Father (rapper)
{{Short description|American rapper and producer (born 1990)}}
{{For|the Uptown Records rapper|Father MC}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Father
| image = Father in the 2022 "What won't he do?" music video.png
| landscape = yes
| alt = Still frame of American rapper Father in "What won't he do?" music video recorded in 2022.
| caption = Father in 2022 in a music video
| birth_name = Centel Orlando Mangum
| alias = {{flatlist|
- Fatheraintshit
- Father's Liquor Cabinet
}}
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1990|08|20}}
| birth_place = Mississippi, U.S.
| origin = Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
| genre = {{hlist|Hip hop|cloud rap|trap}}
| occupation = {{flatlist|
- Rapper
- songwriter
- record executive
- record producer
}}
| years_active = 2011–present
| label = {{flatlist|
}}
| associated_acts = {{flatlist|
}}
| website = {{URL|awfulrecords.com}}
}}
Centel Orlando Mangum (born August 20, 1990), known professionally as Father, is an American rapper, songwriter, record executive, and record producer. He is the head of independent record label Awful Records.
Career
= 2011–2017: Career beginnings, rise to prominence =
Father rose to prominence as part of Awful Records, an independent record label and creative collective he founded with a group of friends in Atlanta, Georgia. He met most members of Awful while he was attending Georgia State University, studying chemistry.{{Cite web |last=Harris |first=Gregory |date=April 15, 2015 |title=Not Your Average ATLien: Getting To Know Father |url=https://www.vibe.com/features/editorial/father-interview-341213/ |access-date=June 23, 2022 |website=VIBE.com |language=en-US}} Awful, as a collective, formed in 2011 and recorded with each other shortly thereafter.{{Cite web |title=Level Unlocked: An interview with ABRA on her comeback |url=https://theface.com/music/abra-interview-unlock-it-playboi-carti-awful-records-bad-bunny-assination-nation |access-date=June 23, 2022 |website=The Face |date=August 24, 2021 |language=en-gb}} However, he only began posting his music on SoundCloud in 2013. His breakout single was 2014's "Look at Wrist", featuring iLoveMakonnen and Key!.{{cite web |author=Gus Fisher |title=How Awful Records Made Its Mark On Atlanta Hip-Hop |website=HotNewHipHop |date=February 15, 2019 |url=https://www.hotnewhiphop.com/how-awful-records-made-its-mark-on-atlanta-hip-hop-news.71594.html |access-date=September 16, 2021}} He released his mixtape Young Hot Ebony in September the same year.{{cite web |author=Tom Breihan |title=Mixtape of the Week: Father Young Hot Ebony |website=Stereogum |date=September 17, 2014 |url=https://www.stereogum.com/1705898/mixtape-of-the-week-father-young-hot-ebony/columns/status-aint-hood/ |access-date=September 20, 2021}}
Father unexpectedly released his debut studio album Who's Gonna Get Fucked First? in 2015.{{cite web |author=Alexander Iadarola |title=Awful Records' Father Shares New Album |website=The Fader |date=March 18, 2015 |url=https://www.thefader.com/2015/03/18/father-whos-gonna-get-f-first |access-date=September 21, 2021}} Pitchfork described the project's style as "aggressively minimal, leaving [Father] room to experiment with rhythm and timing to better effect".{{cite web |author=Meaghan Garvey |title=Father: Who's Gonna Get Fucked First? Album Review |website=Pitchfork |date=March 25, 2015 |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/20413-whos-gonna-get-fucked-first/ |access-date=September 17, 2021}} His next album, I'm A Piece of Shit, was released in 2016. Pitchfork characterized the album as an attempt to "forswear his debauched lifestyle" that was portrayed in the previous album.{{cite web |author=Rebecca Haithcoat |title=Father: I'm a Piece of Shit Album Review |website=Pitchfork |date=March 24, 2016 |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/21664-im-a-piece-of-shit/ |access-date=September 17, 2021}} Following the I'm A Piece of Shit tour in late 2016, Father would begin to record a new album entitled Mad as Hell, but it was later shelved. Feeling uninspired, Father would relocate from Atlanta to Los Angeles to record new material.
= 2018–2020: Awful/RCA, partnership with Adult Swim & departure from RCA =
In 2018, Awful Records announced a partnership with RCA Records that would allow Awful to sign artists to a joint Awful/RCA contract.{{cite web |author=Ian Servantes |title=How Father Restructured Awful Records & Got His Mojo Back |website=Highsnobiety |url=https://www.highsnobiety.com/p/father-awful-records-interview/ |access-date=September 16, 2021}}{{cite web |author=John Twells |title=Awful Records announces partnership with RCA, teases new Father material |website=Fact |date=June 21, 2018 |url=https://www.factmag.com/2018/06/21/awful-records-rca-deal-father/ |access-date=September 16, 2021}}{{cite magazine |author=Dan Rys |title=Father, Awful Records Ink Creative Partnership With RCA Records: Exclusive |magazine=Billboard |date=June 21, 2018 |url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/8462104/father-awful-records-creative-partnership-rca-records-exclusive |access-date=September 16, 2021}} Father's major label debut, Awful Swim was released in conjunction with RCA and Adult Swim the same year.{{cite web |author=Briana Younger |title=Father: Awful Swim Album Review |website=Pitchfork |date=September 29, 2018 |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/father-awful-swim/ |access-date=September 17, 2021}} Awful and Father would formally end the RCA partnership in 2020 following the release of his EP, Hu$band.
With his departure from RCA, Awful Records would serve to only release new Father material; dropping all of its signees, and as a clothing brand. He told Earmilk in an interview:
"The thing that I started, you know what I started. I never truly intended to become a major label, I just wanted to go with the flow. It started off initially as a collective of artists working together which is what I always wanted it to be, which is what it’s returned to now... I don’t want to own people's careers."{{Cite web |date=2022-06-13 |title=Father is creating for himself again on new record Young Hot Ebony 2 (Interview) |url=https://earmilk.com/2022/06/13/father-is-creating-for-himself-again-on-new-record-young-hot-ebony-2-interview/ |access-date=2022-06-23 |website=EARMILK |language=en-US}}
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Father would move back to Atlanta from Los Angeles for familial reasons.{{Cite web |date=November 27, 2020 |title=Perfect Pretty Chaotic Bubble: An Interview With Father |url=https://notion.online/perfect-pretty-chaotic-bubble-interview-with-father/ |access-date=June 23, 2022 |website=Notion |language=en-GB}} Later that year, he released another EP, Tha Thingz I Do 4 Money. The EP marked a complete switch from Father's usual deadpan flow and careless demeanor towards a crooning, auto-tuned style. Father would follow up with his fifth studio album, Come Outside, We Not Gone Jump You in late 2020. The album continued the crooning, auto-tuned flow that was displayed on the EP. As described by Pitchfork, the album is more suitable for "slow dancing than moshing, [but] the party continues."{{cite web |author=Stephen Kearse |title=Father: Come Outside, We Not Gone Jump You Album Review |website=Pitchfork |date=January 8, 2021 |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/father-come-outside-we-not-gone-jump-you/ |access-date=September 17, 2021}}
= 2021–present: ''Young Hot Ebony 2'' =
After a string of singles in 2021 and early 2022, Father announced a sequel to his breakout mixtape, Young Hot Ebony.{{Cite web |title=YOUNG HOT EBONY 2 arrives this Friday |url=https://twitter.com/father/status/1534233946829082624 |access-date=June 23, 2022 |website=Twitter |language=en}} Young Hot Ebony 2 was released on June 10, 2022, with guest appearances from former Awful associates Zack Fox, Meltycanon, and Archibald Slim, alongside Tony Shhnow.{{Citation |title=Young Hot Ebony 2 |date=June 10, 2022 |url=https://open.spotify.com/album/3b4D2YoY0x8kUEpovuOgjA |language=en |access-date=June 23, 2022}} The album was a return to Father's signature groaning, deadpan style following the crooning on Come Outside, We Not Gone Jump You.
Personal life
Mangum was born in Mississippi, United States. He relocated to Metro Atlanta with his family at age 10. He attended Georgia State University for a degree in pharmacy, although he did not graduate. His son, Sunday, was born in January 2020. He currently resides in Atlanta with his son and girlfriend.{{Cite web |title=yeah, technically lol. his names sunday so i just call him sun/son |url=https://twitter.com/father/status/1295198334714548225 |access-date=June 23, 2022 |website=Twitter |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=my girlfriend don't like my feet cuz they too flat, soft n moist |url=https://twitter.com/father/status/1318781390452830223 |access-date=June 23, 2022 |website=Twitter |language=en}}
Discography
= Albums =
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" |
| scope="col" style="width:14em;" | Title
! scope="col" style="width:16em;" | Album details |
|---|
| scope="row"| Who's Gonna Get Fucked First?
|
|
| scope="row"| I'm a Piece of Shit
|
|
| scope="row"| Awful Swim
|
|
| scope="row"| Come Outside, We Not Gone Jump You
|
|
| scope="row"| Young Hot Ebony 2
|
|
= Mixtapes =
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" |
| scope="col" style="width:14em;" | Title
! scope="col" style="width:16em;" | Album details |
|---|
| scope="row"| Young Hot Ebony
|
|
= Extended plays =
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" |
| scope="col" style="width:14em;" | Title
! scope="col" style="width:16em;" | Album details |
|---|
| scope="row"| Pretty Boy Satan
|
|
| scope="row"| Teen Gohan
|
|
| scope="row"| L1L D1DDY
|
|
| scope="row"|Boys & GIrls Club
|
|
| scope="row"| BRAWL (with Richposlim & KeithCharles SpaceBar)
|
|
| scope="row"| Dionysus (with Archibald Slim)
|
|
| scope="row"| Papicodone
|
|
| scope="row"| Hu$band
|
|
| scope="row"| Tha Thingz I Do 4 Money
|
|
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{AllMusic|id=mn0003636120}}
- {{Discogs artist|Father (11)}}
{{authority control}}
Category:21st-century American rappers
Category:African-American male rappers