Hip Hop Awards 2022: Who is GloRilla? Get to Know the Burgeoning Rapper Repping Memphis
GloRilla is the hottest female emcee out of Memphis and has already proven she’s creating her own lane when it comes to her music career. She shot to fame thanks to her breakout single “FNF (Let’s Go).”
The HitKidd-produced track went viral, triggering a #FNFChallenge on the short-form streaming platform Tik Tok. As of today, the song has over 22 million views on YouTube. The rising female emcee capitalized off the song’s success to a music deal with Yo Gotti under his Collective Music Group record label.
Get to know the rising emcee a little better, and don’t forget to tune into the 2022 BET Hip Hop Awards airing Tuesday, October 4, at 9 PM ET/PT on BET.
She initially wanted to be a singer
In a YouTube interview with the YouTube channel Chillin With Tyrique, the emcee shared that she used to sing in church, but after losing her voice, she decided to switch to rapping.
Her breakout single “FNF” was supposed to go to another female emcee
According to Billboard, producer Hitkidd bass-bumping beat specifically for Houston native Megan Thee Stallion, telling the outlet, “I drove around thinking, ‘I’m gonna send this to Megan Thee Stallion.’”
Hitkidd worked on Megan’s 2021 compilation album, Something for Thee Hotties. He added, “I ended up sending it, but was like, ‘Bruh, this beat too hard to be waiting on her.’” After a while, the musician reached out to GloRilla, who reportedly requested a smoke break before creating the track in half an hour.
She and Yo Gotti share a hometown connection
In an Instagram video featuring a handful of her closest girlfriends, the rising emcee announced she had linked a deal with rapper and CMG founder Yo Gotti. In her caption, the Memphis raptress wrote, “From the same hood same city I told Gotti let’s make history. It’s only up from here!!!” before adding, “Proud to be a part of the CMG family & most definitely proud to be the first female rap artist on the label.
She initially went by a different moniker
GloRilla, born Gloria Woods, initially thought of going with “Big Glo” as her stage name. However, the rapper revealed that one of her cousins suggested “GloRilla” instead, citing her “wild and crazy” personality growing up.
She is all about body positivity
Pursuing a career in the entertainment business comes with a laundry list of industry and public pressure to sound a certain way, act in a specific manner, and perhaps one the most problematic of them all, forcing you to look like someone you are not to fit a certain standard of beauty.
When social media trolls tried to cyberbully her due to her more petite figure, she took to Instagram, where she seemingly addressed her critics in her caption, writing, “ANYWAYS, Life’s GREAT 😽 still GOOD.” We love an unbothered queen.
Watch the Hip Hop Awards on Tuesday, October 4, at 9 PM ET/PT on BET
