PnB Rock

Background

P.n.B. Rock, real name Rakim Hasheem Allen, was born on December 9, 1991, in Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was the third of four siblings. Trying to feed four mouths was hard on Rock’s parents, and his father turned to a life of crime to sustain the family. Unfortunately, he was gunned down when Rock was only three, and his mother had to raise all four children on her own. Rock’s interviews and songs mention that because of their poverty-stricken condition, the family had to spend quite a bit of their early years in shelters.

Rock’s early years were tumultuous. He spent some time in a youth detention center, for theft and fighting in school, when he was just 13. He eventually quit school, leading a life of petty crimes, and had to serve some jail time — he was only 19 at the time. Instead of this being the end of his journey, Rock turned his experiences into music. He began writing songs in prison about his childhood struggles and incarceration.

Armed with only a strong determination to start life afresh after being released from prison, Rock began uploading cover music videos onto Instagram. People immediately noticed his talent; inspired, he started to make and share his own music.

All this while, he’d been operating under his given name, but as all people know, stage names give you an added jazz factor. He went with P.n.B. Rock — inspired by the streets where he grew up.

By 2014, his debut mixtape, written when he was in prison, was released. He signed a record deal with Atlantic Records the very next year, had a song feature on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 the year after that, and was featured as a top new artist in a “Rolling Stone” issue. His successful journey continued with multiple hits, a soundtrack in the movie “Fate of the Furious,” and multiple collaborations with music greats like Ed Sheeran, Kevin Hart, Fetty Wap, Bronx rapper Carlos, and Pop Smoke.

Rock faced jail time again in 2019 for drug possession and related offenses. He didn’t let that slow him down, however, and he’s still releasing multiple singles and albums and riding high in various music festivals.