computing function of making copies of data to enable recovery from data loss. Backup may also refer to: Information technology * Backup (backup software), Apple Mac software * Backup and Restore, Windows software * Backup softwa ...

" (featuring

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 ...

). The latter 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) and served as lead single for her debut extended play '' ...And See That's the Thing'' (2015), which was released by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

. Both songs, along with her guest appearance on

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 ...

's 2015 single " Be Real", peaked within the top 50 of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Her debut studio album, ''Sell Sole II'' (2020), was met with positive critical reception despite failing to chart.

Early life

Trimble was raised on the east side of

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. As a child, she often listened to music with her parents and grandmother, including

2Pac Tupac Amaru Shakur (; born Lesane Parish Crooks; June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor, regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all tim ...

Rakim William Michael Griffin Jr. (born January 28, 1968), better known by his stage name Rakim (), is an American rapper. He is one half of Golden age hip-hop, golden age hip hop duo Eric B. & Rakim, with whom he released four albums: ''Paid in Full ...

and

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...

. Her father was killed when she was four years old. A self-described "good kid and a decent student" who mostly kept to herself, she began writing her own original music at the age of 9. In 2009, she graduated from Southeastern High School in Detroit, playing

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

at the junior varsity level. She then attended Saginaw Valley State University and studied nursing for three semesters before deciding to focus full-time on her recording career.

Career

In 2011, Dej Loaf began her career as a

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

artist. Her stage name is a portmanteau of a shortened version of her first name, "Deja", and "loafer", as she took a keen interest in

Air Jordan Air Jordan is a line of basketball and sportswear shoes produced by Nike, Inc. Related apparel and accessories are marketed under Jordan Brand. The first Air Jordan shoe was produced for basketball player Michael Jordan during his time with t ...

s when growing up. In 2013, she released her first official mixtape, ''Just Do It.''. That mixtape attracted the attention of a fellow Detroit-native rapper SAYITAINTTONE. She was later signed to his indie record label, called IBGM (I Been Gettin' Money) under his management team. In July 2014, she released her track, called " Try Me" (produced by DDS), as a single, which earned her viral popularity. Canadian rapper

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals and creatures * A male duck * Drake (mythology), a term related to and often synonymous with dragon People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family ...

quoted lyrics from the song in his

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

post. In October 2014, she signed a major record deal to

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

. After signing the deal, she released her second official mixtape, called ''Sell Sole''. The mixtape was given an "A−" by music critic

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

, who wrote in his review for ''

Vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, Habit (psychology), habit or item generally considered morally wrong in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trait, a defect, an infirmity, or a bad or unhe ...

'', "What's irresistible is the form-content disparity—a rapper who brags so un-macho, a rapper whose greed is so explicitly for her family, a rapper who's "Grindin'" at music. Plus her flow is a brook, her producer respects her space, and her two sex rhymes are into it and into it more." Dej Loaf rapped on the song " Detroit vs. Everybody" featured on

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time, he is credited with popula ...

's compilation ''

Shady XV ''Shady XV'' (stylized as ''SH∀DYXV'', pronounced 'shady fifteen) is a hip hop compilation album performed by various artists of Shady Records. The double disc album was released on November 24, 2014, by Shady Records and Interscope Records. ...

'' (2014). In 2015, she opened for

Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian rapper, singer, and songwriter. Regarded as the "Queen of Rap" and one of the most influential rappers of all time, she is noted for her ...

during the North American leg of

The Pinkprint Tour The Pinkprint Tour was the third concert tour by Trinidadian rapper Nicki Minaj, in support of her third studio album, '' The Pinkprint'' (2014). The tour began on March 16, 2015, in Stockholm, Sweden and concluded on March 25, 2016, in Dubai, Un ...

. Later that year, she was chosen as part of the ''XXL'' magazine 2015 Freshman Class. In February 2016, Dej Loaf released a mixtape called ''All Jokes Aside.'' In July 2017, she released a joint mixtape with Jacquees titled ''Fuck a Friend Zone''. After several years of delays, Dej Loaf split from Columbia Records in 2019. She then independently released her debut album, ''Sell Sole II'' on October 23, 2020. It features appearances from

, Gunna,

Rick Ross William Leonard Roberts II (born January 28, 1976), known professionally as Rick Ross, is an American rapper. An influential figure in modern Hip-hop, hip hop music, Rick Ross has become known for his "Wiktionary:booming, booming" vocal perfor ...

Lil Uzi Vert Symere Bysil Woods ( ; born July 31, 1995), known professionally as Lil Uzi Vert, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, they gained initial recognition following the release of the commer ...

, and

6lack Ricardo Valdez Valentine Jr. (born June 24, 1992), known professionally as 6lack (stylized as 6LACK, pronounced "black"), is an American R&B singer and songwriter. Born in Baltimore, Maryland and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, he gained recognitio ...

. The album is the sequel to Dej Loaf's 2014 mixtape ''Sell Sole''. The album holds a 72/100 rating on

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, indicating "generally favorable reviews". In February 2021, Dej Loaf was featured on

Sevyn Streeter Amber Denise "Sevyn" Streeter (born July 7, 1986)

's single "Guilty" along with

Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. A Pop music, pop and hip-hop-influenced contemporary R&B, R&B musician who works in a variety of genres, he has been called the "Honorific nic ...

and

ASAP Ferg Darold Durard Brown Ferguson Jr. (born October 20, 1988), known professionally as FERG (previously A$AP Ferg ( /ˈeɪsæp/ ''AY-sap'')), is an American rapper from Harlem, New York City. He is a lead member of the hip hop collective ASAP Mob, f ...

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Mixtapes

* ''Just Do It'' (2012) * ''Sell Sole'' (2014) * ''All Jokes Aside'' (2016) * ''Fuck a Friend Zone'' (2017)

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Guest appearances

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Loaf, Dej 1991 births Living people 21st-century American rappers 21st-century African-American women singers 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American women rappers African-American women rappers African-American women singer-songwriters American women singer-songwriters American hip-hop singers Columbia Records artists Midwest hip-hop musicians Pop rappers Rappers from Detroit Saginaw Valley State University alumni Singer-songwriters from Michigan