The stylistically dynamic and voluble
Logic launched his rap career through uploads and mixtapes before signing a
Def Jam deal that has fostered mainstream presence since the mid-2010s. The MC, singer, songwriter, and producer made his recording debut the previous decade and within five years hit the Top Five with his debut album,
Under Pressure (2014), the first of several conceptual full-length projects to either top or nearly top the Billboard 200 and rap charts.
Logic's ascent continued through
Everybody (2017); his third proper LP debuted at number one with weighty themes including mental health, exemplified by "1-800-273-8255," a number two pop hit nominated for a Grammy Award. This was followed by secondary volumes of the artist's
Bobby Tarantino and Young Sinatra series, the latter capped by
YSIV (2018). After crowning the Billboard 200 again with
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2019), he hit number two with
No Pressure (2020).
Logic announced his retirement ahead of the latter, but he was back the next year with new singles as well as his seventh mixtape,
Bobby Tarantino III. In 2022, the tracks "Tetris" and "Therapy Music" (featuring
Russ) preceded the release of his seventh studio album, Vinyl Days.
Born Sir Robert Bryson Hall II in Rockville, Maryland,
Logic spent much of his childhood in nearby Gaithersburg. Although he was expelled from high school and was surrounded by drugs -- his parents struggled with addiction, and his brothers manufactured and distributed crack cocaine --
Logic found a creative outlet in hip-hop, inspired at first by
the RZA,
Wu-Tang Clan, and
the Roots. He started rapping in his teens and released his first mixtape in 2009 under the name Psychological. After the 2010 release of Young, Broke, & Infamous -- by which point he had shortened his name --
Logic joined the independent label Visionary Music Group. A one-tape-per-year schedule continued with a trilogy of Young Sinatra tapes, a period during which he toured internationally without label support and was selected for XXL magazine's Freshman Class of 2013.
Logic and Visionary Music Group subsequently worked out a contract with
Def Jam. The artist released his major-label debut album,
Under Pressure, in October 2014. Executive produced by
No I.D., it didn't need any guest appearances to enter the Billboard 200 chart at number four, and was eventually certified gold by the RIAA.
The Incredible True Story, an ambitious concept album set 100 years in the future, arrived in November 2015 and peaked at number three on the Billboard 200. The following year,
Logic embarked on the Endless Summer Tour with
G-Eazy,
YG, and
Yo Gotti. During the first week of dates,
Logic released
Bobby Tarantino, a commercial mixtape that debuted at number 16 and later peaked at number 12 despite no advance notice. It featured "Flexicution," the rapper's first Billboard Hot 100 single as a lead artist. Around the same time, the
Suicide Squad soundtrack's "Sucker for Pain," featuring
Logic among the likes of
Lil Wayne and
Wiz Khalifa, became a global smash.
In early 2017, shortly after his second album went gold,
Logic issued the first tracks from his third proper album,
Everybody, which arrived that May. A diverse cast of guests including
Alessia Cara,
Chuck D, and
Neil deGrasse Tyson supported
Logic on a set that explored issues dividing and unifying humanity. It debuted at number one, and its "1-800-273-8255," titled after the U.S. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, was nominated for Grammy awards in the categories of Song of the Year and Best Music Video. A trio of new singles arrived in the early part of 2018, starting with "44 More" and "Overnight," followed by the
Marshmello collaboration "Everyday." These tracks landed on the sequel mixtape
Bobby Tarantino II, which debuted atop the Billboard 200 in March 2018. Only six months later,
Logic released his fourth proper album,
YSIV. Another Top Five entry, it featured appearances from
Ryan Tedder and
Wu-Tang Clan. On the album's "Everybody Dies," he bragged about having written a novel. Supermarket was published the following March, and was accompanied by
Supermarket (Soundtrack), a rock-oriented album with only one guest appearance. Only two months later, he topped the Billboard 200 again with album five,
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.
In July 2020,
Logic announced the imminent release of his sixth LP,
No Pressure, as well as his retirement from music. The record, for which
No I.D. served again as executive producer, maintained
Logic's streak of Top Five albums. The retirement proved to be short-lived. Early the following year, he and producer
Madlib previewed material recorded under the name MadGic, and a handful of stray
Def Jam solo tracks commenced shortly thereafter.
The YS Collection, Vol. 1, a compilation of material taken from the Young Sinatra series, was issued around the same time. 2021 also saw
Logic releasing new music under the Doc D (or Doctor Destruction) alias, a semi-anonymous character whose style and presentation was deeply indebted to
MF Doom.
In June 2021,
Logic formally announced he was returning to music and issued the single "Intro." The song was quickly followed by several other new tracks, and on July 30, he released his seventh mixtape and final chapter of his Bobby Tarantino trilogy,
Bobby Tarantino III. The mixtape included only one featured guest spot, with actress/singer/songwriter
Cynthia Erivo contributing to the song "Inside." The mixtape debuted at the number 26 spot on the Billboard charts. More tracks arrived in 2022, including "Tetris" and "Therapy Music" (featuring
Russ), as the first singles off the rapper's seventh studio album, Vinyl Days. ~ Andy Kellman & Neil Z. Yeung