YNW Melly Biography
Jamell Maurice Demons (born May 1, 1999), known professionally as YNW Melly (initialism for Young Nigga World Melly), is an American rapper and performer. He is well recognized for his songs “Murder on My Mind”, “Mixed Personalities” (with Kanye West), “Suicidal” (featuring Juice Wrld), and “223’s” (featuring 9lokkNine) (featuring 9lokkNine). The first is considered his breakout, which won him greater recognition after being accused with the double-murder of two other rappers in the “YNW” collective. In November 2019, he released his debut album, Melly vs. Melvin, peaking number 8 on the Billboard 200.
In February 2019, he was arrested and charged with two charges of premeditated first-degree murder and faces life imprisonment without the possibility of release if convicted.
He is also a suspect in the 2017 murder of a sheriff’s deputy in Gifford. In March 2019, Demons pleaded not guilty to the double-murder accusations and is currently awaiting trial.
Early life
Jamell Demons was born on May 1st, 1999, and he spent his childhood in Gifford, which is located in the state of Florida. [10] His mother, Jamie Demons-King, was a single parent throughout his upbringing, and he has no idea who his biological father is. Donte “Tha Gift” Taylor, an additional rapper, asserts that he is YNW Melly’s biological father. [12] She was only 14 years old when she became pregnant with Demons-King, and she gave birth to him when she was in the ninth grade. After moving to a more impoverished part of Gifford later on, his mother had a hard time affording accommodation and other necessities for the family.
Demons, at a young age, became a member of the Bloods gang.
When he was 15 years old, he began uploading his original music to SoundCloud. Late in 2015, Demons was taken into custody for allegedly opening fire on a group of students who were walking near Vero Beach High School. After being tried, he was found guilty of two counts of aggravated assault, one of discharging a firearm in public, and one count of aggravated battery. As a result of these convictions, he was sentenced to several months in jail.
Career
2016–2018: Early fame, Collect Call EP, and I AM YOU
In 2016, Demons began performing under the stage name YNW Melly. Demons, Anthony “YNW Sakchaser” Williams, Christopher “YNW Juvy” Thomas Jr., and Cortlen “YNW Bortlen” Henry were all members of the hip-hop group known as YNW, which is an initialism that can also stand for “Young New Wave.”
Demons released his debut effort, an extended play (EP) titled “Collect Call,” in late 2017, while he was still doing time in prison. The EP featured guest appearances from a number of well-known musicians, including Lil B and John Wicks. The singles “Virtual (Blue Balenciagas),” “Melly the Menace,” and “Slang That Iron” were all released by him in the year 2018. The singles “4 Real,” “Butter Pecan,” and “Medium Fries” among the band’s other offerings. As of the beginning of 2019, the music videos in question each had accumulated a total of 26 million, 16 million, and 11 million views on YouTube.
Demons released his first mixtape, titled “I Am You,” in August of 2018, and it debuted on the Billboard 200 chart at position number 192 on January 10, 2019.
2019–2021: We All Shine, Melly vs. Melvin, and Just a Matter of Slime
Demons released his second commercial mixtape, titled We All Shine, on January 18, 2019, while he was still behind bars. The mixtape featured a total of 16 tracks. Kanye West and Fredo Bang both contributed to the project in a collaborative capacity. In addition to the album, a music video for “Mixed Personalities” featuring West and filmed by Cole Bennett in collaboration with Lyrical Lemonade was also released.
Demons had gathered over 200 million streams on Spotify as of March 2019, with over 10 million listeners tuning in on a monthly basis. His song “Murder on My Mind,” which was initially released as a single before being included on the album I Am You, was the one that was streamed the most.
Melly vs. Melvin, Demons’ first album to be recorded in a studio, was released on November 22, 2019.
It reached its best position on the Billboard 200 list—number eight—making it his album with the most commercial success. Included on the album were the tracks “223’s,” which reached their highest position on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 34.
It was the second single to be published from Melly vs. Melvin, and it was a remix of Demons’ track “Suicidal,” which was released on March 13, 2020. The late American rapper and musician Juice Wrld contributed a feature to the remix, making it his third official posthumous appearance in a musical context after his death. The song reached its highest position on the Hot 100 at number 20, making it Melly’s second entry in the top 20.
Melly enlisted fellow Florida artist Kodak Black for the release of “Thugged Out” on March 5, 2021. This came after Melly had gone a year without releasing any new music and was still defending the pending murder accusation against him. After this, he released a string of significant singles, including “Pieces,” starring Queen Naija, and “Bestfriend 4L,” with Lil Tjay. Melly published singles leading up to his sophomore studio album, Just a Matter of Slime, while he was behind bars. These tracks, such as “Melly vs. Melvin,” were put together with pre-recorded vocals and released while Melly was behind bars.
Legal issues
After firing rounds at three persons at Vero Beach High School on October 19, 2015, Demons was apprehended and charged with three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and one count of discharging a handgun in public. He was also charged with one count of shooting a firearm in public. The sentence for demons was one year in prison followed by one year of probation.
Demons was taken into custody in 2017 for breaking the terms of his probation and served a number of months behind bars before being released in March of 2018.
On June 30th, 2018, in the city of Fort Myers, Florida, Demons was taken into custody on charges of possession of marijuana, possession of weapon or ammunition by a convicted felon, and possession of drug paraphernalia.
On January 3, 2019, in Fort Myers, Demons was taken into custody once more for being in possession of marijuana.
Demons was arrested on February 12, 2019, and charged with two counts of premeditated first-degree murder in connection with the shooting deaths that occurred in October 2018 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, of two YNW associates described as his close friends, rappers YNW Sakchaser and YNW Juvy. The shooting deaths occurred in the same month. The authorities believe that Demons and another YNW rapper named Cortlen Henry (YNW Bortlen) plotted together to orchestrate the double homicide of Williams (YNW Sakchaser) and Thomas Jr. (YNW Juvy) and make it appear as if they were killed in a drive-by shooting. It is said that Henry drove the victims to the hospital, but they did not survive their injuries and passed away there. On February 13, 2019, Demons surrendered himself to authorities. He made the announcement on his Instagram account
“No I did not get locked up in Washington , but I am turning myself in today… a couple months ago I lost my two brothers by violence and now the system want to find justice.. unfortunately a lot of rumors and lies are being said but no worries god is with me and my brother @ynw.bortlen and we want y’all to remember it’s a ynw Family I love you”
—?@ynwmelly
On February 22, 2019, Complex alleged that Demons and Henry were suspects in the fatal shooting that took place in Gifford in 2017 and claimed that the victim was an off-duty deputy with the Indian River County Sheriff’s Department named Garry Chambliss.
The date for the trial of YNW Melly was determined for March 7, 2022 on November 30, 2021. The court proceeding was eventually postponed and rescheduled for May 23rd, 2022. After yet another postponement, the trial is now scheduled to begin on June 6th, 2022. As a result of the trial not going forward, Demon’s team made the decision on May 26, 2022 to make a request for a fast trial. The beginning of the trial must happen within the following 175 days.
On July 6, 2022, it was declared that demons would no longer be subject to the death penalty if they were found guilty of a crime.
On the other hand, an appellate judge reversed the ruling on November 9th, 2022, putting YNW Melly back in a position where she may be condemned to death in the event that she was found guilty.
Personal life
On April 2, 2020, Demons informed his fans on Twitter that he had tested positive for COVID-19, which was communicated to them through his management. He was in the midst of seeking to get an early release from prison because of concerns about his health, similar to how 6ix9ine was released from prison because of asthma and bronchitis. On the 14th of April, his motion was turned down.
Discography
Main article: YNW Melly discography
- Melly vs. Melvin (2019)
- Just a Matter of Slime (2021)
