Photo by Ramon Piquero
Blueface is the next big thing. He has said it himself, numerous times, on songs like “Famous Cryp” and the admirably straightforward “Next Big Thing.”
The 22-year-old L.A. rapper, born Jonathan Porter, has been on a meteoric rise since the fourth quarter of 2018, when both his face and his unconventional rapping style took over social media. To many, his cadence—skittering and almost comical—doesn’t fit neatly into the current (or past) landscape of hip-hop. But that’s exactly what makes him so interesting.
Now, let’s get into everything you need to know about Blueface. After watching hours of radio interviews and going further back into his Instagram history than any rapper I’ve ever researched, I can confidently say that these are the 10 most important things to know about Blueface, before he takes off.
He’s been co-signed by Kendrick Lamar and Ice Cube
Blueface has already been co-signed by West Coast rap pioneer, Ice Cube, and legend-in-the-making, Kendrick Lamar. On a recent episode of Genius’ The Cosign, Cube watched a clip of Blueface’s “Respect My Crypn.” After seeing just a few seconds of the video, he said, “I like his confidence. I definitely know this dude can rap.” Cube went on to say, “He not offbeat. He not all the way hitting the ones all the time, he's falling off and falling back on. It's one of those styles that's an acquired taste, but when you get it, it's fire.”
In December, music writer Jeff Weiss spoke with Kendrick Lamar for the L.A. Times. Because the world was (or will be) dying to know, Weiss asked Lamar what he thinks about Blueface. K. Dot’s quote didn’t make it into the final feature, but Weiss did take the time to tweet Kung-Fu Kenny’s response. After “automatically” ad-libbing “Blueface, baby!” Lamar said, “He's dope. He's got his own style and I can appreciate that.”
A dick pic helped make him famous
One of my favorite Blueface songs is “Put in Her Face.” It’s just as disrespectful as it sounds. And when Blueface initially dropped it, he used a dick pic as the cover art. “I sho’ the fuck did,” he said in an interview with Refuse Media. “And that blew a nigga up.”
Here’s the story: Somebody on Instagram commented that he wore fake chains. So he took a shower (a “golden shower,” in his words, but he really didn’t mean that) with all of his jewelry on. He even brushed his teeth with his grill in. Blueface recorded and uploaded all of this to his IG story, but he didn’t notice the unfortunate camera angle. “Somebody got this perfect ass angle, screenshot, a nigga dick looking hurt,” he said. “Looking like I’m finna lose it all.” Instead of letting the internet shame him into oblivion, he decided to flip the script. “If I’mma go out with a dick pic, it’s gonna be a good one. So I had to ‘Put It in Her Face.’”
The following quote, from an interview with SLAP Media, says it all: “It’s only two things a nigga care about: my dick and my son.”
He was once serious about playing football
In 2015, Blueface attended Fayetteville State in North Carolina. He chose the school, on the complete opposite side of the country from his home state of California, because they gave him the best offer for a football scholarship. “I wouldn’t have went to school if I wasn’t playing football,” he told Big Boy in December. As a high school student, he attended five different schools, chasing the best opportunities and trying to increase his chances of becoming a legitimate star athlete.
As Blueface tells it, he was supposed to redshirt his first year, but the starting quarterback, a fifth-year senior, got injured. The coach pulled Blueface off the bench for one game (a 57-27 loss to West Georgia) in which he threw for two touchdowns and no interceptions. Then, the senior QB recovered and Blueface went back to the bench. It wasn’t long before he dropped out. “I left before the report card even came out,” he said.
He stumbled into rap
“I walked into the shit, literally.” That’s how Blueface describes the beginning of his rap career. According to him, per several radio interviews, he was hanging around an L.A. rapper named TeeCee4800. He drove TeeCee to one of his shows, and TeeCee left his iPhone dongle in Blueface’s car. Blueface returned the dongle to TeeCee, who was at a studio. But before leaving, he hopped in the booth. His now well-known ad-libs “Blueface, baby!” and “Yea, aight” were born that day. It was a wrap from there.
He considers himself a “genius”
In three separate interviews that I watched while researching him, Blueface used the word “genius” to describe himself. Speaking with 30 Mile Exclusive, he explained how he initially popped off by traveling to local high schools and performing on top of his car, surrounded by screaming teens. “I don’t like to say it, but I don’t care, I’m a real-life genius,” he said of his marketing strategy.
While talking to Refuse Media, his tattoo of a barber pole (one of his former trades) was addressed. “I’m a genius, man,” he said while laughing. “I’m a genius. I do a lot.”
His most convincing explanation of this self-description came through his interview with SLAP Media: “I would consider myself a genius—you see how I operate, you feel me? You see on the ‘net, how they tried to do me. I’ve just been taking it step by step. I ain’t been rushing the process.”
He’s already working with Drake, Quavo, Lil Uzi Vert, and more
An official Cash Money West signee, Blueface has already been scoped by Drake, who slid into his Instagram DMs to show support and offer him a collaborative opportunity over a Boi-1da beat. Blueface has also already recorded work with Quavo and the recently retired Lil Uzi Vert. All of those songs are expected to be on Blueface’s next project. He’s also been spotted in the studio with Lil Pump and Scott Storch. Additionally, Blueface has said that Soulja Boy, Trippie Redd, and E-40 have each hit him up for future collabs.
His dating life is “complicated”
For any lady fans hoping to give Blueface child No. 2 anytime soon (more on child No. 1 later), as of early December, his dating situation was “complicated.” He’s also said he’s “not a relationship type.” Last but not least, after having his fun early on, he has officially sworn off fornicating with female supporters. Or, in his words: “No more fan fucking.”
His tattoos tell the story of his life
In an interview with 30 Mile Exclusive, Blueface said, “Everything on my head—I was tired of people asking me what I’m thinking about.” His tattoos reveal his history as a barber, his astrological sign (Aquarius), his religious beliefs (Christianity), his material aspirations (a Benz logo, a bank roll), and a slew of other things. But most recognizable is the Benjamin Franklin tattoo on his cheek, which he calls his “signature.”
Per Blueface, that tattoo was his official stamp as a rapper. “This gon’ make it the only other option,” he said in an interview with No Jumper. “Can’t quit with no big-ass Benji on your face. Ain’t nobody fucking with you.” That said, he did deliberately get tattoos on the right side of his face so when he gets pulled over, the cops won’t see them as quickly. “I think about all this,” he said with a smile on Big Boy’s Neighborhood.
He has a son
Blueface has a young child, a son named Javaughn, whose name he has tattooed on his right forearm. Javaughn has popped up at numerous radio interviews with his father, and appeared in the video for Blueface’s breakthrough single “Deadlocs.” While his son’s age is currently unknown (or at least not widespread information), he’s a spitting image of his father. In a December interview with Big Boy’s Neighborhood, Blueface revealed his son’s mother works during the day throughout week, so he has his son with him nearly everyday.
He says he does write to the beat
The thing that has made Blueface popular, for both better and/or worse, is his approach to rapping. As previously mentioned, many think he’s deliberately rapping offbeat, or writing his songs to different beats than we hear on the final product. But according the L.A. MC, he writes his verses to the beat. “I usually write to the beat,” he said on No Jumper. “Really, the beat can make the song itself. Whether you think I’m offbeat, I made the song to the beat. Or at least the beat I was hearing... shit.”