Biography
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Born
3 August 1993 (age 30)
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Born In
Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, United States
Joey Purp (born August 8, 1994) is a Chicago rapper who is a part of the SAVEMONEY crew (which holds rappers Vic Mensa and Chance The Rapper) and he is one half of the two man rap group called Leather Corduroys.
He grew up with an eclectic taste in music ranging from rappers such as JAY-Z, Kanye West, Andre 3000 and Wu-Tang Clan to the seminal New York rock band The Velvet Underground who he has cited as his favorite group.
In 2012 he put out a first mixtape under his own name called The Purple Tape, while also recorded as part of SaveMoney whose line-up included Chance The Rapper.
With SaveMoney colleague Kami de Chukwu, he also went on to form the duo Leather Corduroys and in early 2015 they put out their first project called Season, which showcased Purp’s musical diversity as the hip-hop release incorporated elements of rock, trap and neo-soul. His growing popularity additionally led to him performing on Hannibal Buress’s Comedy Central show Why?, helping word to spread even further about Purp among critics and music fans.
His second mixtape iiiDrops was released in May 2016 and included contributions from SaveMoney colleagues Chance The Rapper and Vic Mensa as well as Mick Jenkins, Saba, Teddy Jackson and The MIND. Rolling Stone hailed it as one of the 40 Best Rap Albums of 2016, while Complex placed it among its 40 best albums of the year, noting that Purp’s “ear for beats is nothing short of impressive”. The release also won critical acclaim from outlets including Pitchfork, The Fader, Spin and Noisey.
Over the summer of 2017 Purp made a series of festival appearances, including at the Pitchfork Music Festival, which was held in his own city and which had Stereogum describing his set as “one of the most entertaining shows of the weekend”. That same season he also made a guest appearance with indie rock band and fellow Chicagoans Whitney at the Lollapalooza festival in Chicago’s historic Grant Park. It was widely viewed as one of the standout moments of the four-day event.
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