Valee

Rapper Valee Taylor sets himself apart with a distinctively even-tempered, melodic, and concise approach to trap. The native of Chicago's South Side stirred up interest during the latter half of the 2010s with a series of mixtapes, beginning with 12:12, 1:11, 2:22, 12:22, and 12:12 Again, on which his rhymes were outfitted with laid-back productions granted most frequently by the likes of RioMac, ChaseTheMoney, and Troy P. Taylor enjoyed a bit of a breakout in 2017. His discography lengthened with titles such as VTM (co-billed with ChaseTheMoney) and 1988, and near year's end, the 12:12 Again highlight "Miami" was issued commercially as a single by Kanye West's Def Jam-supported Getting Out Our Dreams label. The following February, G.O.O.D. president Pusha T announced the signing of Valee and shortly thereafter appeared on a remix of "Miami." The next month, G.O.O.D. issued Valee's GOOD Job, You Found Me, an EP featuring the "Miami" remix beside other pre-contract highlights such as "Shell" and "I Got Whatever." Collaborations with Jeremih ("Womp Womp") and Matt Ox ("Awesome") followed later in the year. ~ Andy Kellman