One of the more versatile commercial artists to surface during the early 2010s, Tory Lanez is a songwriter and producer who flits between and fuses R&B and rap. Alternating vocally between swift and rugged boasts and smooth and sensitive come-ons, he made steady strides toward the mainstream with numerous mixtapes, guest appearances, and self-directed videos. He hit the Top Five of the pop charts in his native Canada and in the U.S. with his debut album, I Told You (the source of the Grammy-nominated single “Luv,” 2016), and has been equally successful with the successive full-length projects MEMORIES DONT DIE (2018), Love Me Now (2018), and Chixtape 5 (2019).
My Krazy Life
Born Daystar Peterson in Brampton, Ontario, Tory Lanez spent parts of his early life in Toronto, Montreal, Miami, Atlanta, and New York. Although he was known underground well before his 20th birthday, and was supported early on by Sean Kingston, Tory made some of his biggest moves in 2014. During that year, he was featured on “Me & My Bitch” — a track off YG’s Top Five album My Krazy Life — and among his own tracks that circulated in 2014 was “The Mission,” his first cut to hit Billboard’s Twitter Emerging Artists chart. In July 2015, after he had signed an Interscope-affiliated deal with Benny Blanco’s Mad Love label, he released “Say It,” an R&B slow jam that sampled Brownstone’s mid-’90s hit “If You Love Me” and peaked at number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 before it achieved multi-platinum status. A handful of additional tracks, including the dancehall-flavored “Luv” — his second platinum single as a headliner — led to his debut full-length, I Told You. Issued in August 2016, the album peaked at number five on the Billboard 200. “Luv” was later nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best R&B Song.
Love Me Now?
Several singles, including the Future collaboration “Real Thing,” followed during 2017 and early 2018 and led to Tory’s second album, MEMORIES DONT DIE, another Top Five Billboard 200 hit and a chart topper in Canada. Only seven months later, Tory returned with Love Me Now?, highlighted by the platinum Rich the Kid collaboration “Talk to Me.” Chixtape 5, designated as his fourth studio album — the four previous volumes in the same-oriented series, issued from 2011 through 2017, were classified as mixtapes — followed in 2019. Boasting the likes of Lil Wayne, Mýa, T-Pain, and the-Dream as credited featured artists, it entered the Canadian and U.S. pop charts at number two.