Introduction
Richard Lamar "Ricky"Hawk (born January 22, 1998), better known as Silentó or Prince Silentó, is an American rapper and singer. He is best known for his debut single "Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)", which charted at number three on the US Billboard Hot 100. He later released a project titled Fresh Outta High School in August 2018 after some delay.He is a native of Stone Mountain, Georgia. In February 2021, he was charged with murder in the shooting death of his cousin.
Career
Silentó's debut single, "Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)", made with Bolo Da Producer, was released on his YouTube channel on June 25, 2015. Over the course of one week, it gained over 2.5 million views. After making the song when he was 17 years old in his basement and had already garnered more than 100,000 streams on SoundCloud, Capitol Records approached and signed him in April 2015. They then released the track as a single with an accompanying music video. It peaked at number three on the US Billboard Hot 100. In June 2015, Silentó performed at the BET Awards, alongside the cast of the show Black-ish.He also performed the hit single on December 31, 2016 in Times Square for Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2017 program. On August 3, 2018, Silentó released his first album, Fresh Outta High School, which was originally scheduled to be released on May 25. He later released Fresh Outta High School Part 2 on November 29, 2018.
Legal troubles
On August 28, 2020, he was arrested following a domestic disturbance. After being charged with inflicting corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant he was released. The following day he was again arrested in Valley Village, Los Angeles after walking into a random home wielding a hatchet while looking for his girlfriend. Silentó was arrested again on October 23, 2020. Police charged him with speeding and reckless driving, alleging that he had been going 143 mph on Interstate 85.
On February 1, 2021, he was arrested in DeKalb County and charged with murder in the shooting death of his cousin. Police responded to a shots fired call January 21 around 3:30 a.m. in the Panthersville area, and he was booked into the DeKalb jail on one count of murder.
Discography
Studio albums
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| Fresh Outta High School |
|
| Fresh Outta High School 2 |
|
Singles
As lead artist
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US |
AUS |
CAN |
DEN |
FRA |
GER |
NZ |
SWE |
SWI |
UK | ||||
| "Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)" | 2015 | 3 | 9 | 15 | 16 | 19 | 50 | 11 | 52 | 41 | 19 |
|
Non-album single |
As featured artist
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | USDance |
AUS |
NZ |
DEN |
NOR |
SWE | ||||
| "Lightning in a Bottle" (Sunny featuring Silentó) |
2015 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single | |
| "Dessert" (Dawin featuring Silentó) |
68 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 17 | — | — |
|
Dessert | |
| "Girl in the Mirror" (Sophia Grace featuring Silentó) |
2016 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles | |
| "Emoji" (Sicko Mobb featuring Silentó) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Spotlight" (Samuel featuring Silentó) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Slide" (ELS featuring Silentó) |
2017 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Like It Like It" (Marcus & Martinus featuring Silentó) |
— | — | — | — | — | 16 | 48 | Moments | ||
Promotional singles
| Title | Year | Album |
|---|---|---|
| "Get Em" | 2016 | Non-album single |
Guest appearances
| Title | Year | Other artist(s) | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Volcano" | 2015 | The Vamps | Wake Up |
| "Juicy Fruit" | 2018 | Night & Day (Day Edition) |
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Teen Choice Awards | Rap/Hip-Hop Track | "Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)" | Nominated | |
| MTV Video Music Award | Song of the Summer | ||||
| Soul Train Music Awards | Best Dance Performance | Won | |||
| 2016 | Billboard Music Awards | Top New Artist | Nominated | ||
| 2016 | BET Awards | YoungStar Award | Nominated | ||
| 2017 | 26th Seoul Music Awards | Global Collaboration Award | "Spotlight" w/Punch | Won |