Johnathan Michael Porter, known professionally as Blueface, is an American rapper and songwriter. In October 2018, after releasing the music video for his song "Respect My Cryppin", he became a viral meme due to his offbeat style of rapping. The following month, he was signed to Cash Money West, the West Coast branch of Birdman's Cash Money Records label. In 2019, a remix of his song "Thotiana", featuring Cardi B and YG, became his most successful single to date, peaking at number 8 on the BillboardHot 100. On March 13, 2020, he released his debut studio album, Find the Beat.
Early life
Johnathan Michael Porter was born on January 20, 1997, in Los Angeles, California. Porter grew up in Mid-City in central Los Angeles, and attended multiple elementary schools before moving in with his mother in Santa Clarita Valley, but later settled in Oakland with his father. After relocating to San Fernando Valley, Porter attended Arleta High School and joined the marching band playing alto saxophone and football team, becoming the starting quarterback in 2014, standing at 6'4'' and weighing 160lbs. As starting quarterback, Porter led the team to an East Valley League championship in 2014. Throwing for 1,234 yards and 17 touchdowns in 2013 and 1,724 yards and 21 touchdowns in 2014, Porter committed to play for Fayetteville State University and briefly played college football before leaving in 2016. Porter references his past experiences as a football player in the video for the remix to "Thotiana", where the rapper portrays a top prospect high school quarterback disrespecting his coach due to his desire to pursue women and fame. Porter began to take an interest in rap music at a young age, and mainly listened to 50 Cent, The Game and Snoop Dogg.
Career
2017–2018: Viral Success, ''Famous Cryp'', and "Bleed It"
Porter began rapping in January 2017 under the name Blueface Bleedem, a reference to his ties to the School Yard Crips street gang. Originally moving back to Los Angeles after leaving Fayetteville State University, he was invited to his friend Laudiano's music studio to retrieve a phone charger, and after being challenged to rap over a beat, Porter began to work to release his first song, "Deadlocs", produced by Laudiano, onto SoundCloud. In June 2018, he released his first full-length project, Famous Cryp. In September 2018, after the song and EP helped him build a local following in California, he released his second EP, Two Coccy, onto SoundCloud and Spotify. On October 8, 2018, Blueface released a music video for his song, "Respect My Crypn", on WorldstarHipHop's YouTube channel, and shortly after the song was posted to Twitter, where it became a viral meme. The video's popularity led to more of Blueface's music receiving attention, with his songs "Thotiana" and "Next Big Thing" earning newfound popularity. His popularity increased even further due to the fact that he is currently holding a contest on his Instagram stories and posts using polls to determine which high school he should visit. Pasadena High School edged out a victory over Santa Monica High School. The social media challenge brought in new followers, increasing his already growing popularity. In November 2018, Blueface was signed to Cash Money Records' West Coast affiliate Cash Money West, and posted clips of himself in the studio with Canadian rapper Drake and Quavo on his Instagram page. In December 2018, Blueface again went viral thanks to an acoustic video with Einer Bankz previewing his new song, "Bleed It" which released officially in January 2019. He released the song two days later, including a video on the Lyrical Lemonade YouTube channel, directed by Cole Bennett, that amassed over 2 million views in the first 24 hours of its release.
2019–Present: "Thotiana", ''Dirt Bag'', and ''Find the Beat''
On January 26, 2019, Blueface's track, "Thotiana", debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 75, making it his first track to chart on a Billboard chart. The song was released as a remix with YG with a music video. The following week, he released a remix with Cardi B, coinciding with another video from Cole Bennett. On streaming services, the two remixes are separate, but there is also a third where all three versions are put together. On May 1, 2019, Blueface released the music video for his single, "Stop Cappin", which has amassed over 5 million views over the first four days on YouTube. On August 2019, Blueface released an EP titled Dirt Bag, the album was preceded by the singles "Stop Cappin'", "Daddy" and "Bussdown". At eight tracks, the EP featured guest appearances from The Game, Rich the Kid, Offset, Lil Pump, and Mozzy. His song "Daddy" featuring Rich the Kid on the EP peaked at #78 on the Billboard Hot 100, and "Stop Cappin'" with The Game reached #15 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100. The EP peaked at #48 on the Billboard 200. Despite commercial success, the EP received overwhelmingly negative critical reviews. Riley Wallace at Hip-Hop DX rated the project at 3/5, while listeners rated it at 2.33/5. Album of the Year appraised a total critic score of 60/100, while listeners reviewed it at 51/100. Fred Thomas of AllMusic followed a trend of middle-ranged reviews, giving the project a 3/5. Similar to other reviews, listeners at Rate Your Music gave an average rating of 2.52 for the project. On October 11, 2019, Blueface announced his debut studio album, Find the Beat, and its tracklist. He has released four singles from the album, "Close Up" featuring Jeremih, "First Class" featuring Gunna, "Obama" featuring DaBaby, and "Holy Moly" featuring NLE Choppa. On December 6, 2019, the album was set to release but was delayed due to trademark issues. On January 17, 2020, the second release date was confirmed, but it was delayed again. On March 13, 2020, the third release date, the album released, with features from Polo G, Ambjaay, Lil Baby, Stunna 4 Vegas, YBN Nahmir, Gunna, Jeremih, NLE Choppa, and DaBaby, totaling 16 songs. Fellow rapper Lil Uzi Vert, who released an album titled, Lil Uzi Vert vs. the World 2, on the same day Find the Beat was released, praised the album. In a private exchange with Blueface, Lil Uzi Vert said "album fye" and offered to collaborate with Blueface. However, despite this praise, Find the Beat was released to overwhelmingly negative reception. Reviewers at Rate Your Music totaled the album at 2.58 out of 5 stars. Critic Erika Marie of Hot New Hip Hop positively reviewed the album while listeners rated it at 34/100.
On November 16, 2018, at approximately 8:30 PM local time, Porter was approached by a man at a Chevron gas station, who proceeded to attempt to rob him. Porter shot at the suspect's car, and was later arrested and charged with shooting at an occupied vehicle, a felony in the state of California. Porter was released on $50,000 bail on November 18. Porter was also arrested on February 1, 2019 for felony gun possession after law enforcement recovered a loaded, unregistered handgun in his possession.
Personal life
Porter has one child, a son born in 2017. Prior to entering the music industry, he had spent most of his adult life unemployed, occasionally holding a few temporary jobs.
