Preston Oshita (born June 26, 1993), better known by his stage name Towkio, is an American rapper from

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. He was previously known as Young P, Preston San, and Tokyo Shawn. He is a member of the Savemoney crew. His debut studio album, ''WWW.'', was released in 2018.

Early life

On June 26, 1993, Towkio was born Preston Oshita in

to a Mexican mother and a Japanese father. He has two older brothers. He attended

Lane Tech College Prep High School Lane Tech College Prep High School (often shortened to Lane Tech, full name Albert Grannis Lane Technical College Preparatory High School), is a Public school (government funded), public four-year selective enrollment Magnet school, magnet high ...

Career

In 2012, Towkio released a collaborative EP with producer Mojek, titled ''Community Service''. In 2014, he released another EP, titled ''Hot Chips n Chop Stix'', which was produced by A Billion Young. In 2015, Towkio released a mixtape, titled '' .Wav Theory'', which featured contributions from

Chance the Rapper Chancelor Johnathan Bennett (born April 16, 1993), known professionally as Chance the Rapper, is an American rapper. Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, he released his debut mixtape '' 10 Day'' (2012) during one of his high school suspension ...

Vic Mensa Victor Kwesi Mensah (born June 6, 1993), known professionally as Vic Mensa, is an American rapper. Born and raised in Chicago, he was a member of the regional hip hop groups Kids These Days (band), Kids These Days and Savemoney prior to releasing ...

, Kaytranada, and Donnie Trumpet. It was included on year-end lists by publications such as ''

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 ...

'', ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'', and ''

RedEye ''RedEye'' was a publication put out by the ''Chicago Tribune'' geared toward 18 to 34-year-olds. It was published every weekday since its inception in 2002 until February 3, 2017. Publication was reduced to weekly starting February 9, 2017. ...

''. He was included on ''

HipHopDX ''HipHopDX'' is an online magazine of Hip hop music, hip hop music criticism and news. ''HipHopDX'' has over 3.5M monthly readers, the website encompassing hip hop news, interviews, music, and reviews. The website's founder and CEO is Sharath C ...

''s "Top 8 Rising Stars of 2015" list. In 2016, Towkio was featured alongside

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is recognized for his multi-genre musical performances. He was discovered by record executive Scooter Braun in 2008 and subsequently brought to the U ...

on Chance the Rapper's song, "Juke Jam", from his third mixtape, ''

Coloring Book A coloring book (British English: colouring-in book, colouring book, or colouring page) is a type of book containing line art to which people are intended to add color using crayons, colored pencils, marker pens, paint or other artistic media. ...

''. That same year, he released an EP, titled ''Community Service 2''. In 2018, Towkio released his debut studio album, titled ''WWW.'', which included the previously released singles, namely "Drift", "Hot Shit", "Swim", "Symphony", and "2 Da Moon". It included guest appearances from Teddy Jackson, Grace Weber,

SZA Solána Imani Rowe (born November 8, 1989), known professionally as SZA ( ), is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her diaristic lyrics and genre explorations, she has been credited as a prominent figure in influencing contemporary R& ...

, Vic Mensa, and Njomza.

Style and influences

Towkio's musical style has been described by ''

'' as "an adventurous mix of rap, '90s soul, jazz and generally weird, fuzzed-out beats." He cited

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer and record producer. One of the most prominent figures in hip-hop, he is known for his varying musical style and polarizing cultural and political commentary. After ...

and

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 ...

as his biggest influences.

Controversy

In January 2019, Towkio was accused by a woman of sexual assault 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 ...

. He denied the allegations, stating that they "were in an ongoing consensual sexual relationship dating back to 2014 which even included other women." He added, "It is my hope that her and I can engage in a dialogue in a place where she feels comfortable to discuss our past relationship and her feelings."

Discography

Studio albums

* ''WWW.'' (2018)

Mixtapes

* '' .Wav Theory'' (2015) * '' Community Service 3!!! (2023)

EPs

* ''Community Service'' (2012) * ''Hot Chips n Chop Stix'' (2014) * ''Community Service 2'' (2016)

Singles

* "Drift" (2017) * "Hot Shit" (2017) * "Swim" (2017) * "Symphony" (2018) * "2 Da Moon" (2018) * "Billi" (2019) * "Too Many Times" (2020)

Other charted songs

Guest appearances

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 1993 births Living people Rappers from Chicago American rappers of Mexican descent American musicians of Japanese descent 21st-century American rappers