Adept at swinging from gruff to sweet within one line,
Rod Wave is a rapper and singer who swiftly advanced from local up-and-comer to Alamo Records signee. The Top Ten Billboard 200 entry
Ghetto Gospel capped off the storyteller's slew of vivid full-length releases across 2018 and 2019.
Pray 4 Love nearly topped the chart in 2020, and was followed in 2021 by
SoulFly, which reached number one on the strength of a few Top 40 singles.
For
Rod Wave, born Rodarius Green, recording was initially just a pastime facilitated by his father (who bought him a microphone) and his brother (who gave him a computer). He didn't intend to make a career out of it, but early tracks circulated by his producer found an audience in his native St. Petersburg, Florida, and additional material and live shows led to a deal with the Universal-affiliated Alamo Records. Still a teenager,
Rod put together multiple volumes in his Hunger Games series and also released a handful of singles in 2018 alone. He was even more productive the following year, releasing
PTSD (with Bay Area legend
E-40 the only guest), appearing on
E-40's "Made This Way" (his highest-profile guest verse to that point), and hitting number ten on the Billboard 200 with
Ghetto Gospel. The latter debut studio full-length was executive produced by
Kevin Gates -- an early inspiration -- and was boosted by a remix of the single "Heart on Ice" featuring
Lil Durk.
Rod returned in April 2020 with his second studio album,
Pray 4 Love. The set debuted at number two on Billboard 200 and spawned the number 12 pop hit "Rags2Riches" featuring
Lil Baby. A deluxe version of
Pray 4 Love arrived that August, only a few weeks after
Rod survived a serious car accident. The rapper/singer drew from the experience on
SoulFly, which arrived in March 2021. Powered by its first three singles, all of which went Top 40, the album crowned the Billboard 200. More non-album tracks followed, including 2021's "Forever Set in Stone and 2022's "Cold December." ~ Andy Kellman