DESTROY LONELY: IT'S LONELY AT THE TOP

Destroy Lonely, the 22-year-old American rapper, gained massive popularity after his debut studio album, If Looks Could Kill, which he released in 2023. Destroy Lonely is just a professional name. The rapper’s actual name is Bobby Wardel Sandimanie III.

Bobby Wardel Sandimanie III was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on July 30th, 2001. Despite having two younger sisters and an older half-brother, Bobby Wardel Sandimanie III felt more like the only child growing up. He took inspiration from his father, Bobby Sandimanie (I-20), also a rapper, and spent most of his childhood freestyling. He switched to homeschooling in the sixth standard and enrolled back in school after three years in the ninth and tenth standard, which is when he got involved in Xanax drug abuse. He says that the drug abuse destroyed him, and this is where the ‘Destroy’ in his stage name originated. Bobby cites his adolescent years as loneliness, which is also represented in the second half of his stage name, Lonely.

According to the magazine Rolling Stone, Destroy Lonely has a unique way to shift cadence and use humorous lyrics in his songs. He has an eclectic ear for twinkly, atmospheric beats that, combined with his voice, make a bomb combination.

Destroy Lonely had a stronghold in writing since his school. He started making his first songs when he was just 14 years old. He recorded his first songs when he was still in school. His friends, Texaco and Nezzus, produced most of his early songs, and they stayed with him for his future projects. When he met Nezzus, he started recording their first project, NezzusDestroyed. Destroy Lonely got recognition and attention after the release of his track Bane in 2019.

In September 2020, Destroy Lonely released </3 (Broken Hearts), and in October 2020, he released a deluxe edition of the original song, titled </32 (Broken Hearts 2). He got noticed by Playboi Carti in December 2020 following the release of Broken Hearts and Bane and his music video for the song, Oh Yeah. Destroy Lonely was signed for Playboi Carti’s label, Opium, in early 2021.

Destroy Lonely appeared in the music video for the song Sky under the label of Playboi Carti in April 2021. A year later, he was announced as one of the performers at the Lyrical Lemonade Summer Smash. He appeared X in Ken Carson’s studio album in July 2022. After appearing in various singles, Destroy Lonely released his fifth mixtape, ‘No Stylist’ in August 2022.

In November 2022, Destroy Lonely released a deluxe version of his mixtape No Stylist with NS+ and named it Ultra, which had five new songs. In February 2023, he released music videos for his songs, ‘FAKENGGAS’ and ‘NEVEREVER’, on his YouTube channel.

In April 2023, he released his single, If Looks Could Kill, which is, by far, his most famous song. Later in May, he released an entire album, If Looks Could Kill, with 25 tracks. ‘If Looks Could Kill’ achieved the 18th rank on Billboard 200.