Derrick Milano
Birth nameDerrick Carrington Gray[1]
Born (1993-12-24) December 24, 1993[2]
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
OriginOrlando, Florida, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Songwriter
  • rapper
  • singer
Years active2013–present
LabelsEpic

Derrick Carrington Gray (born December 24, 1993), known professionally as Derrick Milano, is an American songwriter, rapper, and singer. He grew up in Philadelphia and in Delaware before moving to Florida for college.[3] He began his musical career as a rapper in 2013 before shifting to songwriting in 2019. He has since written songs for artists including Justin Bieber, Pop Smoke, Nicki Minaj, and Megan Thee Stallion.[3] In 2021, he won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Song at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards for co-writing the rap song "Savage Remix" by Megan Thee Stallion and featuring Beyoncé.[4]

Early life and education

Derrick Gray was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Virginia and Jeff Gray.[3] Gray first gained experience in music as a member of his church's choir.[5] His family moved to Brandywine Hundred, Delaware, when he was in seventh grade, and he attended Hanby Middle School, Brandywine High School, and Red Lion Christian Academy, before graduating from Concord High School in 2012. While in high school, Gray would battle rap with friends and was a member of the school choir.[3]

After graduating from high school, Gray attended college in Florida, including at Valencia College[2] and Full Sail University, where he was involved in Business Professionals of America.[6]

Career

Early career (2013–2018)

Milano began his music career while in college, where he distributed mixtapes for his music. His breakout success came with the release of the "trap-happy" single "#ThatAintYaBitch",[7] which he released on SoundCloud in May 2014.[8] As a result of the single's success, he was invited to open for artists playing shows at Orlando-area venues, including for rappers Young Thug and Future.[2] Following this early success, a dispute with his management made releasing and promoting music challenging for Milano.[9]

Writing and Grammy (2019–present)

Megan Thee Stallion in 2019.
Beyoncé in 2019.
Milano won a Grammy in 2021 for his work in co-writing "Savage Remix", which is performed by Megan Thee Stallion (first image) and features Beyoncé (second image).

Milano's first writing experience came on Kevin Gates' 2019 album I'm Him.[5][10] In May 2019, Juicy J, who Milano first connected with when he was in high school,[2] invited Milano to help with Megan Thee Stallion's song "Simon Says".[6] This led to an uncredited writing opportunity on "Hot Girl Summer", another song by Megan Thee Stallion, which was released in July 2019.[6]

Milano continued to work with Megan Thee Stallion, co-writing "Savage Remix",[11] which features Beyoncé and was released in April 2020. In March 2021, Milano won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Song at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards for his work as a co-writer on "Savage Remix".[4]

As of March 2021, Milano was working on his debut album, which will include tracks featuring Juicy J, Ty Dolla Sign, and Wiz Khalifa and is scheduled to be released later in 2021.[3]

In 2023, Milano was featured on a remix to Ciara's song "Da Girls". It was released on May 12, 2023.[12][13]

Awards and nominations

Year Awards Category Nominated work Result Ref.
2021 Grammy Awards Best Rap Song "Savage Remix" Won [4]

References

  1. ↑ "BOY MEETS WOLF". ASCAP. American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. Retrieved April 29, 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Gillespie, Ryan (September 25, 2014). "Q&A with Future opening act Derrick Milano". Central Florida Future. Archived from the original on April 20, 2017. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Cormier, Ryan. "This Concord High grad co-wrote Beyoncé 'Savage' remix verse and won a Grammy for it". The News Journal. Archived from the original on April 22, 2021. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 "Derrick Milano". GRAMMY.com. April 22, 2021. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  5. 1 2 Ju, Shirley (April 5, 2021). "Derrick Milano Wrote Hits For Beyonce, Nas And Megan Thee Stallion. Now He's Betting On Himself". AllHipHop. Archived from the original on April 5, 2021. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  6. 1 2 3 Cho, Regina. "From Megan Thee Stallion to Pop Smoke, How Derrick Milano Became Hip-Hop's Favorite Secret Weapon". Billboard. Archived from the original on May 2, 2020. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  7. ↑ "Premiere: Derrick Milano Wreaks Havoc In "What Else?" In New Video". Vibe. August 23, 2016. Archived from the original on October 26, 2020. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  8. ↑ "Derrick Milano - #ThatAintYaBitch". SoundCloud. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  9. ↑ Taylor, Maxwell. "Interview: Derrick Milano Discusses the 'A1 Mixtape' and the Magic of Dance Videos". Respect. September 1, 2016.
  10. ↑ "Derrick Milano | Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  11. ↑ "Savage Remix (feat. Beyoncé)". Retrieved May 19, 2021 – via Tidal.
  12. ↑ "Ciara - Da Girls (Versions)". Spotify. May 12, 2023. Retrieved May 14, 2023.
  13. ↑ "I made this for all Da Girls around the world! Shout out to the amazing artists that have joined me on this journey! Da Girls (Versions) OUT NOW On all platforms!! Dance Mix ft @TheLayBankz, R&B Slow Mix ft @DerrickMilano, Da Girls Mix ft @lolabrooke718 & @LadyLondon 🫶🏽 Ya'll!!". Twitter. May 12, 2023. Retrieved May 14, 2023.
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