YNW Melly

YNW Melly Biography

Jamell Maurice Demons (born May 1, 1999), known professionally as YNW Melly, is an American rapper, singer and songwriter from Gifford, Florida. He is best known for his single "Murder on My Mind" and for his Kanye West collaboration "Mixed Personalities".

In February 2019, he was arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder and faces life in prison if convicted. He is also a suspect in the 2017 murder of a sheriff's deputy in Gifford. In March 2019, Demons pled not guilty to the double murder charges and is currently awaiting trial.

Early life

Demons was born on May 1, 1999, in Gifford, Florida. He started posting his songs on Sound Cloud when he was 15. He was imprisoned for an extent in 2017 on weapons charges for a shooting he was involved with when aged 16.

Career

In late 2017, while still incarcerated, Demons released his first project, an EP called Collect Call, which contained features from numerous well-known artists, including Lil B and John Wicks. In 2018, he released the singles "Virtual (Blue Balenciagas)", "Melly the Menace", and "Slang That Iron". Other singles include "4 Real", "Butter Pecan", and "Medium Fries”. The respective music videos have amassed 26 million, 16 million and 11 million views on YouTube, as of January 2019.

In August 2018, Demons released his debut album I Am You, which later appeared on the Billboard 200 at number 192 on January 10, 2019.

On January 17, 2019, while incarcerated, Demons released We All Shine, his second commercial mix tape, consisting of 16 tracks. The project featured collaborations with Kanye West and Fredo Bang. A music video for "Mixed Personalities" featuring West was released with the album.

As of March 2019, Demons has amassed over 200,000,000 streams on Spotify with over 10,000,000 monthly listeners. His most streamed song is "Murder on My Mind", which was originally released as a single before being added to I Am You.

Legal Issues

Demons was arrested on June 30, 2018, in Fort Myers, Florida for possession of marijuana, possession of weapon or ammunition by a convicted felon and drug paraphernalia.

Demons was again arrested on January 3, 2019, in Fort Myers for possession of marijuana.

On February 13, 2019, Demons was arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the October 2018 shooting deaths in Fort Lauderdale of two men described as his close friends, aspiring rappers Anthony "YNW Sakchaser" Williams, 21, and Christopher "YNW Juvy" Thomas Jr., 19. Authorities purport that Demons conspired with fellow YNW rapper Cortlen Henry, also known as YNW Bortlen, to stage the double murder of Williams and Thomas Jr. and make it appear as if they were fatally injured in a drive by shooting. Henry allegedly drove the victims to the hospital where they later succumbed to their wounds.

On February 22, 2019, Complex reported that Demons and Cortlen Henry (YNW Bortlen) are now suspects in the fatal 2017 shooting of off-duty Indian River County Sheriff's Department deputy Gary Chambliss in Glifford. 

Best Song