Jerome Raheem "Rome" Fortune (born October 13, 1988) is an American rapper. who rose to prominence after the release of his ''Beautiful Pimp'' mixtape in 2013. Influenced by a diverse range of musical traditions, Fortune has released 6 EPs and has collaborated with a number of artists from the Atlanta hip hop scene, including

OG Maco Benedict Chiajulam Ihesiba Jr. (April 23, 1992 – December 26, 2024), known professionally as OG Maco, was an American rapper. Life and career Benedict Chiajulam Ihesiba Jr. was born on April 23, 1992, in College Park, Georgia. He grew up wi ...

Dun Deal David Maximillian Cunningham (born August 19, 1986), known professionally as Dun Deal, is an American record producer, songwriter and rapper. He is best known for producing A$AP Mob's hit single " RAF", Young Thug's single " Stoner" and Migos' s ...

, and

ILoveMakonnen Makonnen Kamali Sheran (born April 12, 1989), better known by his stage name iLoveMakonnen (often stylized as ILOVEMAKONNEN), is an American rapper and singer. He is best known for his 2014 single " Tuesday", which initially gained recognition ...

Life and career

Born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, Fortune comes from a family of musicians and is related to cornetist

Nat Adderley Nathaniel Carlyle Adderley (November 25, 1931 – January 2, 2000) was an American jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It ...

and saxophonist

Cannonball Adderley Julian Edwin "Cannonball" Adderley (September 15, 1928August 8, 1975) was an American jazz Alto saxophone, alto saxophonist of the hard bop era of the 1950s and 1960s. Adderley is perhaps best remembered by the general public for the 1966 soul ...

. He began rapping in high school and claims that he shortened his name because his birth name, "Jerome," reminded him of an aging pimp character from

Martin Lawrence Martin Fitzgerald LawrenceStated in interview on '' Inside the Actors Studio'' (born April 16, 1965) is an American actor and comedian. Lawrence began his career doing comedy shows, including in '' The Improv''. After his first acting role in t ...

's ''

Martin Martin may refer to: Places Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Europe * Martin, Croatia, a village * Martin, Slovakia, a city * Martín del Río, Aragón, Spain * M ...

'' TV series. Fortune considers his grandfather, jazz musician Richard Adderley, to be one of the most influential figures in his life. Adderley co-produced and played the vibraphone on Fortune's ''Beautiful Pimp II ''EP and is featured in the music video for the track "OneDay". Pitchfork named ''Beautiful Pimp'' one of their "Overlooked Mixtapes of 2013." In the summer of 2014, Fortune joined British indie-rock group

Glass Animals Glass Animals are a British indie rock band formed in Oxford, England in 2010. The band's line-up consists of Dave Bayley (vocals, guitar, keyboards, drums, songwriting), Drew MacFarlane (guitar, keyboards, backing vocals), Edmund Irwin-Singe ...

for their U.S. and U.K. tours. In January 2015, Fortune announced via Twitter that he was turning himself into police custody for unknown reasons. Fortune was booked into the Cobb County Jail in Marietta, Georgia on January 16, 2015 and announced his release on February 6, 2015. Fortune joined IAMSU's "Eyes on Me" North American tour in March 2015. Though Fortune's early EP ''The Air Mattress'' (2011) was released on Wil May's Makeshift label, he was unsigned until late 2015, when he was backed by

Fool's Gold Records Fool's Gold Records is an independent record label based in Brooklyn, New York, United States. The label is known for its annual series of Day Off concerts across the US and Canada. History Fool’s Gold Records was founded in 2007 by DJs A-Tr ...

. Fortune released his debut album, ''Jerome Raheem Fortune'', in 2016. In summer of 2024 Fortune signed with record label Fogwood Records.

Artistry

Influences

Fortune has stated that he is influenced by 90s rap, particularly DMX, whose ''

Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood ''Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood'' is the second studio album by American rapper DMX. The album was released on December 22, 1998, by Def Jam Recordings and Ruff Ryders Entertainment, only seven months after his debut album, ''It's Dar ...

'' he cites as the "rap album that changed islife". Fortune also draws inspiration from jazz, considering it "pretty much parallel to hip-hop."

Musical style

Fortune's style frequently combines regional hip hop traditions, such as the blending of ratchet and

trap music Trap music, also known simply as trap, is a subgenre of hip-hop music which originated in the Southern United States, with lyrical references to trap starting in 1991 but the modern sound of trap appearing in 1999. The genre gets its name from t ...

elements on ''Beautiful Pimp''. He entered the world of electronic music for his ''Small VVorld'' EP, which features a number of tracks produced by U.K. electronic artist

Four Tet Kieran Miles David Hebden (born September 1977), known as Four Tet, is an English electronic musician. He came to prominence as a member of the post-rock band Fridge before establishing himself as a solo artist with charting and critically acc ...

Discography

Albums

*''Jerome Raheem Fortune'' (2016) *''FREEk'' (2020)

EPs

* ''The Air Mattress'' (2011) * ''V O Y E U R'' (with

Childish Major Markus Alandrus Randle (born July 4, 1991) known professionally as Childish Major, is an American rapper and record producer based in Atlanta, Georgia. He was first credited with production work on American rapper Rocko's 2013 single " U.O.E.N.O ...

) (2012) * ''Beautiful Pimp II'' (2014) * ''Drive, Thighs, & Lies'' (with

) (2014) * ''YEP'' (with

) (2015) *Toro Y Rome Vol.1 (with Toro y Moi) (2018)

Mixtapes

* ''lolo'' (2012) * ''Beautiful Pimp ''(2013) * ''Small VVorld'' (2014) * ''loloU'' (2015) * ''VVORLDVVIDE PIMPSATION'' (2016) * ''Banned By

Kaytranada Louis Kevin Celestin (born August 25, 1992), known professionally as Kaytranada (stylized as KAYTRANADA, shortened as KAYTRA), is a Haitian-Canadian music producer, rapper, singer and DJ. Celestin rose to prominence after releasing a series of m ...

(2024)''

Collaborations

* Stripes (with

Gucci Mane Radric Delantic Davis (born February 12, 1980), known professionally as Gucci Mane, is an American rapper. He is credited, along with fellow Atlanta-based rappers T.I. and Jeezy, with pioneering the hip hop subgenre trap music for mainstream a ...

& Bankroll Fresh) 2014 *Hazey (with

) (2014) *Drop That Ass On The Ground Like Some Change (with

Ethereal Ethereal may refer to: * Ethereal (horse), a horse that won Australia's Caulfield Cup as well as Melbourne Cup in 2001 * Ethereal (musician), American rapper and record producer * Ethereal wave, or simply ethereal, a subgenre of dark wave music * W ...

& Relly Jade) *Rollin' (with Brenmar &

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 ...

) (2014) *Lights Low (with

) (2014) *Men of Glass (with

Sevdaliza Sevda Alizadeh (; born 1 September 1987), known professionally as Sevdaliza, is an Iranian-Dutch singer, songwriter, record producer, visual artist, and director. In 2015, she released two EPs, ''The Suspended Kid'' and ''Children of Silk''. Whil ...

) (2015) * No Ma'am (with

IloveMakonnen Makonnen Kamali Sheran (born April 12, 1989), better known by his stage name iLoveMakonnen (often stylized as ILOVEMAKONNEN), is an American rapper and singer. He is best known for his 2014 single " Tuesday", which initially gained recognition ...

Rich the Kid Dimitri Leslie Roger (born July 13, 1992), known professionally as Rich the Kid, is an American rapper. After a number of independent mixtapes, he signed with Interscope Records in 2017 to release his debut studio album, '' The World Is Yours'' ...

) (2016) *Buried (with What So Not) (2016) * Leave It (with ƱZ) (2018)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fortune, Rome 1988 births Living people American hip-hop musicians Rappers from Atlanta Musicians from Atlanta African-American male rappers 21st-century American male rappers Southern hip-hop musicians 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American musicians