Hip-Hop Lives Here
Hip-Hop Lives Here
Hailing from Bronx, NY, HULKSICKO! is an artist that you’ll surely become familiar with in the next couple of years. The independent artist describes his name as being derived from a childhood nickname for always lifting weights after basketball practice. He added the exclamation point for emphasis, so that people could “feel him.” Anyone who listens to his music will certainly feel his distinct uptempo and melodic style along with meaningful lyrics that reflect the trials and tribulations of growing up in the Bronx. Having lived in Section 2 in the Co-op City of Bronx until age 14, HULKSICKO! would find trouble often. His mother, who immigrated from Liberia,found it best to move their family upstate so that her children could focus on staying on the right path.
A music career wasn’t always on the artist’ radar. HULKSICKO! was a star athlete, having received two Division One college basketball offers after his freshman year, but after a traumatizing hip injury, he ultimately decided to retire the jersey and pivot his energy toward the studio. He reminisces and says, “I found myself recording more. My sound started to get better and I saw myself transitioning from athlete to artist.”
Like any skilled musician, HULKSICKO! had the natural ability to connect with his fans. His potential in music didn’t become clear until he received a DM (Direct Message) on Instagram from someone in Germany saying they cried to his song on the night of their mother’s funeral. He realized that if he could provide an emotional experience from a random overseas fan, there’s no telling where his music could take him.
The Bronx native started to gain international recognition when he ventured to China to further grow his music career, something uncommon for new artists. If you follow him on Instagram, you’ll see the Chinese characters as captions for all of his highlight reels.He adds. “The fact that I speak Chinese influences some of the harmonies that I think of while making music.” He visited twice and went to 10 different cities while there and lived there for a whole month at one point. He even had planned to move to Shenzhen, the “Miami of China”, according to HULKSICKO!.
HULKSICKO! joins a grip of artists who recently moved West for his music. He is currently living in Los Angeles using the COVID Pandemic downtime to adjust to a whole different coast, work on video content and edit his unreleased music. “After I created a routine [in LA] and I had the right energy around me, I knew it was going to be a better fit than New York for what I wanted to accomplish. There’s a lot of temptation in New York, when you’ve got time on your hands you could get yourself into something you might not want to.”
What does the future hold for HULKSICKO!? He’s been listening to alot of UK artists, so a collaboration is up his sleeve. One of his goals is to have a platinum record. After music he says he sees himself expanding his artistic vision toward architecture, perhaps investing into real estate.
You can check out HULKSICKO!’s music on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and all the major platforms!
Share
Advertisement
Charli xcx’s 2024 album Brat marked a turning point in her career, but it also brought an intense level of attention that followed her everywhere.
That shift became a key source of inspiration for The Moment, the British dance pop artist’s mockumentary which premiered on Jan. 30. Directed by Aidan Zamiri, the high energy film offers an exaggerated reflection of Charli’s Brat era rise. Speaking to Billboard in a video interview shared on Monday Feb. 2, the singer and songwriter said the project was shaped by the real life “transition” she experienced during that period.
“I’d been this relatively niche artist, and then had suddenly been opened up to this huge new audience, some of whom really connected with me, some of whom only connected with aspects of me, some of whom liked me, but didn’t really get me,” Charli said during a Zoom conversation with Zamiri. “How much you’re under scrutiny, in the spotlight, being listened to, watched, is a really interesting thing. It made me so acutely aware of how hard that transition can be.”
Brat was released in June 2024 and climbed to No. 3 on the Billboard 200, marking the highest chart position of Charli’s career so far. The album also earned her three Grammy Awards. She sustained that momentum later in the year with a Brat remix project featuring a roster of well known collaborators, followed by the Brat Tour which wrapped up in August 2025.
In the time since, Charli has made it clear that the Brat chapter is behind her, noting that her attention has shifted toward acting roles and soundtrack work. In the coming weeks, she is set to release her Wuthering Heights companion album tied to Emerald Fennell’s upcoming film adaptation of the classic Charlotte Bronte novel.
“Nothing lasts forever — and no one lasts forever,” Charli told Billboard when explaining why she chose to close out the Brat era on her own terms. “I think I’ve alway’s known that. It’s cooler to just leave it all behind.”
That said, she still found joy in recreating the relentless club energy that defines The Moment, which she and Zamiri shot across 29 days. “Every single weekend, we would just go out and party,” Charli said of keeping the atmosphere alive on set. “Sometimes Aidan would just blast The Prodigy whilst they were setting up a shot.”
Watch Charli and Zamiri’s full interview with Billboard above.
Share
Advertisement
