A tough and turbulent upbringing in the Atlanta neighborhood of Godby Road-Old National College Park molded Sleepy Rose and encouraged him to blossom into a formidable MC who translates his struggles into stories. Locked up for two years, he started rapping by tapping out a beat anywhere—from on his chest to the doors and walls of the jail. Upon his release, he turned heads with his first YouTube upload “Gangsta.” Following the death of his sister whom the family referred to as Rose, he tattooed a rose on his face in tribute and as a reminder: “We rose up out of the gutter. A rose keeps going high too.”  He sharpened a signature sound punctuated by local lingo on “Where You From,” “Striking” and “Mhmm.” Growing up on the same block as Hott LockedN, 2 Chainz flew both MCs to Los Angeles for an explosive session and signed them both to T.R.U. (The Real University) in 2019. T.R.U. provides a home to a rising vanguard of hip-hop talent and posits a platform for personal success as well. In partnership with Atlantic Records, the Atlanta-based label imprint includes flagship artists: Skooly, WORL, Hott LockedN, and Sleepy Rose. Sleepy Rose made his proper debut on the compilation Looking Like It Records with the single “Shoot It Out” ft. 2 Chainz, WORL and Hott LockedN.  “Our A&R showed me Sleepy Rose,” recalls 2 Chainz. “I was seeing the visuals and hearing the music. I noticed he had the look, but he really had the music. He came from nothing, and I knew he could make an impact.”