GloRilla: 5 Things About the ‘Tomorrow 2’ Rapper Performing at the 2024 VMAs

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The next generation of rap superstars is here and they’re about to rise to the top. GloRilla. “It’s really cool. I’m excited to be a part of it because it’s a new wave,” she told Refinery29. “I’m happy to be one of the ones leading the new wave.” That new wave will hit the stage at UBS Arena in Long Island, New Jersey, on Sept. 11, when GloRilla — newly named to the XXL Freshman Class of 2023 — performs at the 2024 Video Music Awards. GloRilla made 2024 her year with the release of her single “TGIF” and two albums, Yeah Glo! (Alternative Versions) And Ehhthang Ehhthang.

Glo has been climbing the hip-hop ranks for a while now. “I would describe (my background) as staying humble and just working through it,” she told Refinery29. “I never gave up and I always had a vision. That’s all you need; that vision and drive.” So when she leaves empty-handed on Nov. 20, it won’t be long before she returns to collect her flowers and accept the rewards for her hard work.

GloRilla also proved she was on her way to the top when Audiomack, the artist-first music streaming platform, named her their newest #UpNow artist. Audiomack’s #UpNow program spotlights the next generation of stars and alumni include Black Sherif, Pooh Shiesty, EST Gee, Sheff G, Omah Lay, And Ayra Starr, among others. “They’ve been instrumental in helping me connect with fans in a new way,” Glo said of Audiomack, who will be helming her #UpNot playlist cover while also growing her presence on the platform. “I appreciate the Audiomack team for always showing love and look forward to working with them more in the future,” she added.

As Glo prepares for her future—and the world prepares for her next big lucrative move—here’s what you need to know about GloRilla.

GloRilla’s real name is Gloria Hallelujah.

When GloRilla experienced her success with “FNF”, fans knew her name Gloria Bossen and that “GloRilla” was just a play on her first name. However, in October 2022, she shared that her middle name is “Hallelujah,” which caused a bit of a stir on Twitter. “& why are you acting like Ian told you my middle name hallelujah?” tweeted. “That’s why I’m so blessed and my p—y is so good duhhhhhh!!!! Common sense.”

She’s from Northside Memphis.

“I grew up in church, but we still watched 106 & Park and BET,” Glo said. XXL in September 2022. I loved Bow Wow, Soulja Boy, and Lil Wayne.” She describes herself as a quiet child with nine siblings — six boys, four girls — and was homeschooled until the fifth grade, when child protective services forced her mother to enroll the school-aged children in public school.

Church was her first introduction to music. “I got a lot of solos in the church choir, and growing up, the only music my mom would let us listen to was gospel. We had to secretly listen to the other music.”

As a teenager, she shed her shy image. She gained confidence and started rapping secretly (she only played her music for one of her brothers and her cousin). It wasn’t until 2018 that she took her dreams seriously.

Her overnight success was years in the making

Glo uploaded her first freestyle to Facebook in 2016. Two years later, her cousin suggested she focus her thoughts on her music career and record something other than her phone. She went to a local studio and dropped “14 Freestyle” in December 2018. In 2019, she released her independent EP, Probably Nextof P-status for 2020.

Her journey hasn’t been easy. “I never stopped making music. I got discouraged a lot, but I never stopped — I started getting broke,” GloRilla told Gillie Da King and Wallo26 in a November 2022 episode of Millions of dollars in game value (thanks to AfroTech). “I lost everything, like my apartments, my cars. I was pretty much down to nothing. It was the end of last year and the beginning of this year. I just started over and was like, ‘D-mn, I gotta get back to work.’ I was just doing sh-t, surviving last year, and then the real work came, and I just started going broke and living with my friends and sh-t.”

During a local rap showcase in 2021, she met beatmaker Hitkidd. The meeting resulted in the Set the tone EP with Glo, Shine on, K Carbon, Slime-monkey, And Aleza – five female MCs – together. Glo and Hitkidd would collaborate again on a song that would change her life.

Megan The Stallion had an impact on her career – a little bit

In 2021, Hitkidd had a beat planned for Megan the stallion. It was a chance to collaborate with the reigning queen of rap… but Megan didn’t act fast enough. So Hitkidd went to Glo, who was on her way to get her lashes done, according to Vulture. She came back from her beautician appointment, lit up a blunt, stepped into the recording booth and dropped the hook. “I’m FREE, f-ck n—-a free / That means I don’t have to worry about f-ck n—-a cheating / And I’m SINGLE AGAIN / Hanging out the window with my f-ck girlfriends.”

Glo uploaded the hook to Triller and it quickly went viral. A week and a half later, she and Hitkidd got back in the studio and recorded a new first verse. They shot a music video with all of Glo’s friends and “FNF (Let’s Go)” was born.

“It was literally so crazy. My car got impounded not even a week before I put this song out,” she said Vulture. By November 2022, the video had already been viewed more than 49 million times. “A week earlier!”

“I feel like it went away because we were authentic,” she told BET. “We didn’t really dress up; we were just having fun, being ourselves, you know what they say? There’s not really a lot of people representing local women and outgoing women. We were just having fun in the video, doing what we normally do, and people love the authenticity of it — the realness of it.”

The success of the song attracted the attention of several labels. Glo eventually signed with Yo Gotti’s CMG Records imprint under Interscope. “She’s someone who comes with a new sound, a new delivery, a new feel, a new movement,” Yo Gotti told XXL. “Her potential is unlimited. She doesn’t rap like other artists. When you come with an unheard sound, you have a chance to stamp it. And you know what happens after that.”

“When you think of Memphis music, you think of Gotti,” Glo told BET, you know what I mean, and Three 6 (Mafia) and them. That was the face of Memphis when you think of rap. They had the city in a stranglehold and you couldn’t go to the club without hearing a couple of Gotti songs. So he was a big factor growing up.

GloRilla underwent a cleansing before her success

During a visit The Angie Martinez Show ahead of the release of her EP in November 2022, Anyway, life is great…, Glo shared how she and her friends did a 60-day social media cleanse/mental detox.

“We were going through like we couldn’t go into 2022 the same way we did last year, you know, it was just really busy… we had to get our lives together, we were like ‘we can’t keep living like this,’ we were like ‘okay, we’re going to do a cleanse. We’re not going to talk to guys because I felt like that was distracting. No parties, going out, you know, saving money and working out,'” she said (h/t Urban Islandz).

“I had just gotten out of a breakup, and I said this in the preview of my song, I had just had an abortion, and so I was like, ‘You know what, I need to cleanse,’ because I didn’t feel the same afterward. I was going through some mental changes, so I was like, ‘No more guests, we’re just going to cleanse. I was really going through something,”

Bringing her success to life, her purge ran from March to May. By June, “FNF” was on its way to becoming the song of the summer.

She has a big cosign: Grammy’s and Cardi’s.

In July 2022, Glo released “Tomorrow.” Two months later, she released “Tomorrow 2,” the remix featuring Cardi B. “(Cardi) already called me when I blew up. As soon as I landed in New York and I went through the airport, she sent me a little voice message, you know, giving me advice and motivating (me), something like that. And so… she liked my stuff, you know what I mean?” Glo shared Revolt.

“I was in the studio one day and I was listening to all my songs and I was like, ‘Who can I put on this song?’ So I was like, ‘Okay, I’m gonna text Cardi.’ I texted her and I was like, ‘I got a song I want you on.’ She was like, ‘Girl, I already did my verse for Tomorrow .’ I was like, ‘What?!’I’m Gotti) and they tried to surprise me, but I found out because I was trying to get her on another song,” Glo added. “When I first heard it, I was so shocked. I wasn’t shocked because she was hard, but how she just did that song? Like… I wanted to cry.”

That was just the beginning for Glo. In 2022, she won Best New Hip Hop Artist at the BET Awards. She also received her first Grammy Awards nomination when “FNF” was nominated for Best Rap Performance. The Glo has begun, and it doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon.