Derek Fifi "Wise" Bissue (born December 11, 1992), is a Canadian rapper, singer, and songwriter. He was formerly signed to Canadian singer-songwriter

the Weeknd Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (; born February 16, 1990), known professionally as the Weeknd, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is best known for adding Pop music, pop, electronic music, electronic and hip-hop stylings ...

's record label, XO and

Republic Records Republic Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Based in New York City, it was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially ...

, under the

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- ...

duo

88Glam 88Glam was a Canadian hip hop duo that formed in 2017 by Shakqueel "88Camino" Burthwright and Derek "Wise" Bissue. They were formerly signed to XO and Republic Records before getting dropped in 2020 and frequently collaborated with Nav (rapp ...

with his friend, fellow Canadian rapper

88Camino Shakqueel Malcolm De'shon Burthwright (born June 14, 1992), known professionally as 88Camino, is a Canadian-American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He was formerly signed to Canadian singer-songwriter the Weeknd's record label, XO and Republic ...

Early life

Wise was born in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

on December 11, 1992. He grew up listening to American

rappers Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing b ...

like Juvenile,

Trick Daddy Maurice Samuel Young (born September 27, 1974), better known by his stage name Trick Daddy, is an American rapper from Miami, Florida. He is best known for his 2004 single " Let's Go" (featuring Twista and Lil Jon), which peaked at number seven on ...

, Stack Bundles,

Max B Charley Wingate (born May 21, 1978), better known by his stage name Max B (short for Max Biggaveli), is an American rapper and singer. He is best known for his solo ''Public Domain'' and ''Million Dollar Baby'' series of mixtapes, and introduc ...

, and

LL Cool J James Todd Smith (born January 14, 1968), known professionally as LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James), is an American rapper and actor. He is one of the earliest rappers to achieve commercial success, alongside fellow new school hip ho ...

. By the age of 20, Wise had moved around Toronto 14 times.

Career

2012: ''Vacay''

In October 2012, Wise released ''Vacay'', his debut

mixtape In the modern music industry, a mixtape is a musical project, typically with looser constraints than that of an album or extended play. Unlike the traditional album or extended play, mixtapes are labeled as laid-back projects that allow artists mo ...

with 16 tracks. The mixtape premiered on

DatPiff DatPiff was an online audio distribution platform that was launched in 2005. It is headquartered in Pennsylvania. It specializes in hip-hop, rap, and urban music. The site was founded in the spring of 2005 by Marcus Frasier. It is owned by Me ...

2016: ''Inglorious''

After a year of releasing multiple singles and music videos in 2016, Wise announced his debut album ''Inglorious'' on January 21, 2017. ''Inglorious'' was released on January 30, 2017. On April 21, 2017, Wise performed at the 2017

Canadian Music Week The Departure Festival + Conference, formerly known as Canadian Music Week, is an industry conference and music festival held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.David Friend"Canadian Music Week buyers rename event Departure Festival, expand its scope" ...

festival, supporting

Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

artist

A Boogie wit da Hoodie Artist Julius Dubose (born December 6, 1995), known professionally as A Boogie wit da Hoodie or simply A Boogie, is an American rapper, and singer-songwriter. He released his debut studio album, '' The Bigger Artist'', via Atlantic Records in ...

. Wise frequently makes cameo appearances in music videos that feature

The Weeknd Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (; born February 16, 1990), known professionally as the Weeknd, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is best known for adding Pop music, pop, electronic music, electronic and hip-hop stylings ...

, most notably in "King of the Fall" and " Reminder".

2017–present: 88Glam

On November 1, 2017,

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

premiered the music video for "12" from the newly formed duo

, consisting of Wise and frequent collaborator 88Camino. The music video also featured a cameo appearance by The Weeknd. ''

'', the self-titled debut project by 88Glam was released on November 7, 2017. 88Glam released ''88Glam Reloaded'' on April 20, 2018, after officially signing to XO and

. On November 15, 2018, 88Glam released their second album ''88Glam2'', through XO and Republic. On March 5, 2020, revealed an upcoming album titled ''Close to Heaven Far from God'' which was set to be released on April 17, 2020, through XO and Republic. However, the album has been delayed due to 88Glam's departure from the labels. 88Glam instead released a mixtape independently titled ''New Mania'' on June 26, 2020. ''Close to Heaven Far from God'' was finally released independently on August 26, 2022, after more than two years of teasing, with major changes from the original tracklist.

Legal issues

On December 11, 2013, Wise was arrested on charges of

human trafficking Human trafficking is the act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, or receiving individuals through force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of exploitation. This exploitation may include forced labor, sexual slavery, or oth ...

following allegations from a 21-year-old woman. The charges faced by Bissue include trafficking in persons, uttering threats of death and bodily harm, two counts of overcoming resistance by choking, robbery, weapons charges, and three counts of theft under $5,000. Shortly after the charges were dropped, Wise released a track titled "Had to Wake Up" on June 27, 2016, to address the allegations.

Solo discography

Studio albums

Mixtapes

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Music videos

With 88Glam

* ''

'' (2017; re-released in 2018) * '' 88Glam2'' (2018) * ''New Mania'' (2020) * ''Heaven Can Wait'' (2021) * ''Close to Heaven Far from God'' (2022)

Awards and nominations

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wise, Derek 21st-century Black Canadian musicians Canadian male rappers Rappers from Toronto Living people XO (record label) artists 1992 births 21st-century Canadian male musicians 21st-century Canadian rappers