Shyniece Deneen Thomas (born February 1, 1994), professionally known as Lola Brooke, is an American

rapper 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 ...

. Born and raised in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, she is best known for her 2021 single "

Don't Play with It "Don't Play with It" is a single by American rapper Lola Brooke featuring Billy B. It was released in May 2021 and produced by Dizzy Banko. The song was a sleeper hit, gaining traction through the video-sharing app TikTok in 2022 and becoming the ...

", which gained popularity on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

and

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

the following year. She signed with

Arista Records Arista Records ( ) is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously a division of Bertelsmann Music G ...

in 2023.

Life and career

Shyniece Thomas was born on February 1, 1994 in

Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn Bedford–Stuyvesant ( ), colloquially known as Bed–Stuy, is a neighborhood in the northern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Bedford–Stuyvesant is bordered by Flushing Avenue to the north (bordering Williamsburg), Classon ...

, where she was also raised. She is an only child and was raised by her mother, a widow. Inspired to learn how to rap by the premiere of the music video for

50 Cent Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), known professionally as 50 Cent, is an American rapper, actor, and television producer. Born in Queens, a borough of New York City, Jackson began pursuing a musical career in 1996. In 1999–2000, ...

's 2002 song "

Wanksta "Wanksta" is a song by American rapper 50 Cent, released on November 5, 2002, as the third single from the soundtrack to the film '' 8 Mile'' (2002). The single, produced by Sha Money XL and John "J-Praize" Freeman, reached number 13 on the U ...

Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. He is often regarded as one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generation, as well as one of the greatest rappers of all ...

's song "Cannon" from his 2006 mixtape ''

Dedication 2 ''Dedication 2'' is the sixth mixtape by Lil Wayne, hosted by DJ Drama. It is a sequel to Lil Wayne's previous mixtape, '' The Dedication'', and is second in DJ Drama's '' Gangsta Grillz'' series with Lil Wayne. It is one of the few mixtapes ...

'', and

Meek Mill Robert Rihmeek Williams (born May 6, 1987), known professionally as Meek Mill, is an American rapper. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he embarked on his career as a battle rapper, and later formed a short-lived rap group the Blo ...

, she started making music in 2016 with her cousin, Jah, who learned how to make beats using

Pro Tools Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed and released by Avid Technology (formerly Digidesign) for Microsoft Windows and macOS. It is used for music creation and production, sound for picture (sound design, audio post-productio ...

. She worked as a residential aide at a shelter until 2017, when she quit her job to pursue a music career. Brooke signed with Team 80 Productions in 2016. She released her breakout single "

" in 2021. Her first song went viral on

before subsequently getting popular on

and

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 ...

. Brooke was signed to

in January 2023 and was an opening act on

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 ...

's Me v. Myself Tour throughout early 2023. Her song "So Disrespectful" and a remix of "Don't Play with It", the latter of which featured American rappers

Latto Alyssa Michelle Stephens (born December 22, 1998), known professionally as Latto (formerly known as Mulatto), is an American rapper and singer-songwriter from Atlanta. She first appeared on Jermaine Dupri's reality television series ''The Rap G ...

and

Yung Miami Caresha Romeka Brownlee (born February 11, 1994), better known by her stage name Yung Miami, is an American rapper. She formed the Miami, Florida-based hip hop duo City Girls with JT (rapper), JT in 2017, and began her solo career in 2021. Releas ...

, were both released in March 2023. Also that month, she made a cameo on an episode of the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

television series ''

East New York East New York is a residential neighborhood in the eastern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise, are roughly the Cemetery Belt and the Queens borough line to the north; ...

''.

Brooke was featured on the Girls Mix version of

Ciara Ciara Princess Wilson ( ; Harris; born October 25, 1985) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer and actress. She was discovered by record producer Jazze Pha in the early 2000s, and rose to prominence with her debut studio album, ''Goodies ...

's song "

Da Girls "Da Girls" is a song by American singer Ciara. It was released on March 24, 2023, through label Beauty Marks. Background and release In March 2023, Ciara announced that her next single, following "Better Thangs" with Summer Walker, would be "Da ...

", alongside Ciara and Lady London, released on April 14, 2023. An official music video was released on the same day. In June, she was selected as 2023 XXL Freshmen Class. Her debut studio album, ''Dennis Daughter'', was released on November 10, 2023.

Musical style

Brooke's music is

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

Her stage name is a combination of the names of the ''

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American media franchise produced and distributed by Warner Bros. The franchise began as a series of animated short films that originally ran from 1930 to 1969, alongside its spin-off series ''Merrie Melodies'', during t ...

'' character

Lola Bunny Lola Bunny is a ''Looney Tunes'' cartoon character portrayed as an anthropomorphic female bunny created by Warner Bros. Pictures. She is generally depicted as Bugs Bunny's girlfriend. She first appeared in the 1996 film '' Space Jam''. Develo ...

and Brooklyn. She has listed her biggest influences on her music as

, Foxy Brown, DMX and

Lil' Kim Kimberly Denise Jones (born July 11, 1974), Those giving 1974 include: * * * * * better known by her stage name Lil' Kim, is an American rapper. She was born and raised in New York City and lived much of her adolescent life on the streets after ...

and she refers to herself by the nickname Big Gator.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Awards and nominations

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brooke, Lola Rappers from Brooklyn 21st-century American women rappers People from Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn 21st-century African-American musicians Arista Records artists American drill musicians Living people 1994 births African-American women rappers