Peezy

An influential Detroit rapper and hip-hop artist, Peezy is known for his defiant lyrics and abrasive flow. He rose to prominence in the early 2010s as part of the Motor City's Team Eastside rap collective, before striking out on his own with albums like 2015's Mud Sweat & Tears. Following buzzed-about mixtapes, he released 2021's Free Rio, 2022's Only Built 4 Diamond Links, and 2023's GHETTO.

Born Phillip Glen-Earl Peaks, Peezy grew up on Detroit's east side where he started rapping at Cooley High School, inspired by artists like Dipset, Jay-Z, DMX, Fabolous, and others. He dropped out of school in the 11th grade and by 2010 was laying down tracks at Detroit's Cloud 9 studio. Together with emcees Babyface Ray, D-Nice, and Lou, he released the track "Eastside Where the Real Money At." The song caught on locally and by the time they released the 2011 full-length We in Here, they were known as Team Eastide. They released three more well-received albums, but ultimately moved on to solo projects.

Peezy began making waves as a solo artist with 2014's Mud Muzik. He also founded his own #Boyz Entertainment label and garnere yet wider attention with the release of his third album, 2015's Mud Sweat & Tears. The following year saw him arrested on racketeering and conspiracy charges, but that didn't stop him from releasing a new mixtape, the aptly named Ballin Ain't a Crime, in early 2017. That year, he issued a further trio of mixtapes: People's Champ, Winter Grind, and Ghetto Wave. He kicked off 2018 with the No Hooks mixtape, with No Hooks 2 and Royalty One appearing the following year.

All of this activity led up to Peezy's incarceration, which found him serving an 18-month prison sentence from 2019 to 2021, although he had been so busy in the studio that albums kept coming despite his incarceration. He teamed up with Payroll Giovanni, from Detroit West Side rap crew Doughboyz Cashout, for both Ghetto Rich Niggaz and Ballin Ain't a Crime 2, which arrived in 2020.

Following his release, Peezy launched 2021 with "Build a Bear" (feat. Pooh Beatz) and finished off the year with the full-length Free Rio. He continued his hot streak in 2022 with Only Built 4 Diamond Links, reaching 128 on the Billboard 200 and hitting 17 on the Top Independent Albums chart. Another studio album, GHETTO, arrived in 2023 and included a guest spot from Brielle Lesley, as well as the single "Gotti and Bandz." ~ Matt Collar & James Christopher Monger