Pink Siifu
American rapper, singer, and songwriter
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Livingston Lemorie Matthews,[3] known professionally as Pink Siifu, and occasionally iiye,[4] is an American rapper, singer and songwriter from Cincinnati, Ohio, and Birmingham, Alabama.
- iiye
- Liv Martez
1992 (age 33–34)
- Rapper
- singer
- songwriter
Pink Siifu | |
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| Also known as |
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| Born | Livingston Lemorie Matthews 1992 (age 33–34) Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.[1] |
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| Occupations |
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| Years active | 2013–present[2] |
| Label | Dynamite Hill |
| Website | pinksiifu |
Life and career
Matthews acquired an appreciation for music from his family, while dividing his time between Birmingham and Cincinnati in his youth. His father, a saxophone player, introduced him to classic jazz, while his mother and older brother introduced him to R&B and hip-hop. Matthews played the trumpet and drums in marching bands throughout his youth. After high school, he became a theater major at Wright State University in Fairborn, Ohio, a suburb of Dayton.[5] However, he chose to leave the university to focus on a rap career. He started performing in Cincinnati under the name 'Liv Martez' before moving to Los Angeles in 2013 after recording in studios there, including working on a project with Syd tha Kyd.[2][6]
He began releasing music under the name Pink Siifu in 2014,[7][8] while also producing under the name iiye.[8] Matthews released several projects between 2014 and 2018.[8]
In 2018, Matthews released Ensley under the Pink Siifu moniker to critical acclaim.[7][9] He named the LP after Ensley, Alabama, a suburb of Birmingham where his grandmother lived. Ensley received a placement on Pitchfork's best rap albums of 2018 list.[10] His next release was the album NEGRO. Initially titled To Be Angry, the album has been described as a "shrill and abrasive"[7] blend of jazz, punk rock, and rap.[11][12] Siifu's 2021 solo album, Gumbo'!, featured his studio album debut alongside artists Georgia Anne Muldrow and Nick Hakim. It also featured production by Monte Booker, The Alchemist, and others.[13] In 2021, Matthews directed a short film titled "NATION TYME!", an experimental film centered on an excerpt from famed writer Amiri Baraka's essay "It's Nation Time".[14]
Style and influences
Pink Siifu has been described as having a slow and lackadaisical delivery to his vocals, a quality he attributes to the influence of Mos Def, Lil Wayne, and Outkast. Siifu's music has generally been described as alternative hip-hop and neo-soul, but he has experimented with other genres, including punk on his 2020 release, NEGRO. Outside of hip-hop, Matthews has listed George Clinton, Bad Brains, Alice Coltrane, Sun Ra, Pixies, Radiohead, and Death Grips among his influences.[15]
Discography
Albums
Collaborative albums
- Twothousandnine (with Swarvy) (2016)[19]
- BRWN (with Ahwlee as B. Cool-Aid) (2017)[20]
- KRYPTONYTE (with Liv.e and Lord Byron as Kryptonyte) (2018)
- Syrup (with Ahwlee as B. Cool-Aid) (2019)
- Black Sand (with AKAI SOLO) (2019)[21]
- Bag Talk (with YungMorpheus) (2020)[22]
- FlySiifu's (with Fly Anakin) (2020)[23]
- $mokebreak (with Fly Anakin) (2021)[24]
- Real Bad Flights (with Real Bad Man) (2022)[25]
- Leather Blvd (with Ahwlee as B. Cool-Aid) (2023)
- It's Too Quiet..'! (with Turich Benjy) (2023)
Extended plays
- A maze btw time (as iiye) (2014)
- Year 19803711967 (as iiye) (2014)
- Allway[v]ez (as iiye) (2015)
- Reggie,Ernest,Wester,Rusty (as iiye) (2015)
- A second definatelycaughtin between love x fear (as iiye) (2015)
- Bround/brown (as iiye) (2016)
- Giiift Wrap:VoL.1 (as iiye) (2016)
- Black food 1 (as iiye) (2016)
- Old'focus (as iiye) (2016)
- Tape (as iiye) (2016)
- In between. (as iiye) (2016)
- A'lady. 1 (as iiye) (2016)
- Let go (2016)
- In between. (as iiye) (2016)
- Black food 2 (as iiye) (2017)
- Lil'likeluv.1 (as iiye) (2017)
- Grden.1 (as iiye) (2017)
- A'lady. 2 (as iiye) (2017)
- black food 3 (as iiye) (2017)
- Lil'likeluv.2 (as iiye) (2017)
- Drnk (as iiye) (2017)
- Head (2017)
- Slwdwn Vol. 1 (as iiye) (2017)
- Lil'likeluv.3 (as iiye) (2018)
- Uptwn.1 (as iiye) (2018)
- Slwdwn Vol. 2 (as iiye) (2018)
- Southern. (as iiye) (2018)
- A'lady. 3 (as iiye) (2018)
- Uptwn.2 (as iiye) (2018)
- Dollaz.1 (as iiye) (2018)
- Im still. (2018)
- Black food 4 (as iiye) (2019)
- Uptwn.3 (as iiye) (2018)
- Use. (as iiye) (2019)
- Slwdwn Vol. 3 (as iiye) (2019)
- Dollaz.2 (as iiye) (2020)
- Grden.3 (as iiye) (2020)
- Lil'SidePeace. (as iiye) (2020)
- Lil'likeluv.4 (as iiye) (2020)
- Dollaz.3 (as iiye) (2020)
- Uptwn.4 (as iiye) (2021)
Singles
- "Blvck Space Pink vol.1" (as iiye) (2015)
- "Heart on my face" (2017)
- "Halos/Bills" (released in collaboration with Swarvy) (2017)[26]
- "Cocoa" (released in collaboration with B. Cool-Aid and Awhlee) (2018)[27]
- "Cement" (released in collaboration with Shungu) (2020)[28]
- "Dollar Dr. Dream" (released in collaboration with Fly Anakin) (2020)[29]
- "Richard Pryor" (released in collaboration with Fly Anakin) (2020)[30]
- "Mind Right" featuring Liv.e (released in collaboration with Fly Anakin) (2020)[31]
- "Blame" (released in collaboration with Fly Anakin) (2021)[32]
- "Minnie Lives" (released in collaboration with V.C.R) (2021)
- "Table 42" featuring Pink Siifu (released in collaboration with Taphari) (2021)
- "lng hair dnt care" (2021)[33]
- "Bussin' (Cold)" (released in collaboration with Turich Benjy) (2021)[34]
- "48" (released in collaboration with Maxo) (2022)[35]
- "Looking for Water" featuring Boldy James (released in collaboration with Real Bad Man and Boldy James) (2022)[36]
- "Pour The Wine" featuring Peso Gordon & Chuck Strangers (released in collaboration with Real Bad Man, Peso Gordon, and Chuck Strangers) (2022)[37]
- "L's (Eyedress Remix)" featuring Fousheé (released in collaboration with Fly Anakin & Fousheé) (2022)[38]
- Bonded (released in collaboration with B. Cool-Aid and Awhlee) (2022)[39]
- "Cnt Go Back (Tell Me)" (released in collaboration with B. Cool-Aid, Awhlee, Liv.e, Butcher Brown, Rimeta Rose, V.C.R. & Maurice II) (2023)[40]