Darien Hinton, known professionally as Mooski, is an American rapper and singer. Signed to

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

, he is best known for his 2021 viral single " Track Star", which peaked at number 31 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. It also gained popularity on

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 ...

. He released a remix of "Track Star" (featuring

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 ...

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 ...

and

Yung Bleu Jeremy Biddle (born April 4, 1994), known professionally as Yung Bleu or Bleu, is an American rapper and singer. He is best known for his 2020 single " You're Mines Still", which peaked at number 18 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 after it was remi ...

) on May 18, 2021. Hinton later released his debut studio album, ''Melodic Therapy 4 the Broken'', on March 11, 2022.

Life and career

Hinton was born and raised in

Opp, Alabama Opp is a city in Covington County, Alabama, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 6,771. Opp is named after Henry Opp, a lawyer for the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. Geography Opp is located in eastern Covington County a ...

and is of

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

descent. Both of his parents had health issues. Hinton grew up with an interest in music as part of the choir in a local church. He began his musical career as a Gospel rapper before switching to

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- ...

after he listened to

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 ...

and

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 ...

. Other hip hop artists that Hinton listened to include

PnB Rock Rakim Hasheem Allen (December 9, 1991 – September 12, 2022), known professionally as PnB Rock, was an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Allen signed with Atlantic Records in 2015 and gained initial recogn ...

Fetty Wap Willie Junior Maxwell II (born June 7, 1991), better known by his stage name Fetty Wap, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He quickly rose to mainstream prominence after his 2014 song " Trap Queen" peaked at number two on the ''Bil ...

, and

Kevin Gates Kevin Jerome Gilyard (born February 5, 1986), better known by his stage name Kevin Gates, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur. He is currently signed to Bread Winners' Association with a partnership with Atlantic Records ...

. After graduating high school in 2015, Hinton served in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

for four years before he began working to establish his musical career. In June 2020, Mooski released "Track Star" through

where it gained rapid popularity, over 475+ million views. In February 2021, the song start streaming on other platforms and was released as a single by

. "Track Star" later entered the

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), ...

at number 99 and peaked at number 31, remaining on the chart for a record-breaking 20 weeks. It also peaked at number 53 on the UK Singles Chart. A remix of the song (featuring

and

) was released on May 18, 2021. On March 11, 2022, Hinton released his debut studio album ''Melodic Therapy for the Broken''. The album features guest appearances from Chris Brown, Yung Bleu, A Boogie wit da Hoodie, and

K Camp Kristopher Thomas Campbell (born April 27, 1990), known professionally as K Camp (stylized as K CAMP) is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. Born in Milwaukee and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, Campbell began his recording career in 2009. ...

. The song "Counting Time" samples " Charlene" by Anthony Hamilton.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

As lead artist

Guest appearances

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mooski Year of birth missing (living people) Living people African-American male rappers 21st-century American male rappers 20th-century American male rappers American hip-hop singers American contemporary R&B singers Rappers from Alabama Singers from Alabama People from Opp, Alabama Capitol Records artists 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century African-American male singers 21st-century American male singers 21st-century African-American musicians