I Love Makonnen
Aug 23, 2015
Makonnen Sheran , better known by his stage name ILoveMakonnen (stylized as ILOVEMAKONNEN or iLoveMakonnen), is an American hip hop recording artist from Los Angeles, California. He rose to prominence in 2014 after Drake remixed his song "Tuesday".
Makonnen was born in Los Angeles, California and moved to Atlanta in 2002 when he was 13 years old. He is of mixed race background, having African, Indian, Irish, Belgian, German, and Chinese heritage. His mother was a nail instructor and has worked in the beauty business for over 30 years. His grandmother was an opera singer, which influenced his musical career. He described his childhood as "semi-nice, semi-poverty". During his high school years, Makonnen was inspired by local rappers Young Jeezy and Gucci Mane to try out making music. His early songs were a mix of pop, rock and hip-hop.
In August 2014, Makonnen was featured in XXL??'?s The Come Up section, which focuses on blowing up artists. He later stated he is not looking for a major label deal and instead plans to go touring and recording music independently: "I'm not too thirsty to sign a deal. Cause a label will really just take all your free music down and you have to be somebody's bitch." He is also working on a collaboration project with Mike Will, which is set for release before the end of 2014. On September 1, 2014, it was announced that Makonnen, in a contradiction of his previous stance, had signed to Drake's label OVO Sound, which is distributed by Warner Bros. Records.