Janarious Mykel Wheeler, better known by his stage name Lil Poppa is an American rapper from Florida.

With his powerful wordplay and soulful storytelling, Lil Poppa turns each of his songs into an up-close account of life in his hometown of Jacksonville, FL. At just 18-years-old, he’s already drawn major attention for tracks like “Purple Hearts”—an independent release that’s organically amassed over 2.3 million YouTube views, all on the strength of Poppa’s straight-from-the-heart delivery and hard-hitting lyrics.

Poppa began rapping each week at church, joining a group of friends and sharing rhymes with a spiritual bent. At age 12, he built a makeshift studio in his closet and started self-recording with a laptop and Radio Shack microphone. With a string of mixtapes under his belt, Poppa made his breakthrough with a pair of singles from 2018: “Nightmare on Elm St.” and “Purple Hearts”, whose cinematic video revealed the real-life story behind the song. Recently signed to Interscope Records, Lil Poppa is set to release a new batch of music that further shows his undeniable talent as a rapper and artist.