Aaron Jennings Puckett (born May 31, 1994), known professionally as Lil Aaron (stylized as lil aaron), is an American singer, rapper, and songwriter from Goshen,

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

. Merging elements of

pop punk Pop-punk (also punk-pop, alternatively spelled without the hyphen) is a rock music fusion genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop music, pop. It is defined by its fast-paced, energetic tempos, and emphasis on classic pop s ...

and

emo Emo () is a genre of rock music characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of hardcore punk and from the Washington, D.C., hardcore scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore. The bands ...

with

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- ...

and

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

, he has released five solo EPs, as well as two EPs as a member of the

alternative hip hop Alternative hip-hop (also known as alternative rap and experimental hip-hop) is a subgenre of hip-hop music that encompasses a wide range of styles that are not typically identified as mainstream. AllMusic defines it as comprising "hip-hop group ...

collective Boyfriendz. He has also written songs for artists such as Blackbear,

Liam Payne Liam James Payne (29 August 1993 – 16 October 2024) was an English singer and songwriter. He was a member of the pop band One Direction, one of the best-selling boy bands of all time, alongside Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Harry Styles, and Loui ...

Hailee Steinfeld Hailee Steinfeld (born December 11, 1996) is an American actress, singer, and songwriter. She had her breakthrough with the western film ''True Grit (2010 film), True Grit'' (2010), which earned her List of awards and nominations received by H ...

, Dev and

Kiiara Kiara Saulters (born May 24, 1995), known professionally as Kiiara, is an American singer-songwriter from Wilmington, Illinois. She is currently signed to Atlantic Records. Her 2015 single "Gold" peaked at number 13 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 10 ...

. He took part in the writing of

Lizzo Melissa Viviane Jefferson (born April 27, 1988), known professionally as Lizzo (), is an American singer and rapper. Born in Detroit, Michigan, she moved to Houston, Texas, with her family at the age of ten. After college, she moved to Minn ...

's 2019 album ''

Cuz I Love You ''Cuz I Love You'' is the third studio album and major label debut studio album by American rapper Lizzo. It was released through Nice Life and Atlantic Records on April 19, 2019. The album features guest appearances from fellow American rappers ...

'', which won a

Grammy Award for Best Urban Contemporary Album The Grammy Award for Best Progressive R&B Album is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards to recording artists for high quality works on albums in the urban contemporary subgenre within the R&B field. Honors in several categories are presented ...

Early life

Puckett grew up in Goshen,

. His younger brother, Kora Puckett, is also a musician, playing in rock band Narrow Head. As a child, his

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

parents didn't allow him to listen to

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin , or or ), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. The origins of secularity can be traced to the Bible itself. The concept was fleshed out through Christian hi ...

music, however he eventually became a fan of secular

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

and

bands through websites such as

MySpace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...

and

PureVolume PureVolume (formerly Unborn Media) was a website for uploading and streaming of music files, the first independently run of its type. PureVolume was created by Unborn Media, Inc; Mitchell Pavao; Brett Woitunski; and Nate Hudson, all from the Univer ...

, without his parents knowing. First he discovered groups likes

Never Shout Never Never Shout Never (originally typeset as nevershoutnever! and NeverShoutNever!) is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Joplin, Missouri, in 2007. Vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Christofer Drew began the band as a solo project before ...

Owl City Owl City is an American electronic music project created in 2007 in Owatonna, Minnesota. It is one of several projects by singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Adam Young (American musician), Adam Young, who created the project while exp ...

and

The Ready Set Jordan Mark Witzigreuter (born November 14, 1989), known professionally as The Ready Set, is an American singer-songwriter and musician from Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States. He is the lead vocalist and sole member of the act, using a backup b ...

, before becoming a fan of bands like

Hit the Lights Hit the Lights is an American pop punk band from Lima, Ohio. It is named in allusion to the '80s skateboarding film, '' Gleaming the Cube'', and has sold over 120,000 albums in North America. History Formation and ''Until We Get Caught'' EP (2 ...

and

Boys Like Girls Boys Like Girls (stylized in all caps since 2023) is an American rock band formed in Andover, Massachusetts, in 2005. The group gained mainstream recognition with their self-titled debut album (2006), which went on to sell over 700,000 albu ...

. Looking back in adulthood, he has stated "I’ve been emo my whole fucking life". In middle school and high school, he was the vocalist of a

band that was influenced by Hit the Lights and

Metro Station A metro station or subway station is a train station for a rapid transit system, which as a whole is usually called a "metro" or "subway". A station provides a means for passengers to purchase tickets, board trains, and evacuate the syste ...

and used overt auto-tune. As he grew older, Puckett became increasingly interested in the independent

scene that was coalescing on the internet. This led to him dropping out of high school and moving to

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, ...

Career

Puckett began his career as a songwriter, working with artists such as Travis Mills,

DRAM Dram, DRAM, or drams may refer to: Technology and engineering * Dram (unit), a unit of mass and volume, and an informal name for a small amount of liquor, especially whisky or whiskey * Dynamic random-access memory, a type of electronic semicondu ...

Icona Pop Icona Pop ( ) are a Swedish synth-pop duo that formed in 2009, with electro house and indie pop music influences. Its two members, Aino Jawo (born 7 July 1986) and Caroline Hjelt (born 8 November 1987), grew up in Stockholm and created what the ...

and

. However, he soon wished to perform the tracks he was writing himself, beginning a solo-career in 2016 with the "Damn" produced by Y2K. On April 10, he was featured on the Travis Mills song "Trouble". On June 23, he released the track Prolly featuring Ilovemakonnen. On September 22, he was featured on the

Joy Joy is the state of being that allows one to experience feelings of intense, long-lasting happiness and contentment of life. It is closely related to, and often evoked by, well-being, success, or good fortune. Happiness, pleasure, and gratitu ...

song "Birthday". For his debut EP ''Gloing Pain$'', he enlisted the members of

Polyphia Polyphia is a primarily instrumental progressive rock band based in Plano, Texas, formed in 2010. The group consists of guitarists Tim Henson and Scott LePage, bassist Clay Gober, and drummer Clay Aeschliman. Initially rooted in a metal-focused ...

to record the instrumentals. Puckett's music first began gaining attention in mid-2017, through songs "Hot Topic" and "Warped Tour" that made references to cornerstones of pop punk and emo culture, namely

Hot Topic Hot Topic, Inc. is an American fast-fashion company specializing in counterculture-related clothing and accessories, as well as licensed music. The stores are aimed towards an audience interested in rock music and video gaming, and most of the ...

and

Warped Tour The Warped Tour is a Concert tour, touring Rock music, rock music festival that toured the United States and Canada each summer from 1995 until 2019, and returned in 2025 for its 30th anniversary. By 2015, Warped was the largest traveling music ...

, and through sampling bands like

Paramore Paramore is an American rock band formed in Franklin, Tennessee, in 2004. Since 2017, the band's lineup includes lead vocalist Hayley Williams, lead guitarist Taylor York, and drummer Zac Farro. Williams and Farro are founding members of ...

and

Panic! at the Disco Panic! at the Disco was an American pop rock band formed in Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2004 by high school friends Ryan Ross (guitar) and Spencer Smith (musician), Spencer Smith (drums), who recruited classmates Brendon Urie (vocals and ...

. In late 2017, Puckett formed the group Boyfriendz, with Smrtdeath and

Lil Lotus John Elias Villagran III (born March 1, 1994), known professionally as Lil Lotus (stylized as LiL Lotus) is an American rapper and record producer from Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city ...

. They released their debut self-titled EP in December 2017. The EP was recorded in a single night and was released within a week through

SoundCloud SoundCloud is a German audio streaming service owned and operated by SoundCloud Global Limited & Co. KG. The service enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is ...

. In 2017, Puckett began working with Dr Luke and signed to his production company

Prescription Songs Prescription Songs is an independent music publishing and licensing company founded in 2009 by Lukasz "Dr. Luke" Gottwald. History Between 2013 and 2017, Prescription Songs held a joint publishing deal with Nashville-based Big Machine Records t ...

. He was later featured on the song "Faded" by

Kim Petras Kim Petras (, ; born 27 August 1992) is a German singer and songwriter based in Los Angeles. Between 2016 and 2020, she released music as an independent artist under her own imprint, BunHead Records, before signing with Amigo and Republic Reco ...

. A music video was released for the track in January 2018. He featured on Goody Grace's song "In The Light Of The Moon", which was a part of the ''Infinite'' EP, released March 22, 2018. On May 31, he released the EP Rock$tar Famou$. The recording process for the EP was split between

Kauai Kauai (), anglicized as Kauai ( or ), is one of the main Hawaiian Islands. It has an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), making it the fourth-largest of the islands and the 21st-largest island in the United States. Kauai lies 73 m ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

and

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. On May 11, the EP's track "Quit" featuring

Travis Barker Travis Landon Barker (born November 14, 1975) is an American musician, songwriter, and music producer who is the drummer for the rock band Blink-182. He has collaborated with hip hop artists, is a member of the rap rock group Transplants ...

was released accompanied by a music video. On September 5, a music video was released for the EP's song "Anymore" featuring Kim Petras. On November 16 and 17, Puckett opened for

Blink-182 Blink-182 is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Poway, California, in 1992. Its current and best-known line-up consists of bassist and vocalist Mark Hoppus, guitarist and vocalist Tom DeLonge, and drummer Travis Barker. Though its so ...

during their concert at the Pearl Theater in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

. He featured on

Brooke Candy Brooke Dyan Candy (born July 20, 1989) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and tattoo artist. Raised in the suburbs of Los Angeles, she rose to prominence after starring in Grimes' music video for " Genesis" (2012). Following its success ...

's song "Nuts", which was released on November 16. On December 7, 2018, he released a Christmas EP titled ''Worst Christmas Ever''. On December 29, he released the song "Studded Gucci Belt", which samples " Shake It" by

was accompanied by a music video featuring clips from the videos for "

Welcome To The Black Parade "Welcome to the Black Parade" is a song by the American rock band My Chemical Romance from their third studio album '' The Black Parade'' (2006). It was released as the album's lead single on September 12, 2006. An emo and pop-punk song, it op ...

", "

I'm Not Okay (I Promise) "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)" is a song by the American rock band My Chemical Romance from their second studio album, ''Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge'' (2004). "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)" is a pop-punk, emo, and emo pop song, conceived a ...

", "

I Write Sins Not Tragedies "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" is a song by American rock band Panic! at the Disco. It is the second single from their debut studio album, '' A Fever You Can't Sweat Out'' (2005), and was released in the United States as a digital download on Nove ...

", "

Misery Business "Misery Business" is a song by American rock band Paramore from their second studio album, ''Riot!'' (2007) and serves as the lead single from the album. The song was written about a past experience of the band's lead singer, Hayley Williams, w ...

", " Adam's Song" and " the Anthem". On January 25, 2019, he released the EP ''Dark Matter''. Puckett was featured on Kim Petras' song "Homework" which was released on February 7. On February 14, Boyfriendz released their second EP ''BFZ2''. He featured on Big Baby Scumbag's song "Dale Earnhardt (remix)", from the album Big Baby Earnhardt released January 17, 2020. Puckett was featured on

Big Freedia Freddie Ross Jr. (born January 28, 1978), better known by her stage name Big Freedia ( ), is an American rapper, singer and performer known for her work in the New Orleans genre of hip hop called bounce music. Freedia has been credited with helpi ...

's song "GTFOMF", from the EP ''Louder'' released March 13. He was featured on the track by Plavtinum titled "Girls on the Internet", which was release March 20. He was featured on the songs "Lights Off" and "She Told me to the Kill Myself" by Smrtdeath, which were released on the album ''Somethjng's Wrong'' on November 13, 2020. On October 6, 2020, he released his EP ''808 Rock''. He was featured on the song "Michelle Pfeiffer" by

Ethel Cain Hayden Silas Anhedönia (born March 24, 1998), known professionally as Ethel Cain, is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and model. Anhedönia is noted for her lyrics focused on nostalgic and Southern Gothic themes, while her music ...

, which was released on Feb 11, 2021.

Musical style

Puckett's music had been categorised as

emo rap Emo rap is a subgenre of Hip hop music, hip hop with influence from emo. Originating in the SoundCloud rap scene in the mid-2010s, the genre fuses characteristics of hip hop music, such as trap-style beats with vocals that are usually sung. Some ...

and

rap rock Rap rock is a music genre that developed from the early to mid-1980s, when hip hop DJs incorporated rock records into their routines and rappers began incorporating original and sampled rock instrumentation into hip hop music. Rap rock is co ...

. It includes elements of

SoundCloud rap SoundCloud is a German audio streaming service owned and operated by SoundCloud Global Limited & Co. KG. The service enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one ...

and

Alternative Press Alternative press may refer to: Individual publications * ''Alternative Press'' (magazine), an American music magazine Alternative journalism * Alternative media ** Alternative media (U.S. political left) ** Alternative media (U.S. political r ...

called his music "genre-defying". He has cited influences including

Brokencyde Brokencyde (stylized as brokeNCYDE) is an American hip hop group from Albuquerque, New Mexico, founded in 2006. The group's lineup consists of Michael "Mikl" Shea and Julian "Phat J" McLellan, and musically are one of the founding groups in th ...

and Dot Dot Curve In an interview with Projectu.TV, he stated that his goal was to appeal to both "the kids who listened to A$AP, Cudi and Kanye and the kids who listened to

Black Veil Brides Black Veil Brides is an American rock band based in Hollywood, California. The group formed in 2006 in Cincinnati, Ohio, and is currently composed of lead vocalist Andy Biersack, multi instrumentalist Jinxx, lead guitarist Jake Pitts, dru ...

, Blood On The Dance Floor, the

kind of music". His music often merges trap instrumentals with

autotune Auto-Tune is audio processor software released on September 19, 1997, by the American company Antares Audio Technologies. It uses a proprietary device to measure and correct pitch in music. It operates on different principles from the vocoder ...

d and distorted vocals using melodies reminiscent of pop punk and emo.

Complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

writer Joe Price described his sound as "

Travis Scott Jacques Bermon Webster III (born April 30, 1991), known professionally as Travis Scott (formerly stylized as Travi$ Scott), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Scott has had five number-one hits on the U.S. ''Bil ...

meets

Green Day Green Day is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Rodeo, California, in 1987 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong and bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt, with drummer Tré Cool joining in 1990. In 1994, their majo ...

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

writer Jayson Greene described it as "sampl ngPanic! At the Disco, alternately whining like Blink’s Tom DeLonge and warbling like, well,

Chief Keef Keith Farrelle Cozart (born August 15, 1995), better known by his stage name Chief Keef, is an American rapper and record producer. Born and raised in Chicago's South Side, he began his recording career as a teenager and initially garnered re ...

over

808 808 may refer to: Music * Roland-808, Roland TR-808, a drum machine * 808 (film), ''808'' (film), a documentary about the Roland TR-808 * 808 State, British electronic group * ''808s & Heartbreak'', the fourth studio album by American Hip hop arti ...

claps. It’s all mixed together and atomized, a fever dream of Adidas tracksuits and dreads and emo power ballads". Hypefresh.co described his music as "mixing pop-punk attitude with the new genre of autotuned rap". His music was cited as an influence by

Yungblud Dominic Richard Harrison (born 5 August 1997), known professionally as Yungblud, is an English singer, songwriter and actor. In 2018, he released his debut EP ''Yungblud'', followed by his first full-length album ''21st Century Liability''. In ...

for his album ''

Weird! ''Weird!'' is the second studio album by English singer Yungblud, released on 4 December 2020 by Locomotion and Interscope Records. Originally scheduled for 13 November 2020, the album's release was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is Y ...

''.

Discography

Extended plays

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

With Boyfriendz

Songwriting credits

Filmography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aaron, Lil 1994 births Living people 21st-century American singers Alternative R&B musicians American rap rock musicians 21st-century American male rappers Emo rappers Pop punk singers Musicians from Indianapolis