Logic Bio: A Controversial Son of Hip Hop

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Josh grew up listening to all types of underground, mainstream, Hispanic, and all other parts of the hip-hop spectrum. Born at the end of the Golden Age of hip hop, the new wave and popularity of the scene helped shape his mind and personality. He has experienced the massive growth of the culture from the underground roots to the mainstream.

Logic Quick Facts

Birth Date:	January 22^nd, 1990
Birth Place:	Rockville, Maryland
Nick Name:	Bobby Tarantino Young Sinatra Psychological
Nationality:	Mixed nationality (African American / Caucasian)
Zodiac Sign:	Aquarius
Siblings:	Seven (half-siblings)
Children:	Bobby Bryson Hall “Lil Bobby”
Partner / Spouse:	Brittney Noell (m. 2019)
Most Successful Songs / Albums:	“1-800-273-8255” “Homicide (feat. Eminem)” “Under Pressure” “Sucker for Pain” – Featured “Everybody” “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind”
Net Worth:	Estimated value of $14 million (as of 2022)
Social Media:	Twitch: logic YouTube: BobbysWorld Instagram: logic
Awards:	1x MTV Video Music Awards 1x BMI R&B/Hip-Hop Awards 1x BMI Pop Awards 2x Nominated Grammy Awards 1x Nominated iHeartRadio Music Awards
Last Updated:	September 13^th, 2022

Birthplace

Sir Robert Bryson Hall II was born in Rockville, Maryland, at the Shady Grove Hospital on January 22^nd, 1990—the state where he’d begin honing his craft. From living on his best friend’s couch to leaving home, he was dedicated to his work and knew that the world needed to hear what he had to say. And although Maryland was where he had come from, it was all but perfect. Tales that would be told through his lyrics are displayed in his career for all to listen to, but let’s take a step back.

A small nearby city named Gaithersburg was where Robert would be raised. In this hometown, the young prodigy would come of age and experience an infamously rough childhood—starting with his parents.

Parents

Being born to Robert and Mary Bryson Hall, an African American father and Caucasian mother, Logic’s identity has been mixed from the beginning. Although he takes the appearance of his mother, the rest of his family takes from his father, leaving him with confusion from others, both growing up and well into his career. This biracial life has been a topic of discussion from audiences and Logic himself. Even more evident in his lyrics is how living with his parents shaped him as a person.

As a kid growing up in and around the West Deer Park neighborhood in his hometown, there was no escaping the surroundings he found himself in. At a young age, he witnessed his father’s addiction to cocaine and his mother’s increasing alcoholism, which played a significant role in the child’s perception of the world. Gang violence and an unstable home gave the adolescent what, at the time, was an unwelcoming childhood but would ultimately fuel his emotions and heart, as shown in his works.

Logic’s relationship with his mother had many complex factors, citing that “…I ain’t talk to her in years, that relationship she ruined…” in one of his tell-all epic tracks, Under Pressure. Though they have since rekindled their relationship, at least to some degree.

Similarly, the emcee’s relationship with his father had taken a long absence from both parties; his father took the first leave as he was absent for much of his son’s childhood. Logic would continue this trend by not speaking to him well into his career, speaking openly about the situation on various albums. But now, after publicly repaired their relationship (his parents have both worked to become clean over the past few years), his father has been featured in some of his later songs.

Early Life

Logic grew up with his siblings from both sides of his parents. In a house where he learned from his brother how to make coke (some that would be sold to their father), drugs and alcohol were highly prevalent in the child’s life. On top of this, the young man was home-schooled from grades five to eight but was forced to return to the local school after complications with social services. This led him to attend Gaithersburg High School until the tenth grade, where he would be expelled for truancy. Despite this, Logic found a different way to spend his precious time by diving headfirst into making music.

At a young age, he was introduced to Quentin Tarantino, Sinatra, and the Wu-Tang Clan, making him realize what exactly he wanted to do in life early on. Young Bobby knew what he was destined to become when sitting in a booth for forty-five minutes the first time his father took him to a studio. This is also highlighted on his “Last Call” track off his final Young Sinatra tape, YSIV, where he details this time in his life, stating, “I knew it ever since I first saw Kill Bill….” When he first knew rapping was what he wanted to do, “…And then I discovered Wu-Tang soon as I found that….” Logic continues detailing his upbringing.

After needing to leave the house, he grew up in and the nature surrounding it. He would go on to live with a few different close individuals, such as his sister, Genie. After being kicked out, however, he was homeless for a moment until finally staying at his mentor, Solomon Taylor’s, house, whom he met at age thirteen. Solomon introduced Logic to numerous CDs of instrumentals after the aspiring rapper purchased ‘The Roots’ album “Do You Want More?!!!??!”. The intention was for him to write bars over the beats to help train him in lyricism.

There was a point in time when the adolescent moved into his godmother, Mary Jo’s, house, where he would often record in the attic. This, too, would eventually fall through, as, by age twenty, Logic would be looking for a new place to live and work. This was when he moved in with his friend Lenny in College Park, where he would also soon meet 6ix, his in-house producer. Discovering each other in a beat battle, the two began collaborating in 6ix’s dorm room at the University of Maryland.

Professional Career

Early Mixtapes

In 2009, Logic (Psychological at the time) wrote and put a mix tape out entitled: Psychological – Logic: The Mixtape. The first piece of work he would produce helped him go on tour and kick off his rap career. After some time, he would shorten his name to Logic to better market himself and for personal preference.

Under the new name, Logic would release his first official mixtape Young, Broke, & Infamous, at the tail end of 2010 on the 15^th of December. Featuring the song “Young Sinatra,” the mixtape would further grow his popularity while signifying the first of the Young Sinatra moniker. A milestone in his path, the project’s reception got the attention of an independent music group, Visionary, along the way.

It was the kid’s first signing to a record label, and eager to display his new skills and ideas to a broader audience, his second mixtape would be released on September 19^th, 2011. With producer 6ix and others collaborating on the project, the first installment of a new series of mixtapes, Young Sinatra, became an even more significant success. Tracks like “All I Do” and “Mind of Logic” blew up on YouTube, gaining millions of views. Young Sinatra was working, and Logic was honing in on what he was getting good at, so a third mixtape was inevitable.

This would come on the 30^th of April in 2012 when the next installment, Young Sinatra: Undeniable, was released. In this project, Logic would speak more openly about his father’s drug abuse and other personal matters in his life. The roots of his lyricism started to blossom at the end of this era, and a national headlining tour would follow.

Death Row Signing

This era became a tricky time for Logic in his personal life. Still living in the basement of his friend Lenny’s house, the pressure to get a job and find a place to live stayed with him. Finding success on Visionary wasn’t enough, and the people around him started to think the same. Still living on Lenny’s couch, all he had to his name was his word, and the pressure to make something out of his life wasn’t getting lighter. He needed a chance.

At the time, Logic asked for just one year to put his all into music and get somewhere further. This was everything to him, and he knew he could prove it with more time. And with love, Lenny, his family, friends, and collaborators helped support Logic. Through the long working hours and sleeping on the couch in that basement, Logic poured even more of his heart and mind into the music.

And so, the year started to count down.

Come 2013, Logic would be inducted into XXL’s annual “Top 10 Freshmen List” and lead up with his fourth mixtape, Young Sinatra: Welcome to Forever, on May 7^th of that year. Working hard in that basement with 6ix and others, some of his most influential tracks would be created during this time, along with some seeds for future projects to come.

After grinding for his best work yet, the year he was promised was almost up, and it seemed his potential was being seen more and more by the culture. The success garnered from his latest project catapulted him into the limelight of one of the biggest Hip-Hop labels. All the work and effort put in through the last twelve months felt like it was about to pay off — and it did.

Almost to the day of making that deal with Lenny, Logic would sign to Death Row records. April 15^th, 2013, to be exact. The release of his fourth mixtape would follow just a few weeks after, but the signing changed the young man’s life forever. Convincing his long-term friend Lenny to quit his job, the two relocated to Los Angeles to pursue his career.

Now with famous producer, No I.D. serving as an executive producer for his debut album, Under Pressure, the future was looking brighter than ever for the kid from Maryland. Logic would also get the opportunity to meet some of his favorite rappers, J. Cole and Big Sean, for the first time here as well.

Album Breakdown

Under Pressure

Following, While You Wait, a free mixtape released throughout the first half of 2014, Logic’s first studio album, Under Pressure, was released on October 21^st of that year. Bringing his name into more people’s mouths than ever, he began making television appearances and became more viral on the internet. The titular song off the album, a nine-minute epic, served as the first of its kind in Logic’s catalog. A hard-hitting, sample-driven beat that Logic uses to give light over everything that’s got him feeling under pressure. From voicemails from his worrying sister to his reminiscent father, the second half of the ballad follows this theme. The song being the standout it was, Logic’s debut album gave him his first taste of real stardom.

The Incredible True Story

On November 13^th, 2015, The Incredible True Story was released. Logic’s second album and commercial release, the record tells the story of two space pilots in search of a new planet named Paradise. The spacey atmosphere from the production shines the most on the record and is the most memorable experience ahead of Logic’s flows. And once again, the now-established rapper had another critical success.

In the following summer of 2016, Logic would be a part of a collaboration song, “Sucker For Pain,” amongst other artists for the soundtrack of the movie Suicide Squad. This single charted at number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming his most well-known song.

Bobby Tarantino

At this stage in his career, Psychological was years behind him when he was still a teen. The Young Sinatra mixtapes were now looked at as stepping stones to where he was. His first two commercial albums gathered more mainstream success, and the products began to evolve. Life-telling and story-driven lyrical and production work were now staples for Logic, and some fans began reminiscing on his older mixtapes.

Bobby Tarantino was born needing something different from what he had worked on in recent years.

Like Young Sinatra, Bobby was another creation from the mind of Logic. Firing flows on hype beats and rapping with the energy of his former self, the first installment in the new mixtape series was dropped out of nowhere on the first of July. A noticeably shorter album in length compared to many of his other projects, the series would become an outlet for the rapper to keep his sense of MC rapping while he worked on a few of his most influential albums.

Hitting Stardom

Everybody

Nobody can predict how, why or when they’ll get famous. We all dream about it, but very few get to live the life of their dreams. Having people all around the world listen to your song and love it in such a way. For Logic, that dream came true.

The following year would be his most successful to date. Leading into the release of his third commercial studio album, singles such as the titular “Everybody” and “Black Spiderman” were adding to the fire. Still, it was the third and final single that brought the world together. A song with the last number to the National Suicide Prevention Hotline as its title went on to go certified platinum five times and peak at number three on the Billboard Hot 100.

The track touches on the matter of suicide, stated by Logic to be a scenario of someone calling the number with thoughts of killing themselves on their mind. The song was critically acclaimed and currently has over a billion streams on Spotify. Logic’s most successful track in his career so far, the year was his, and on March 29^th, 2017, his third album, Everybody, was released.

Bobby Tarantino II & YSIV

The year following brought two more mixtapes: Bobby Tarantino II and YSIV (Young Sinatra IV). Two different projects representing two separate personas of Logic, both finding high success, with the former becoming his second straight number one hit—and even this would soon be yet another milestone for the artists. With worldwide fame and money coming right at him, Sir Robert Bryson Hall II decided to branch out even further.

Novel and Later Albums

In the Spring of 2019, Logic released his first novel, Supermarket. A soundtrack was created alongside the text to tell the story of a young man working at a grocery store. With a more indie wave sound, both the novel and the album were met with mixed reviews from fans and critics—all leading to the release of his fifth studio album, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.

Like his latest soundtrack release, the album released on May 10^th would also receive criticism while still charting at number one. Featuring the single “Homicide” featuring Eminem, few highlights were seen from the album by its listeners—a trend Logic had begun to notice.

No Pressure & Bobby Tarantino III

These two following projects had come at a time in Logic’s life when being a father (more on this later) was more important to him than the rap game. This is shown in the lyrics throughout No Pressure and expanded upon in Bobby Tarantino III, which would come out in 2020 and 2021, respectively. The former is a retirement letter from the emcee, stating in an interview with Billboard, “I just wanted to retire because I’m over it, man.” This would also be the end of his run with Def Jam records.

But retirement didn’t last long; as for the release of BTIII as a project to put out amid the pandemic, Logic still showed that he had bars to spit.

Now having acting jobs on the Apple original, Mr. Corman, more opportunities were still presenting themselves to the now father in his thirties. A seventh album entitled Vinyl Days came on June 17^th, 2022, to a positive reaction from critics and fans, and a few months later, he signed with BMG. Under his new label, he is expected to release the next album already titled College Park.

With a professional career spanning over a decade now, Logic has seen stardom’s ups and downs but still makes music to this day; nothing can take the music away from him.

Logic Performing at the Grammy’s

Retirement and Post Professional

Like many celebrities in industries such as this, retirement didn’t always suit Logic. Stating on separate occasions that the current project would be his last, much like in The Incredible True Story, YSIV (for the Young Sinatra series), and No Pressure, the thought has gone through his mind in separate stages of his career. However, as he still has more projects to be released, retirement doesn’t seem to stay for this emcee.

Family and Dating History

Logic has had a few notable partners in his life, one reported as being a five-year long relationship he ended to focus on his career back in 2009, but such claims may be disputed. What is certain, however, is his marriage to Jessica Andrea, which they solidified on the twenty-second of October, 2015. The two had been dating for two years prior but filed for divorce in March of 2018, but expressed no resentment toward one another. And in September 2019, Logic would marry Brittney Noell, the mother of his baby boy.

Controversies

Logic has faced different reactions to his rap style and physical appearance throughout his career, from the underground to the mainstream. With white skin and the formation of a “nerdy” caricature, his use of the n-word have been talked about for years. On many separate occasions, Logic has gone on record to speak openly about his black-dominant upbringing and his connection to his family.

Logic is mix raced and thinks of himself as just that—a mixture between both sides of his family. But all the same, this usage has garnered controversy over the years.

On top of that, something to note is the reception of his works spanning his career. Lower quality projects stick out in his highly popular eras; the idea of Logic putting out mid to poorly reviewed albums has also been talked about extensively.

Net Worth

As of 2022, Logic’s estimated to be worth upwards of fourteen million dollars. His payouts grew exponentially after his fantastic run in 2017, propelling him to being one of the most-paid rappers in the business.

Real Estate & Residence History

Spending most of their younger years in Maryland in surrounding cities, Logic had his own experience in luxury life when the real money started rolling in. The first home he purchased was in Tarzana, California, for $1.9 million. The house wouldn’t be his home for long, though, as he would sell it two years later for $2.35 million.

A second property was bought later, spanning around an acre of land, soon after the divorce from his first wife. This one cost $3.57 million, and this, too, would go up for sale for nearly $5 million.

Logic Famous Quotes

“This is everything I love, everything I need.
Never sacrifice this feelin’ even though my heart bleed.
Under pressure, I’ve been feelin’ under pressure.”
– “Under Pressure”
“Achieved a lot in life, but that’s a lot with more to gain?
At least I don’t drink to avoid the hurt; we call that champagne.”
– “44 Bars”

Discography (Mixtapes and Albums)

Logic: The Mixtape (2009)
Young, Broke, & Infamous (2010)
Young Sinatra (2011)
Young Sinatra: Undeniable (2012)
Young Sinatra: Welcome to Forever (2013)
Under Pressure (2014)
The Incredible True Story (2015)
Bobby Tarantino (2016)
Everybody (2017)
Bobby Tarantino II (2018)
YSIV (2018)
Supermarket (Soundtrack) (2019)
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2019)
No Pressure (2020)
Bobby Tarantino III (2021)
Vinyl Days (2022)

FAQs

Question: Is Logic white or black?

Answer: Logic was born to a black father and a white mother. His ethnicity is mixed, and he feels like a “black man in a white person’s body.” Although his physical appearance is of white complexion, his personality and world views aren’t as black and white (pun intended) as they may seem.

Question: What rap style is Logic?

Answer: With love for old-school rap with the likes of the Wu-Tang Clan and inspiration from his modern idols such as Drake and J. Cole, Logic blends the different eras of hip hop to bring his style to the mix. With his own experiences and brains writing his lyrics, the beats accompanying them usually mimic moments similar to Kendrick Lamar’s studio works. Not only this, but the talented artist has broadened his sound by introducing more indie pop instrumentals on pieces like Supermarket, along with conceptual, spacey tracks like what you’ll find on The Incredible True Story.

Question: How Did Logic Become Famous?

Answer: A steady rise to notoriety came from his early mixtapes and first two commercially released albums. However, his success and stardom came in 2017, when his track “1-800-273-8255” hit number one. The explosive success of the record gave him opportunities to appear and perform at the Grammys and receive several nominations and awards.

A cameo on the popular adult animation shows Rick and Morty also helped his audience grow. The opening track of his mixed tape Bobby Tarantino II features the titular cartoon characters debating which version of Logic they should listen to on their spacecraft.

Research Citations

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