Armani White: A Rap Star in The Making

The Voice Behind “Billie Eilish”—Armani White

One of the more exciting and recent musicians to emerge from the TikTok platform is rapper Armani White. The Philadelphia native’s 2022 smash hit “Billie Eilish” opened many doors for him. From big-name features, a deal with Def Jam, and a Streamy Award performance and nomination—White has quite the career ahead.

The mega banger “Billie Eilish” was discovered through TikTok in 2022. As of now, the audio has been used in 3.4M videos on the app. Notably, Billie Eilish herself and NFL player Tom Brady took to social media to share the song. Although we didn’t know much about the rapper, Armani White’s energy, charisma and personality shone through the song. TikTok completely transformed his career, racking up a million streams for him in just three days. 

First Viral Moment

But long before Armani’s breakout single, he would remix Missy Elliott’s “Ching-a-ling” in 2012. After that he released singles “Picture Perfect” and “Secret Handshake” in 2014. A turning point came the following year in 2015 when White uploaded “Stick Up” along with a self-directed video. In fact, shortly after the music video was published, while Armani was sitting in his accounting class, the internet caught news of the aspiring rapper. More importantly, the Senior Director of A&R at RCA Records at the time, Tunji Balogun, reached out in hopes of signing Armani. However, White was still undergoing his artistic development, so he didn’t take the offer. They kept in contact for the future, and once the timing was right, which was in 2022, Armani signed with RCA.

The Burdensome Year Before His Breakthrough

During those years, Armani White had endured traumatic events. He details these events in his 2021 EP, Things We Lost In The Fire. From 2014 to 2020, his uncle was shot and killed, his father died of cancer, and a house fire resulted in jail time for Armani. 

“That house fire became a full-circle moment to a house fire I had in 2006, where I lost my aunt and my three cousins,” the rapper reveals.“That music was really necessary for me. You have something really heavy on your spirit, and it’s like landmines in a field for you to have this conversation. But if you get through these landmines, on the other side is a flower field that’s a garden that you can run through.” 

Armani White tells XXL in an interview.

Streamy Awards Nomination and Performance

This past year, Armani White was nominated and hit the stage at the Streamy Awards on August 27. “GOATED,” receiving a nomination for Rolling Stone Sound of the Year, was beat by Megan Trainor’s “Made You Look.” Armani teamed up with Denzel Curry for the “GOATED” remix, followed by his latest release, “Silver Tooth,” with A$AP Ferg. In just a year, Armani has had features from highly respected rappers, award nominations, a record deal and more to come. He penned one of the most viral TikTok songs of 2022, but Armani White is only getting started.