Rod Wave facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Rod Wave
Rod Wave in 2020
Background information
Birth name	Rodarius Marcell Green
Born	(1998-08-27) August 27, 1998 (age 26) Saint Petersburg, Florida, US.
Genres	Hip hop R&B soul trap
Occupation(s)	Rapper singer songwriter
Years active	2016–present
Labels	Alamo (current) Geffen Interscope Hit House (former)
Children	2

Rodarius Marcell Green (born August 27, 1998), known professionally as Rod Wave, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. Signed to Alamo Records, Green is known for his strong voice and incorporation of hip hop and R&B, having been recognized as a pioneer of "trap-soul." Green rose to prominence with his 2019 single "Heart on Ice," which first went viral on TikTok before peaking at number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song preceded his debut studio album, Ghetto Gospel (2019), which peaked at number ten on the US Billboard 200. His second album, Pray 4 Love (2020), peaked at number two on the chart and included the song "Rags2Riches" (remixed featuring Lil Baby), which peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100.

His third, fourth, and fifth studio albums: SoulFly (2021), Beautiful Mind (2022), and Nostalgia (2023), each debuted atop the Billboard 200 and received platinum certifications by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The latter spent multiple weeks at the position, while the former spawned his highest-charting singles, "Street Runner" and "Tombstone"—both of which peaked within the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100. Along with critical praise for his soulful delivery and lyrics, Green's commercial success matched the numbers of Taylor Swift as the only musical act to release a new chart-topping solo album within each of the previous three years. Green's sixth studio album, Last Lap (2024), debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, marking Green's seventh consecutive top ten album, and making him the only artist other than Swift to chart a top ten album each year from 2019 to 2024. The album also spawned Green's second highest- charting song, "25".

Green has sold 65 million digital copies in the United States, ranking him among the highest certified artists in the United States. He has been nominated for one American Music Award, one Billboard Music Award, and one iHeartRadio Music Award. Green's Nostalgia was listed among the top-earning projects released through Sony Music. Billboard Boxscore reported that Green was the 21st highest-grossing touring rapper of all time, with $36 million from 31 shows.

Early life

Rodarius Marcell Green was born on August 27, 1998, in Saint Petersburg, Florida. During his elementary school years, Green experienced a challenging family situation when his parents divorced, and his father subsequently ended up in jail. Struggling with financial difficulties, his family found it challenging to provide the necessary support. As a result, Green turned to the streets as a means to make a living. Unfortunately, this led him down a troubled path, involving multiple stints in juvenile centers and engagement in various illicit activities such as robbery, burglary, and possession of firearms. Green attended Lakewood Elementary School in Saint Petersburg, FL, and was selected for All-State Elementary Chorus in 2009 and 2010. He continued to perform in front of his fellow students at Lakewood High School.

Following his father Rodney "Fatz" Green's incarceration, Fatz's close friend, Derek "Uncle Dee" Lane played a major role in his life before he was eventually arrested and sentenced to a year in prison a year after Fatz. Upon his father's release from jail, he recognized the destructive lifestyle his son was entangled in. Determined to steer Wave in a more positive direction, his father took a proactive approach, resulting in Green joining the high school football team. He encouraged Green to channel his energy into music, recognizing its potential to transform his life. In support of this newfound passion, Fatz purchased a microphone, while his brother contributed by buying him a computer. Equipped with these tools, Green was provided with the means to redirect his life towards a more positive and constructive path. After the release of Lane, he and Fatz came together to found the entertainment company and record label, Hit House Entertainment, to support Green before he eventually signed to Alamo Records.

Career

2015–2020: Early mixtapes, Ghetto Gospel, and Pray 4 Love

Wave's career began in 2015, with the release of his mixtape Hunger Games Vol.1. He released several mixtapes independently prior to signing with Alamo Records. On June 14, 2019, he released his mixtape PTSD, which included the song "Heart on Ice". The song went viral on YouTube and TikTok, peaking at number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Wave's debut album, Ghetto Gospel, was released on November 1, 2019. It peaked at number 10 on the US Billboard 200. The album was executive produced by Louisiana rapper Kevin Gates, and Gates would feature on a song from the album "Cuban Links", which peaked at number 92 on the Hot 100.

Rod Wave's second album, Pray 4 Love, was released on April 3, 2020. It debuted at number 2 on the Billboard 200, with a deluxe edition following on August 7. Several songs from the album entered the Billboard Hot 100, including "Rags2Riches" (featuring ATR Son Son), which peaked at number 12 on the Hot 100 and became his highest-charting song. On August 11, 2020, Wave was included on XXL's 2020 Freshman Class. In July 2020, Wave revealed during an interview that he was working on his third album, which was originally scheduled for August 27, 2020, Wave's 21st birthday.

In April 2020, Rod Wave was selected by music streaming service Audiomack as the first artist in their "Up Now" emerging artist program. "Audiomack has been helping me get my music out there from the very beginning before people really knew who I was," the artist told Audiomack. "Continuing to work together with them is part of staying true to my core fans as I take the next step of the journey."

2021–2022: SoulFly, Beautiful Mind, and Jupiter's Diary: 7 Day Theory

He revealed the track list for his album SoulFly on March 6, 2021. The album also includes songs "Street Runner" and "Tombstone", his highest-charting song which peaked at number 11 on the Hot 100. .....

In January 2022, Wave released the single "Cold December". On May 1, 2022, he released a freestyle of Future's "Wait for U", in which he revealed his next album would be titled Beautiful Mind, while also announcing that he had turned the album in on April 25, 2022. The album was released on August 12, 2022. After the album was released Wave decided to go on tour. His tour began November 11, 2022 in Minneapolis, MN. Wave went all cross the U.S. ending his tour in Seattle, WA on December 21, 2022. Wave was going from city to city every one to three days. While on tour Rod Wave had two other artist Toosi and Mariah the Scientist. Toosi and Mariah the Scientist opened for Rod Wave throughout the tour.

On November 10, 2022, Rod Wave released "Break My Heart", the lead single for his eight-track EP, Jupiter’s Diary: 7 Day Theory. The EP was released the following week, on November 18, 2022. It would peak at #9 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, marking Rod Wave's fourth top ten debut at the time of its release and was the highest charting new release of the week ending December 4, 2022.

2023-present: Nostalgia and Last Lap

On March 31, 2023, Rod Wave released "Fight the Feeling" as the lead single for his upcoming studio album. It peaked at #16 on the Billboard Hot 100. Months later, on August 18, 2023, he released the album's second single, "Call Your Friends" which peaked at #18 on the Billboard Hot 100. This was followed by "Come See Me" on September 1, 2023, peaking at #19 on the Billboard Hot 100. On the week of the album's release, Rod Wave released the last two singles of the project, "Boyz Don't Cry" and "Checkmate" on September 13, 2023, and September 14, 2023. The two singles peaked at #25 and #55 on the Billboard Hot 100, respectively. On September 15, 2023, Rod Wave released his fifth full-length studio album, Nostalgia, which featured guest appearances from Wet, 21 Savage, and Sadie Jean. The album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, moving 137,000 album-equivalent units in its first week, marking Rod Wave's third #1 album. The album remained at #1 on the chart in its second week, moving an additional 88,000 units. Following the release of the album, Green embarked on his Nostalgia Tour, a thirty-five-stop arena tour in the United States. The tour was supported by Ari Lennox, Toosii, G Herbo, and Eelmatic. Following the release of the album, in November 2023, Green was faced with controversy as Baton Rouge, Louisiana rapper, Boosie Badazz accused Green of stealing his lyrics and sampling his music without paying him, stating that he plans to file a lawsuit against Green. Despite Green stating that he'd pay Boosie, the situation escalated and Boosie stated that he was going forward with the lawsuit. On November 10, Green appeared as a guest appearance on "Better Than Ever", the seventh cut of YoungBoy Never Broke Again's twenty-first mixtape, Decided 2, being the only artist to feature on the project.

On September 4, 2024, Rod Wave took to his Instagram to announce his 2024 Last Lap Tour in the United States, supported by Moneybagg Yo, Toosii, Lil Poppa, Dess Dior, and Eelmatic. The thirty-six-stop tour shares the same name as Green's sixth full-length studio album, Last Lap. On September 26, Green announced the release of his sixth full-length studio album, Last Lap to release on October 11. The following day, he released the album's second single, "Fall Fast in Love" which peaked at #49 on the Billboard Hot 100. On October 11, Green released Last Lap as planned featuring guest appearances from Be Charlotte, Lil Baby, Lil Yachty, Rylo Rodriguez, and Wild Rivers. The album debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200, moving 127,000 album-equivalent units in its first week, marking Green's seventh consecutive top-ten album, and making him the only artist other than Taylor Swift to chart a top ten album each year from 2019 to 2024.

Artistry

Influences

Green has taken inspiration from a variety of artists such as Adele (left) and Tupac Shakur (right).

Green was raised on the sounds of E-40, Chingy, Boosie Badazz, Chief Keef, Kanye West, Kodak Black, and Kevin Gates. In his April 2020 interview with Billboard, leading up to the release of Pray 4 Love, Green cited Tupac Shakur and Adele as two of his inspirations, noting that he can "hear everything she went through". In his 2023 interview with Billboard, following the release of Nostalgia, Green cited Ed Sheeran as one of his favorite artists. In the same interview, it was written that Adele and Ed Sheeran helped Green, "find his voice".

Musical style

Green has been recognized for his "candor and shrewd ability to tug at listeners' heartstrings". ABC News Radio's Rachel George noted that "music is a direct expression of Wave's life, which is why he's cautious yet open to working with other artists who share his passion". In Green's interview with Ebro Darden on Apple Music, he went into depth behind the reasoning for his subject matter often surrounding pain, describing music as a sort of "therapy" for him:

I feel like when I first came on the scene, I had a lot of pain and just a lot of scars and stuff, and I just feel like, over the years, I done let a lot of it out and it was just therapy for me.

His musical creativity and lyrics derive from his personal life, childhood, and romantic relationships. Green's lyrics have been described as "soul grabbing" and his hooks have been described as "entrancing" by critics. His music seemingly is used to "express his heartbreak and inner turmoil" and he's praised for his ability to "hopscotch among genres" such as hip-hop, contemporary hip-hop, Southern hip hop, hip hop soul, alternative R&B, contemporary R&B, and trap. Green also experiments with Gospel music is songs such as "Long Journey" and "Chip on My Shoulder". Furthermore, he is known widely for his experimentation and implementations of samples in his music, such as "Already Won" sampling "Can You Stand the Rain" by New Edition, "Cold December" sampling "O.D.'d in Denver" by Hank Williams Jr., and "Crazy" sampling "Ain't It Fun" by Paramore, alongside several other tracks throughout his discography.

Personal life

Green has twin daughters with his long-time on-and-off girlfriend, Kelsey "Dee" Coleman.

Discography

• Ghetto Gospel (2019)
• Pray 4 Love (2020)
• SoulFly (2021)
• Beautiful Mind (2022)
• Nostalgia (2023)
• Last Lap (2024)

Tours

Headlining

• Ghetto Gospel Tour (2020)
• SoulFly Tour (2021)
• Beautiful Mind Tour (2022)
• Nostalgia Tour (2023)
• Last Lap Tour (2024)

Supporting

• I'm Him Tour (Kevin Gates) (2019)

Awards and nominations

See also

• List of highest-certified music artists in the United States