Chicago, IL · hip-hop · trap

Famous Dex

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Hyperactive, cartoonish Chicago rap from the SoundCloud boom — all yelps and energy, a genuine stylistic bridge to the rage era that followed.

Famous Dex was born Dexter Tiewon Gore Jr. on September 6, 1993, and grew up in the Englewood neighborhood on Chicago's South Side. He turned to music seriously after his mother died of breast cancer in 2014, and two years later tattooed a pink ribbon on his face in her memory.

His style is built on a high, animated voice, ad-libbed yelps and a loose sense of pitch, delivered over bright, treble-heavy trap production. That sound took shape across a run of self-released mixtapes, Never Seen It Coming, Dexter's Laboratory, Drippy and #OhhMannGoddDamn, put out between 2015 and early 2016.

In March 2016 he signed to Rich the Kid's label, Rich Forever Music, and released the collaborative mixtape Rich Forever along with three follow-up volumes. That year he also appeared in Soulja Boy's video for "Draco."

His debut album, Dex Meets Dexter, arrived in 2018 and reached number 12 on the Billboard 200. Its first single, "Pick It Up," featuring ASAP Rocky, climbed to number 54 on the Hot 100, while "Japan" became his best-known song, peaking at number 28.

He followed with the EP Dexter 2031 at the end of 2019, then singles alongside Lil Gotit, Tyga and Fivio Foreign, before releasing the album Diana in October 2020. His playful, energetic approach was an influence on the more chaotic strands of rap that followed later in the decade.

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