Bobby Wardell Sandimanie III[3] (born July 30, 2001), known professionally as Destroy Lonely, is an American rapper and singer-songwriter from Atlanta, Georgia. His debut studio album, If Looks Could Kill (2023) peaked at number 18 on the USBillboard 200. Prior, his fifth mixtape, No Stylist (2022) marked his first entry on the chart at number 91.
Destroy Lonely signed to Playboi Carti's record label Opium, an imprint of Interscope Records in early 2021, which includes fellow rapper Ken Carson and artist duo Homixide Gang. The Rolling Stone magazine cites him as being characterized by his "dynamic yet blaring" instrumentals, and his unique performing aesthetic consisting of dark-colored attire and name-brand clothing.[4]
Bobby Wardell Sandimanie III was born on July 30, 2001.[5][6] He has two younger half sisters and an older half brother. He grew up freestyling with inspiration from his father, rapper I-20. He was homeschooled starting in sixth grade and enrolled back in school in the ninth and tenth grades, where he recalls abusing the drug Xanax. He cites his feeling that his substance abuse was destroying him as the origin of the "Destroy" part of his stage name. He spent his adolescent years in solitude which he cites as the origin of the "Lonely" part of his stage name.[4]
In 2024, his girlfriend accused him of domestic abuse, both physical and mental, via X. Destroy Lonely denied the allegations.[7]
Destroy Lonely started working on music at the age of 14, making his first songs in a recording studio at his school. He met two of his best friends, Texaco and Nezzus, who would produce many of his early works and continue to work with him on later projects at school.[8] Immediately upon meeting Nezzus, they began recording their first project, NezzusDestroyed.[9] Lonely would later go on to gain traction with his 2019 track "Bane".[8]
On September 25, 2020, Destroy Lonely would release his third mixtape titled </3 (pronounced: Broken Hearts) and a month after on October 31, 2020, would release the deluxe edition titled </3². Following the release of </3 in 2020 and the attention from "Bane", Destroy Lonely would be noticed by Playboi Carti in December 2020 after the music video for his song "Oh Yeah" released.[9][4] In early 2021, he signed to Carti's record label, Opium.[10]
In April 2021, he appeared in Playboi Carti's music video for his song "Sky".[11] In April 2022, he was announced as a performer at the Lyrical Lemonade Summer Smash.[12] In July 2022, Destroy Lonely appeared on frequent collaborator Ken Carson's studio album X.[13][14]
Also in July 2022, he appeared on fellow Atlanta rapper Bktherula's single "Forever Pt. 2"[15] and Rochester rapper Slump6s' album Genesis.[16] In August 2022, Destroy Lonely released his fifth mixtape titled No Stylist.[17] The mixtape features a sole appearance from his labelmate Ken Carson.[18][19] In September 2022, he and fellow Opium rapper Ken Carson gifted Playboi Carti a ring for his 26th birthday.[20] In October 2022, he announced the dates for his "No Stylist" tour.[21][22][23]
Also in October he released a music video to his track "Vtmntscoat" which is described as containing imagery of "elaborate dinner parties and midnight car rides".[24]
2023–present: If Looks Could Kill & Love Last Forever[edit]
On November 18, 2022, Destroy Lonely followed up his mixtape No Stylist with NS+ (Ultra).[25] This being his deluxe version of the mixtape, featuring five new songs, and naming it "Ultra" after his pet cat.[26] Following this on February 20, 2023, Destroy Lonely released a music video for songs "Neverever" and "Fakenggas" on his YouTube.[27]
On February 21, 2023, Lonely took to Tumblr and announced that his next album would be getting released in April 2023, stating: "my album comes out in april..". On March 3, 2023, Destroy Lonely released the highly anticipated single "If Looks Could Kill", which was expected to be the lead single for his debut studio album.[28] On May 5, 2023, Destroy Lonely released his highly anticipated debut studio album, If Looks Could Kill, consisting of 25 tracks with a bonus track "Money and Sex" with labelmate, Ken Carson. Two additional tracks would be released with the CD and vinyl copies, also dropping a short film, "Look Killa". On September 29, 2023, Destroy Lonely released a deluxe version of his debut studio album named If Looks Could Kill (Director's Cut), containing 6 new tracks from all editions.[29]
On October 13, 2023, Destroy Lonely had three featured appearances on Ken Carson's third album A Great Chaos, on the songs "Singapore", "Paranoid", and "Like This", which also featured Lil Uzi Vert.[30]
The Rolling Stone magazine mentions Destroy Lonely's unique way of shifting cadence and the usage of humorous lyrics in his music. He cites his influence as being bands such as Crystal Castles, Deftones, and The Cure and rap predecessors such as Lil Wayne, Drake, Future, Young Thug, and Playboi Carti. His music has been described by Brandon Callender of The Fader in the following manner: "Destroy Lonely has an eclectic ear for beats that skews toward twinkly, atmospheric beats that function like canvases, his voice vivid splashes of paint."[2] This atmospheric sound is achieved through the use of ambient synthesizers and samples from orchestras and video game soundtracks like Genshin Impact.[31]
Media related to Destroy Lonely at Wikimedia Commons
Music
United States
Georgia (U.S. state)
