PnB Rock is a young American Philadelphian rapper who was chosen in the XXL Freshman Class in 2017.
He is special because he started being serious in music while he was doing time in prison. Before that he didn’t think he would have a music career.
Early years
He was born as Rakim Hasheem Allen on December 9, 1991 in Philadelphia in Pennsylvania, United States. He grew up in a neighbourhood of Philadelphia called Germantown.
Rakim’s father died when he was very young (he was killed on the streets in a gang related shooting), when he was a little boy of three so je doesn’t remember him much.
He was raised only by his single mother and spent all of his childhood in North Philadelphia.
He had a rough time as a kid since they were poor and often had to move to different shelters in periods when their mother couldn’t find a job which would be paid enough for them to live in their own place.
His greatest role models while he was growing up were 2Pac and Jodeci, an R&B Quartet. Today it is Drake.
He says that there’s nothing wrong with having multiple roles in life and that one should always aspire to be better, no matter how good they already are.
He was a bad pupil not only by grades but in behaviour too. He was never interested in school and therefore people could not bring him to learn anything.
He was only 13 when he was sent into detention due to the problems he made in school. After he comitted a robbery and continued making problems in school by fighting and destroying the school’s property, he was sent to youth detention.
Rakim decided to drop out of school when he was a teenager, after his uncle was murdered. He was very close to his uncle due to the fact that he didn’t have a father figure, so his uncle became the substitute for a father.
His uncle Moe was one of his biggest supporters in making a music career. He says that music runs in the family’s genes.
Unfortunately, his uncle was also involved in criminal activities and was killed during doing one. It broke his heart.
He heard Drake’s “Best I Ever Had” on Top 40 and he felt something clicked. It seemed like he knew the rhythm and the lyrics of his songs.
After hearing all of Drake’s music, Rock decided to start writing his own lyrics. He succeeded in getting a keyboard in prison so he started to be more serious about it.
Older guys and inmates were his inspiration for the words: he described them and told their stories because he was too young to have them. But most of the stories from her songs were the ones about his tough childhood.
The day he went out of prison was the most surprising day of his life: hundreds of fans were waiting for him outside yelling his name.
He wasn’t aware that his Instagram account grew to near 50K followers. He gained such a good following quickly and he was absolutely enjoying the fame.
He was 19 when he gained a 3 years sentence under the charges of drug possession and a lot of other crimes.
He was released from prison in 2013 and became homeless. This was the hardest part of his life.
It is known that he has never finished his high school education because he was expelled from school due to his criminal activities.
His name PnB stands for “Pastorius and Baynton”. Pastorius and Baynton is the name of a street in his old neighbourhood where he grew up, called Germantown.
Career development
He rapped for a long time but it was in the summer of 2014 when he released his first mixtape “Real N*gga Bangaz”. It was the mixtape he made while he was in jail.
He had a lot of fans in jail and their number increased on a daily basis partly because of his social media platforms and partly because he made a lot of songs in prison and released them on his site.
The big success of the tape gained him a deal with Atlantic Records. He was very proud of it. His new mixtape was called “RnB3” and was released the same year.
His most known single was called “Selfish” and it was released in summer 2016. “Selfish” came up to No.50 on US Billboard Hot 100.
In 2016, he released an album named “Money, Hows & Flows”. This was an album on which he collaborated with Fetty Wap, a New Jersey rapper mostly known for his single “Trap Queen”. DJ Drama was also one of the guests on this track.
In 2017, he released a new mixtape called “Goin Thru the Motions”. The album was well received by the public and it made in Top 30 on the US Billboars chart and even to No.10 of R&B Hip-Hop chart.
This album was released by a record label named Atlantic Records and was distributed by Empire Distribution.
His two singles “Gang Up” and “Horses” were featured on the soundtrack of a major hit movie called “Fast & Furious”
This singles were made in a collaboration with many known rappers such as Young Thug, Wiz Khalifa and Kodak Black. This brought him a lot of fans because his fanbase drastically increased.
His manager is Monty Love from New Lane Entertainment.
The Rolling Stone magazine made Rakim as one of “10 New Artists You Need To Know”. It was in 2016.
He released his first album named “Catch These Vibes” in the winter of 2017. The album was well received by fans and hip hop scene and there are a lot of appearances on this album from many established artists: Russ, Wiz Khalifa, Smokepurpp, Juicy J and more.
One of his biggest hits was a song “Gang Up” was featured with Wiz Khalifa, Young Thug and 2 Chainz.
In 2018 he started “Catch These Vibes” tour to demonstrate his new songs and lyrics to his fans.
He was recently in the news because of his rude and unhuman behaviour when he was in a known hotel.
The employees learned that he is smoking marijuana in the room and after that the management asked him to immidietaly leave the hotel. He wanted revenge because of it so he urinated all over the carpet and the walls in the hotel.
The media obviously had a blast showing all dirty details of this scandal. It has given them material for days of writing.
He has also used bad names and offended the bodyguards who escorted him out. He is known for his bad temper and rudness when he gets annoyed.
He appeared in a TV show “Wild ‘N Out” where he was involved in a rap battle with Pete Davidson, a known comedian and against Nick Cannon, the host of the show.
Personal life
He lives in Philadelphia but he often travels to L.A. and Miami on business.
He is a father of Milan, his 5 years old daughter. He left the baby’s mother soon after the child was born. The media was very judgemental about this but later learned that he was unhappy in this relationship from the start.
When he talks about his lovelife he mostly speaks about a girl from his youth in whom he was in love with and separated from.
He sings about her in the form of true love which was lost and cannot be found again. This is probably the reason why he doesn’t have any serious relationships now.
He has four brothers to whom he is very close. He especially cares for his brother who has autism. One of his brothers was killed and one is a raper named PnB Meen.
He has a completely tattooed neck and hands. There are musucal notes written on his neck.
His parents named him Rakim after the same named rapper who was born in the 70’s.
He has a pet: a bulldog puppy named Bankroll. He loves animals and would love to have some dangerous ones.
His greatest idol and a big influence is a Canadian rapper named Drake. Rock (just as Drake) has a huge female fanbase and loves it. He thinks that women enjoy music more and better than men and that they are more honest about music.
PnBRock never finished high school and didn’t graduate. He was offered to do this while he was in prison but he declined saying he has no time to learn – he has only time for music.
He receives income not only from his concerts and tracks but he has a merchandise shop on his pnbrockofficial site where he sells shirts, hoodies and other items with his logo.
He loves having money since he was poor as a kid. That’s why he bought himself a Mercedes to fulfill his dreams of going big.
His love for wealth can be read in his love in designer clothing: he is a big fan of Gucci and he often visits their stores.
His pets name Bankroll is also a sign of his orientation on money caused by a lack of it in his youth.
He is a serious smoker and is often seen with a cigarette in his hand. It probably gives his voice a harsh note.
PnB wears a chain around his tattooed neck with an interesting pendant. The pendant is made of richstylized words “New Line”. This is also the name of his label so he ordered the pendant to be made for him.
Quick summary
Full name: Rakim Hasheem Allen
Date of birth: December 9, 1991
Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Age: 27
Profession: rapper, songwriter
Height: 180 cm
Weight: 62 kg
Net Worth: $0,5 million
