Rod Wave

Rod Wave, born Rodarius Marcell Green, is an American rapper and singer from St. Petersburg, Florida, whose music blends trap-influenced rap with soulful, melodic singing. He first built a following through his self-released Hunger Games mixtape series before breaking through nationally with «Heart On Ice» in 2019, a single from his debut album PTSD that became a viral hit and reached the top five of the Billboard Hot 100.

His sound is defined by raw, confessional lyrics about poverty, grief, incarceration and survival, delivered in a raspy, emotionally charged singing voice over sparse, piano- and guitar-driven beats. This formula carried through Ghetto Gospel and Pray 4 Love, both released within a year of his breakout, cementing him as one of the leading voices of a new generation of melodic street rap.

Rod Wave survived a serious car accident in 2020, an experience he later processed in his music, including on «Through the Wire». His subsequent albums SoulFly, Beautiful Mind and Nostalgia each debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, featuring singles like «Street Runner» and «Tombstone» and reinforcing his reputation as one of the most consistently successful and emotionally direct artists in contemporary hip-hop.