Valee Taylor (born August 27, 1988) 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. His third mixtape, ''1988'' (2017) was discovered by

Pusha T Terrence LeVarr Thornton (born May 13, 1977), better known by his stage name Pusha T, is an American rapper. He rose to prominence as one half of the Virginia-based hip hop duo Clipse, which he formed with his older brother No Malice, Malice. M ...

, who led him to sign with fellow Chicago rapper

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 ...

's record label

GOOD Music GOOD Music (often stylized as G.O.O.D. Music; a backronym for Getting Out Our Dreams) is an American independent record label founded by rapper Kanye West in 2004. The label entered an exclusive long-term worldwide music distribution, distributi ...

, an imprint of

Def Jam Recordings Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The l ...

in February 2018. His debut extended play (EP), ''GOOD Job, You Found Me'' was released the following month and executive produced by West. In May of that year, his single "Womp Womp" (featuring

Jeremih Jeremy Phillip Felton (born July 17, 1987), known professionally as Jeremih ( ), is an American Contemporary R&B, R&B singer. He embarked on a musical career after meeting record producer Mick Schultz in 2008, and signed a recording contract wi ...

) narrowly entered both the

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

and

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine. It was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007 as the standard record chart in Canada; a new chart ...

. In the following year, he parted ways with the label.

Early life

Valee Taylor grew up on Chicago's South Side, living in the

Robert Taylor Homes Robert Taylor Homes was a public housing project located in the Bronzeville neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois. Constructed in 1962 and demolished by 2007, it was the largest housing project in the United States. The developme ...

and moving repeatedly once they were demolished. Valee has said his mother exposed him to musicians such as

Erykah Badu Erica Abi Wright (born February 26, 1971), known professionally as Erykah Badu, is an American singer and songwriter. Influenced by rhythm and blues, R&B, Soul music, soul, and hip hop, Badu rose to prominence in the late 1990s when her debut al ...

, Sade, Jill Scott at an early age. Valee pays homage to the artists frequently in his music. He was trained as an auto mechanic, and earned income by working on automobiles from his mother's garage prior to recording. Throughout his schooling, he had repeated issues with anger, and his outbursts led to his expulsion from numerous schools. The rapper cites Cash Money and

Project Pat Patrick Earl Houston (born February 8, 1973), known professionally as Project Pat, is an American rapper from Memphis, Tennessee. He is the older brother of Juicy J, the co-founder of Three 6 Mafia. Houston was formerly a member of the hip-hop ...

as early hip hop influences. Taylor says he decided to make music on a whim while living in the South Side of Chicago. He says he was on his way to purchase a video game system, but on the way decided to go to

Guitar Center Guitar Center, Inc. is an American musical instrument retailer chain headquartered in Westlake Village, California. It operates 304 locations and is the largest company of its kind in the United States. The company oversees several subsidia ...

instead. He purchased the necessary equipment to start making beats and shortly after he began rapping over them.

Music

Valee's early work includes collaborations with producers such as Rio Mac and Chase the Money. His first song, "Cash Don't Bend" (with Ty Money) was released in 2015. From then until 2017, Valee released five independent projects: ''12:12'' (2015), ''1:11'' (2016), ''2:22'' (2016), ''12:12'' ''Again'' (2016) and ''1988'' (2017). After he was signed to

by the label's then-president

in February 2018, he released his debut extended play and first retail project, ''GOOD Job, You Found Me''. It was executive produced by West and saw minimal commercial response, although

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

reviewed the project and gave it a score of 7.4/10. In May 2018, Valee released the single "Womp Womp", featuring

. The song was later featured on the soundtrack of the 2019 Netflix film '' Beats'' leading its debut at number 98 on the ''Billboard'' Canadian Hot 100 and at 24 on the

. In 2019, he released a surprise EP, ''Runnin Rich'', which included features from

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King Louie King Louie is a fictional character introduced in Walt Disney's animated musical film ''The Jungle Book''. He is an orangutan who leads other jungle primates and wants to become more human-like by gaining knowledge of fire from Mowgli. King Lo ...

, and

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 ...

. The cover art is a picture of the rapper's pet Chihuahua dog named Cliff Notez, whom he was publicly condemned for dying red. Valee responded to the critics explaining he used "edible vegan dye" in order to color the pet's fur. He also released tracks with Big Baby DRAM ("About U"),

Matt Ox Matthew Christopher Grau (born December 13, 2004), known professionally as Matt Ox, is an American rapper and singer from Philadelphia. He is best known for his 2017 single "Overwhelming", and for being featured on the 2018 platinum certified tra ...

("Awesome"), and

Lil Yachty Miles Parks McCollum (born August 23, 1997), known professionally as Lil Yachty, is an American rapper. He first gained recognition in August 2015 for his viral hit "One Night (Lil Yachty song), One Night", the lead single from his debut extend ...

("Wombo") and appeared on YG's album '' 4Real 4Real''. Valee is currently managed by Andrew Barber, founder of notable Chicago Hip-Hop Blog: Fake Shore Drive.

Discography

Albums

*''12:12'' (2015) *''12:12 Again'' (2016) *''1988'' (2017) *''Runnin' Rich'' (2019) *''VACABULAREE'' (2022)

Collaboration Albums

*''The TrAppiEst Elevator Music Ever!'' (2021) *''The TrAppiEst Disco Music Ever!'' (2021) *''Gimme Five Im High'' (2021) *''Virtuoso'' (2023) *''VALEEDATION'' (2023) *''CAR TOONS'' (2023)

EPs

*''1:11'' (2016) *''2:22'' (2016) *''GOOD Job, You Found Me'' (2018) *''VLANE'' (2021) *''VLANE (Instrumentals)'' (2021) *''VLANE 2'' (2024) *''Partridge'' (2024)

Singles

*''VTL'' (2016) *''Shell'' (2017) *''Acid'' (2017) *''I Got Whatever'' (2017) *''Miami'' (2017) *''Are U Live'' (2017) *''Miami (Remix)'' (2018) *''Womp Womp'' (2018) *''Spondivits'' (2018) *''Awesome'' (2018) *''About U'' (2018) *''You & Me Both'' (2019) *''Uninvited'' (2019) *''Do My Thing'' (2020) *''Bling Bling'' (2020) *''Still Do'' (2021) *''Us'' (2021) *''Aladdin'' (2021) *''Fa Good'' (2021) *''Picture Me'' (2021) *''Hard 2 Notice?'' (2021) *''Trident'' (2022) *''AREA'' (2022) *''BUN B'' (2022) *''Will Pharrell'' (2022) *''Yhet'' (2022) *''Never That'' (2022) *''Gucci Wallabees'' (2022) *''Oscar'' (2022) *''Around + Wolfe's Deep Snippet'' (2022) *''Long Week'' (2022) *''HERMES$'' (2022) *''Hedi'' (2022) *''Man Man'' (2022) *''Risk'' (2023) *''Sci-Fi'' (2023) *''Yo Yo'' (2023) *''Could Be'' (2023) *''Pistachio'' (2023) *''Yellow'' (2023) *''Vibrant'' (2023) *''Watermelon Automobile'' (2023) *''Chanel'' (2023) *''Tailor Swift'' (2023) *''Créme De La Créme'' (2023) *''CoMmandO'' (2024) *''Kn0ck Kn0ck'' (2024)

Personal life

Valee has two children and three dogs (Furrari, Ravioli and Sophia).

References

{{Reflist American rappers Living people Rappers from Chicago 1988 births 21st-century American rappers