Tierra Helena Whack (born August 11, 1995) is an American rapper and singer. She originally performed as "Dizzle Dizz" as a teenager, but later on reverted to her birth name in 2017. Her debut studio album, Whack World, was released in May 2018 and received widespread critical acclaim. Her song "Mumbo Jumbo" was nominated at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards for Best Music Video. Whack has since collaborated with Beyoncé, Alicia Keys, Tyler, the Creator and Melanie Martinez.
Early life and education
Whack was born in 1995 and raised by her mother in North Philadelphia. She has two younger siblings. In a 2018 interview with The Fader, Whack mentioned that she and her father are estranged. Whack was an introverted child who wrote to help herself deal with her insecurities. As a child, Whack loved the author Dr. Seuss so much that she would rhyme together each of her sentences for her homework assignments.
Whack pinpointed the exact moment when her love for rhyming began. She was to rhyme for a homework assignment for class, and after receiving positive feedback, she continued with it. She later asked her mother for composition books to fill with rhymes and lyrics before she eventually started recording herself.
Whack attended The Arts Academy at Benjamin Rush for three years before finishing high school in Atlanta, Georgia. At Benjamin Rush, she was a vocal major, and was one of the few black students in a predominately white graduating class. With some difficulty, she and her friends persuaded their principal to let them perform the finale number from Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit for the school vocal showcase, and Whack performed a rap verse. Later in Whack's career, she toured with Lauryn Hill, who starred in the 1993 film.
At around the age of fifteen, Whack who went by the moniker "Dizzle Dizz" appeared in a 2011 freestyle video produced by Philadelphia's underground music collective We Run the Streets. Her mother drove past the group of men freestyling and encouraged her to join. She released several tracks as Dizzle Dizz, including "Dizzy Rascvls", but struggled with depression in the months following. Despite still being a teenager, Whack gained notoriety in the streets of Philadelphia as "Dizzle Dizz." Despite her growing fame, Whack grew bored. There was no way to make money in freestyling and no way to creatively grow. She claimed there was little experimentation and growth beyond battle rapping if she were to stay in Philadelphia.
Her mother elected to move them both out of Philadelphia so Whack could finish school. After moving to Atlanta, Whack began working at a Mister Car Wash, which allowed her to save up for a Mac laptop and start recording her music. She was often the only woman working on the line at the car wash, and her former manager said she was a memorable person with an impressive drive, which Whack credits to her mother.
In Atlanta, Whack kept a low profile, having felt the effects of fame back home. She wanted to keep to herself to have a chance to focus solely on her music. By the time she returned to Philadelphia, she had a laptop full of two years' worth of music, which she never ended up sharing with anyone.
Whack eventually returned to Philadelphia, leaving her family behind in Atlanta. It was during this time that she was homeless for three months. She hopped around friends' homes but refused to return to Atlanta. She believed staying in Philadelphia would be the best for her music career.
Musical career
2015–2017: Career beginnings
By 2015, Whack had moved back to Philadelphia, and she reconnected with Kenete Simms, a sound engineer and music producer whom she knew from her teenage years. Whack credits Simms as her collaborator. It was during this time in which she reconnected with Simms that she learned how to properly mix her own music. Simms helped her learn how to use the equipment in order to help her make music more easily. In 2017, she signed with Interscope Records. Johnny Montina is her manager.
In March 2017, Whack made her debut as Tierra Whack with 3 tracks, including "Toe Jam" and "Shit Happens".
In October 2017, Whack released "Mumbo Jumbo", a hip-hop single and accompanying music video that featured the young rapper performing while wearing a mouth prop. Most of the lyrics to the track are purposefully unintelligible. She also toured with Flying Lotus in 2017.