Honey G (rapper)

Honey G
Birth name Anna Gilford
Born (1981-03-12) 12 March 1981
Harrow, London, England
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Rapper
Instruments Vocals
Years active Syco (2016-17)

Honey G (born Anna Georgette Gilford;[1] 12 March 1981) is an English rapper from Harrow, West London.[2] She was a contestant on the 13th series of The X Factor in 2016.

Background

Honey G is Jewish and has claimed she has been bullied with antisemitism all her life.[3][4] She attended Salford University and graduated with an upper second-class degree in popular music in 2004.[5]

In her first audition, she sang "Work It" by Missy Elliott, which earned her three yes votes. At the six-chair challenge, she sang "WTF (Where They From)" by Missy Elliott and Pharrell Williams, and was eliminated by mentor Sharon Osbourne; however, Osbourne brought her back as a replacement for Ivy-Grace Parades, who was unable to travel to Los Angeles due to visa issues.[6] Osbourne later picked Honey G to advance after her performance of Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise". She ended up in the bottom two for the first time against Ryan Lawrie on week 7. Cowell, Osbourne and Walsh voted to save her. However voting statistics revealed that Lawrie received more votes than Honey G meaning if Walsh sent the result to deadlock, Lawrie would've been sent through to the quarter-final and Honey G would've been eliminated. Honey G was in the bottom two in the quarter-final against 5 After Midnight. After the sing-off, only Osbourne voted to keep Honey G, who was eliminated in fifth place.

During her time in the competition, Honey G faced criticism for being a novelty act, branded such by judge Nicole Scherzinger.[7] Isabel Mohan of The Telegraph gave her the title of "the biggest joke in X Factor history."[8] Each one of her progressions in the competition was met with constant negative responses from social media; a petition that was created by a cousin of fellow contestant Samantha Atkinson to remove her from the show and replace her with Atkinson garnered thousands of signatures.[9]

After the first live show, an Internet movement of mothers and grandmothers dressing up as Honey G emerged, with the pictures and videos shared via the hashtag #MummyG.[10]

She performed at the X Factor Final at Wembley Arena as a guest performer where she officially announced that she had signed a record deal with Cowell's record label, Syco Music,[11] and would be releasing her debut single, "The Honey G Show", on 23 December. This was met with controversy, as she had landed a record deal with Syco before a winner of the series had even been crowned. The single received little promotion[12] and reached No. 149 on its first week of release.[13]

Like the other finalists of the series, Honey G performed on The X Factor Live Tour, which visited many cities across the United Kingdom.

In May 2017, she announced she was launching an independent record label after being dropped by Syco Music, and that a new single was to be expected soon. The label was revealed in June to be called "H To The O Music".

On 30 June 2017, she released her second single "Hit You With The Honey G" alongside a music video. On 26 July, she came out as a lesbian and posed for a nude photoshoot.[14]

In December 2017, she released her third single "Riding Hot". The music video for the track was released on 12 January 2018, on the rapper's Vevo page.

References

  1. ↑ Anderton, Joe (5 October 2016). "The X Factor: Honey G's real life CV is proper impressive". Digital Spy. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  2. ↑ "X Factor's Honey G: from her day job to what's under those glasses – here's everything you need to know". Radio Times.
  3. ↑ "Honey G: 'I've spent my whole life fighting anti-Semitism'". Jewish News.
  4. ↑ "X Factor's Honey G accuses critics of anti-semitism". NME.
  5. ↑ "X Factor's mockney gangster rapper has an impeccably middle-class past". Mail Online. Retrieved 2017-07-15.
  6. ↑ Jefferies, Mark (25 September 2016). "X Factor's Honey G makes dramatic RETURN at judges houses after being kicked out". Daily Mirror. Trinity Mirror.
  7. ↑ "X Factor's Nicole: 'Honey G is a novelty act'". Digital Spy. 7 October 2016.
  8. ↑ Mohan, Isabel (1 November 2016). "Honey G is the biggest joke in X Factor history – no wonder she makes Simon Cowell uncomfortable". The Telegraph. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
  9. ↑ "What is the Honey G petition and why are X Factor fans so upset?". The Sun. News UK. 6 October 2016.
  10. ↑ Oakley, Nicola (9 October 2016). "X Factor's Honey G sparks new national craze among mums and nans".
  11. ↑ Draper, James (11 December 2016). "Fan fury after X Factor reject Honey G promotes single on semi-final – just 24 hours BEFORE winner is announced". Daily Mirror.
  12. ↑ "Controversial X Factor rapper Honey G says her first single 'was not promoted enough'". The Irish News. 25 January 2017. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  13. ↑ Jones, Alan (30 December 2016). "Official Charts Analysis: Little Mix return to albums summit". Music Week. Intent Media. Retrieved 30 December 2016. (Subscription required (help)).
  14. ↑ "X Factor star Honey G comes out as gay". PinkNews. 26 July 2017. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
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