Ian (rapper)
American rapper
Ian O'Neill Smith (born May 29, 2005), known mononymously as Ian (stylized in all lowercase), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer.
Early life
Born in St. Louis, Missouri, he attended Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas where he played rugby and crew. He attended Clemson University, where he also played rugby before pursuing his music career full-time.
Career
2023–2024: Breakthrough with Valedictorian
In 2023, Ian began releasing singles under his own name, gaining traction with tracks like "Bad Habits" and "Ghost Ride". He signed with BuVision, Columbia Records, and Dogdog in early 2024. His breakout moment came with the release of his single "Figure It Out" in May 2024, featuring a cameo from former NFL star Marshawn Lynch in its Lyrical Lemonade-produced music video. Shortly after, on May 17, 2024, Ian released his debut mixtape Valedictorian, which debuted at number 54 on the Billboard 200 and featured high-energy rage beats and dynamic production by mainly producer Sxprano and American rapper and producer tana. A deluxe edition, released in July 2024, included the viral hit "Magic Johnson", which charted on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 and was later certified Gold by the RIAA.
In June 2024, he released "Fit Check" with VonOff1700. Also in 2024, he released the song "Magic Johnson," which became viral on TikTok; this single would be tacked onto the deluxe edition of Valedictorian.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Ian (rapper)” is american rapper. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through rapper and American, not as a finished interpretation.
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This entry incorporates text from “Ian (rapper)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.