Artist Julius Dubose (born on December 6, 1995), known professionally as A Boogie wit da Hoodie or simply A Boogie, is an American rapper. He signed with Atlantic Records to release his debut studio album, The Bigger Artist (2017). Led by the Billboard Hot 100-top 20 single "Drowning" (featuring Kodak Black), the album was met with critical praise and peaked at number four on the Billboard 200.
His second album, Hoodie SZN (2018), peaked atop the Billboard 200, while his third, Artist 2.0 (2020) peaked at number two; the albums were met with divided critical reception and supported by his second and third top 20 singles, "Look Back at It" and "Numbers" (featuring Roddy Ricch, Gunna and London on da Track), respectively. At the BET Awards 2018, Dubose was nominated for Best New Artist. His fourth album, Me vs. Myself (2022), peaked at number six on the Billboard 200 and received positive reviews. His fifth album, Better Off Alone received continued praise despite commercial failure.
Dubose's stage name is derived from the character "Ace Boogie" from the 2002 film Paid in Full, and because he frequently wore hoodies, friends gave him the nickname "A Boogie wit da Hoodie". Dubose starred in his documentary film The Rise of Artist Dubose, released on Facebook Watch on November 15, 2024.
Artist Julius Dubose was born on December 6, 1995, in the Highbridge neighborhood of the Bronx, New York City. Dubose was raised in Highbridge and began rapping at age twelve after listening to Kanye West and 50 Cent. He attended Dewitt Clinton High School, where he expanded upon rapping during his freshman year, engaging in cyphers at lunchtime by performing rhymes he had already written and stored in a large notebook he carried with him. Remarking on his time in high school to XXL, he said, "I was regular, nobody really noticed me. I was the one in the back of the classroom, quiet."
Growing up, Dubose frequently got into legal trouble, mainly for selling cannabis and narcotics. After finding out what he was doing, Dubose's parents sent him to Florida as punishment. He attended Fort Pierce Central in Fort Pierce, Florida. In Florida, Dubose was kept under house arrest. During this confinement, he began to work on his artistry, starting off by tweaking his self-composed rhymes and gradually one thing leading to another. He built an amateur studio inside the apartment that he lived in. Following his high school graduation, Dubose continued to focus on his music while working jobs in different sectors, including construction and pizza delivery.
Dubose's official discography began with the single "Temporary", which he released on SoundCloud. He was just nineteen at the time of its release. Myster Whyte, who he met in Florida and produced the song, showed A Boogie the inside of his first professional studio. He asked A Boogie to work with a trainer until he got his techniques right. Dubose's said, "I used to record songs like, play the beat from one phone and have another phone recording me and just rap. Moving from that to a studio was like, 'Damn, I never knew I could sound like this'. It was just magic". The training sessions with Myster helped progress his sound.
In 2015, Dubose moved back to New York in an attempt to start making hip hop his full-time career. He, Don Q, Quincy "QP" Acheampong, and Bubba then created Highbridge the Label and set up a home studio. A Boogie released his first full-length project, a mixtape titled Artist, in February 2016, which launched his career and was on Forbes list of up-and-coming rappers. The mixtape was recorded during a time when Dubose was dealing with a difficult break-up which helped influence the mixtape and Dubose's future sound all together.
Dubose then released a collaborative project, alongside fellow Highbridge-based rapper Don Q, titled Highbridge the Label: The Takeover Vol.1, on May 18, 2016. Dubose went on to have three opening dates on Drake and Future's Summer Sixteen Tour. Dubose was also co-signed by Drake. In July 2016, A Boogie signed a deal with Atlantic Records. In September 2016, he was featured on the BET Hip Hop Awards cypher alongside Don Q, Russ, Kent Jones and Nick Grant. Later in October 2016, A Boogie released his first extended play (EP), titled TBA, in acronym for "The Bigger Artist". The EP peaked at number 63 on the US Billboard 200 chart and appeared on Rolling Stone magazine's 40 Best Rap Albums of 2016 list.
2017–2018: The Bigger Artist and Hoodie SZN
On June 13, 2017, Dubose was named as one of the ten of XXL's "2017 Freshman Class". On September 29, 2017, he released his debut studio album, The Bigger Artist, featuring guest appearances from Chris Brown, Trey Songz, Kodak Black, 21 Savage, PnB Rock and YoungBoy Never Broke Again. The album's lead single, "Drowning" featuring Kodak Black, peaked at number 38 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and became one of his highest-charting singles in the country so far.
Dubose was featured on fellow New York rapper 6ix9ine's single, "Keke" on January 14, 2018. The song peaked at number 43 on the Billboard Hot 100. Dubose also appeared on the song "Waka" on 6ix9ine's album Dummy Boy, released in November 2018.
Dubose's second album Hoodie SZN was released on December 21, 2018, with contributions from 6ix9ine, Juice Wrld, Offset and more. It debuted at number 2 on the Billboard 200, selling 90,000 copies in its first week. It reached number one on January 14, 2019. It became one of the most played albums of 2019 and placed number 10 on the Billboard 200 Year-End chart. It also appeared on Billboard's Decade-End chart at number 69.
Dubose featured on over 20 songs in 2019, alongside artists such as Ed Sheeran, Rick Ross, Khalid, Ally Brooke, Liam Payne, Lil Durk and Summer Walker. He also toured and performed at concerts throughout 2019 in the US and UK.
On September 13, 2019, Dubose released the first single from his album Artist 2.0 — "Mood Swings", which debuted at 76 on the Billboard Hot 100. On November 15, 2019, Dubose released the second single from Artist 2.0 — "Reply", which features rapper Lil Uzi Vert. It debuted at number 49 on the Billboard Hot 100. (Uzi is also featured on the track "Luv is Art" from the album.) On January 31, 2020, Dubose released the third single from Artist 2.0 called "King of My City". It debuted and peaked at 69 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Artist 2.0 was officially released on February 14, 2020, Valentine's Day. It was his third studio album. Dubose chose to release Artist 2.0 on Valentine's Day due to the first Artist album being released on Valentine's Day in 2016, and also due to the fact it was his daughter's third birthday.
The album received unfavorable reviews but was a commercial success, debuting at number two on the Billboard 200 chart, earning 111,000 album-equivalent units (including 3,000 copies in pure album sales) in its first week. Artist 2.0 features contributions by Roddy Ricch, Gunna, DaBaby, Khalid, Summer Walker, Lil Uzi Vert, and more.
Dubose was due to perform at Wireless 2020, alongside other rappers such as AJ Tracey and A$AP Rocky, but the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On June 16, 2020, Dubose released "Bleed", the lead single of the deluxe version of Artist 2.0, which was released on June 19, 2020. It peaked at number 57 on the Billboard Hot 100.