Building power and prestige in today’s rap game isn’t easy. And the leaders and role models in this business who have done it are the ones who many artists strive to be like; primarily because they’ve worked from the bottom up, overcame adversities, and never took ‘no’ for an answer. Instead of waiting for someone to find them and offer them a deal, they created one. They didn’t waste time counting on a big name to show them the way. In fact, they ventured out into the game independently and organized their own success. To accomplish this of course, you must first have the talent and the motivation to put forth the effort such as Iamsu! If there is one artist that has the chance to one day become as successful as those who dominate the game (such as Jay Z), then Iamsu! should be one of them. Not only does he write and produce his own music, he also markets and promotes himself; which may be why he had the tenacity to start his own independent label; and one that is not backed by another major label or artist (besides a distribution deal). College educated, he may not have the street hustle mentality but he has the intellect, creativity, and grind that can get him ahead just as well. As the saying goes ‘dress for the job you want’, Iamsu! seems to be dressing himself very well.
- Iamsu! was born November 16, 1989 in Richmond, California.
- His birth name is Sudan Ameer Williams and began rapping under the name Su, then later changing it to Iamsu!
- Iamsu! attended Pinole Valley High School where he started making beats on the computer.
- He graduated high school in 2007 and went on to college at Cal State East Bay majoring in Communications.
- Iamsu!’s musical influences are R. Kelly, Aaliyah, and Kanye West.
- He changed his name from Su to Iamsu to increase his visibility in regards to internet marketing and search engine optimization (SEO).
- Iamsu! belongs to the rap group HBK Gang which he founded and consists of around 15 members.
- HBK Gang is also the name of his independent label.
- In July 2010, he released his first mixtape titled ‘Su! The Right Thing’.
- In addition to his rapping and production skills, Iamsu! also writes music for other artist; which includes co-writing LoveRance’s song Up.
- Up reached # 2 on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart and # 46 on the Hot 100.
- In 2011, Iamsu! released his second mixtape titled ‘Young California’.
- In May of 2012 he released his third mixtape called ‘Kilt’.
- He then released all three mixtapes on iTunes in October of 2012, in which he decided that all his future mixtapes would be released on iTunes from now on.
- Iamsu! released ‘Stoopid’ (with Jay Ant), his fourth mixtape in October of 2012.
- A month later he released another mixtape titled ‘$uzy 6 $peed’.
- Within the span of 5 months in 2013, Iamsu! released 3 mixtapes: ‘Million Dollar Afro’ (with Problem), ‘Kilt 2’, and ‘Gang Forever’ (with HBK Gang).
- ‘Million Dollar Afro’ received praise by Spin magazine and Stereogum as one of the best rap releases of 2013.
- Spin magazine also stated that Iamsu! is one of 2013’s Hottest MC’s in the Game.
- Additionally, Iamsu! received much praise from Pitchfork Media on his ‘Kilt 2’ mixtape.
- Pitchfork stated that ‘Kilt 2’ was one of his strongest mixtapes and rated it a 7.5 out of 10.
- Pitchfork and Spin both praised the production on ‘Kilt 2’ which was mostly produced by Iamsu!
- Iamsu! later toured with Problem on the Million Dollar Afro Tour.
- Between 2011 and 2013, Iamsu! has worked with artists such as Wiz Khalifa, 50 Cent, Omarion, Too Short, and 2 Chains just to name a few.
- In May of 2014, Iamsu! released his first studio album titled ‘Sincerely Yours’.
Here is what he said to Good BAMM Sho about coming up in the game: “I expected it, I’m not gonna say I ever doubted myself but I didn’t expect for it to come in this way. You know what I mean? I mean some people think you get signed and you blow the fuck up. But I had to take a different route. I mean I put out mixtape after mixtape after mixtape, I’m makin my own t-shirts, I’m hookin up with brands and hollerin at people on my own, just me and the team. And then, put my own album out and then now it’s cookin”.
Post by: Rosie J. – music marketer
