Jamell Maurice Demons (born May 1, 1999), better known by his stage name YNW Melly, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter who emerged from Gifford, Florida. YNW Melly is also co-founder of rap collective, YNW. His music often draws from his lived experiences, evidenced by his 2017 incarceration for weapons charges. Upon release, he began to gain popularity from his track “Murder On My Mind.” which he wrote while in jail. After the release of the track, he was once again arrested as the song violated his probation, and sent him back to prison.

Melly’s career initially started to take off in 2018 when singles such as “Virtual (Blue Balenciagas)”, “Butter Pecan”, and “772 Love” had begun to gain popularity alongside “Murder on My Mind.”

On August 3, 2018, Melly released his debut mixtape I AM YOU which included his popular single, “Murder on My Mind”. It also included a sequel to the song called “Mind on My Murder”.

After leaving the studio with companions YNW Bortlen, YNW SakChaser, and YNW Juvy, on the night of October 26, 2018, Melly and his friends had been caught in a drive-by-shooting where SakChaser and Juvy were murdered. Melly and Bortlen were the only survivors of the attack.

While working on his sophomore mixtape, after the death of his friends, Melly had gained more attention and began to obtain cosigns from several rappers such as Young Thug, Trippie Redd, and Kodak Black. However, on January 3, 2019, Melly was arrested for possession of marijuana.

On January 18, 2019, while incarcerated, Melly released his sophomore mixtape We All Shine, which included one of his most influential cosign’s, Kanye West who was a feature on the song “Mixed Personalities.”.

Melly was released from jail on January 25, 2019, and released “Gang”, the first day out single that had taken off after the hype around “Mixed Personalities.”

After being released for only a month, on February 13, 2019, Melly turned himself in after a warrant was put out for him and Bortlen connecting to the murders of YNW Sakchaser and YNW Juvy. YNW Melly posted this to his Instagram on February 13:

To all my fans and supporters no I did not get locked up in Washington , but I am turning myself in today I want you guys to know I love you and appreciate every single one of y'all, a couple months ago I lost my two brothers by violence and now the system want to find justice.. unfortunately a lot of rumors and lies are being said but no worries god is with me and my brother @ynw.bortlen and we want y'all to remember it’s a ynw Family I love you @ynwsakchaser1 and @ynwjuvy #freeus

Prior to his incarceration, songs such as “Murder on My Mind” and “Mind on My Murder” had gained traction making their way in the Billboard Hot 100 and gaining RIAA certifications in a matter of months. Speculations made people believe that the songs were related to the murders, however, they were soon put to rest due to the time of the recordings being almost two years prior to the shootings.

After spending months incarcerated, on November 22, 2019, he released his debut studio album, Melly vs. Melvin featuring his 9lokkNine-assisted “223’s”.

After the rise of COVID-19 disease in 2020, on April 3, Melly had tested positive for the virus while awaiting trial. After being infected, Melly’s lawyers tried to play this to his advantage and requested a medical release as conditions can worsen in the jail environment. Melly was denied release on April 17 and conditions have been said to worsen since.

After the release of fellow Floridian rapper Kodak Black, Melly’s team had taken advantage and released “Thugged Out” to keep Melly’s name alive in the industry. They carried on releasing singles throughout the year with artists such as Quuen Naija and Hotboii.

Again, while still awaiting trial, on August 13, 2021, he released his sophomore studio album, Just A Matter of Slime, featuring his highly anticipated Lil Uzi Vert-assisted “Mind of Melvin”.

After prosecutors had claimed they had a confession of Melly admitting to the murders, on November 1, Melly’s lawyers came out and denied the claims and said that Melly was just rapping a song titled “4:30 AM” by Kevin Gates. Soon after, on November 30, Melly’s trial had been set for March 7, 2022.