Quinton Armani Gardner (born May 10, 1996), professionally known as Pressa, is a rapper and singer from

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 ...

Early life

Quinton Armani Gardner was born on May 10, 1996, in

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

to a Filipino mother and a Jamaican father. He was five weeks old when his father was sentenced to 15 years in prison for

second-degree murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse committed with the necessary intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisdiction. ("The killing of another person without justification or excus ...

, which left his mother to care for him and his older brother. He grew up in an area known as Driftwood in the

Jane and Finch Jane and Finch is a neighbourhood located in the northwest end of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in the district of North York. Centred at the intersection of Jane Street and Finch Avenue West, the area is roughly bounded by Highway 400 to the west ...

neighbourhood of Toronto.

Career

2016–2018

Gardner rose to prominence after the release of his hit single "Novacane", which was produced by frequent collaborator

Murda Beatz Shane Lee Lindstrom (born February 11, 1994), known professionally as Murda Beatz, is a Canadian record producer from Ontario. Working predominantly in hip hop and trap music, he has produced hit songs and albums for various musical acts since 2 ...

. In 2017, he opened for

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 ...

on his Boy Meets World Tour despite being on bail for kidnapping allegations, and was featured in ''

6ix Rising 6IX RISING: Toronto’s Rap Ascendence (pronounced ''six rising'') is a Canadians, Canadian documentary film about the Canadian hip hop, hip hop culture in Canada. The film was directed by Shawney Cohen and released on November 16, 2017. It was d ...

'', a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

about the hip hop culture in Canada. Later that year, he gained significant attention for his unique flow on his single "Canada Goose" featuring

Tory Lanez Daystar Shemuel Shua Peterson (born July 27, 1992), known professionally as Tory Lanez, is a Canadian singer-songwriter and record producer. First discovered by Sean Kingston, he received initial recognition for his mixtape ''Conflicts of My S ...

, which was released in December. Pressa has also worked with overseas artists including British rapper Giggs, releasing the single "Sexy" in April 2017, and he was featured in

K Koke Kevin Georgiou (born 22 May 1985), known professionally as K Koke, is an English-Irish-Cypriot rapper. His ''Fire in the Booth'' freestyle on Charlie Sloth's show on BBC Radio 1Xtra has over 25 million YouTube views. Music career His first m ...

's single "D Ting Set" in the same year. In October 2018, Pressa released the single "420 in London" featuring

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 ...

. He was featured on the song "Up & Down" by

6ixBuzz 6ixBuzz (pronounced ''six-buzz''), is a controversial online media platform based in Toronto, Ontario. Founded in 2017 by Abraham Tekabo and Sarman Esagholian, 6ixBuzz is best known for sharing user-generated content, clickbait, and local news i ...

alongside

Houdini Erik Weisz (March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926), known professionally as Harry Houdini ( ), was a Hungarian-American escapologist, illusionist, and stunt performer noted for his escape acts. Houdini first attracted notice in vaudeville in ...

, which amassed over 1 million views on YouTube within the 1st month of release.

2019–present

In 2019, Gardner released ''Prestige'', an album named after his father, which debuted at the number 1 spot on the

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

Canada

hip hop music 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 ...

charts. It featured appearances from Burna Bandz as well as Lil Richie. Pressa collaborated with British rapper Russ and Taze on the single "Vida Loca", released in July 2019. Pressa's latest single, "O.T.M. (Out The Mud)", was released on February 7, 2020, via

WorldStarHipHop WorldStarHipHop is a content-aggregating video blog. Zurawik, David.Worldstarhiphop.com makes a name for itself with shocking viral videos". ''The Baltimore Sun''. March 23, 2012. Retrieved on April 22, 2012Alternate link to the same article fr ...

. In May 2020, he signed with

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...

Canada, in conjunction with Blue Feathers Records, coinciding with his release of his single "96 Freestyle".

Personal life

As of 2019, Gardner is currently living in

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, ...

, California, having been relocated from Toronto. In April 2021, he began a relationship with

Coi Leray Coi Leray Collins (born May 11, 1997) is an American rapper and singer. The daughter of rapper and media executive Benzino, she began her musical career in 2018 with the release of her debut mixtape, ''Everythingcoz''. She signed with Republic ...

another rising artist known as the daughter of Hip Hop mogul & former CEO of The Source Magazine

Benzino Raymond Scott (born July 18, 1965), better known by his stage name Benzino or Ray Benzino, is an American urban media proprietor, television personality, rapper and record producer. Benzino produced records (as part of the production team Hang ...

Discography

Studio albums

* 2019: ''Prestige'' * 2021: ''Gardner Express (Deluxe)''

Mixtapes

* 2017: ''Press Machine'' * 2017: ''Press a Brick''

Extended plays

* 2020: ''Gardner Express''

Compilation albums

* 2018: ''Northside Jane'' (by UpTop Movement Inc.) * 2018: ''

6ixUpsideDown 6ixBuzz (pronounced ''six-buzz''), is a controversial online media platform based in Toronto, Ontario. Founded in 2017 by Abraham Tekabo and Sarman Esagholian, 6ixBuzz is best known for sharing user-generated content, clickbait, and local news i ...

'' (by

) * 2019: ''NorthernSound'' (by 6ixBuzz) * 2021: ''Canada's Most Wanted'' (by 6ixbuzz)

Guest appearances

Awards and nominations

, - , 2022 , "Attachments" (feat. Taliban Glizzy) , Juno Award for Rap Single of the Year ,

Filmography

References

{{reflist Living people 1996 births 21st-century Black Canadian musicians Canadian male rappers 21st-century Canadian rappers Canadian people of Jamaican descent Canadian musicians of Filipino descent 21st-century Canadian male musicians Rappers from Toronto