Belly Biography

Ahmad Balshe, known by his stage name Belly, is a Palestinian-Canadian rapper, singer, songwriter and producer. His name comes from “rebellious”. Since his debut in 2001, Belly has won a Juno Award and 3 Much Music Video Awards.

Songwriting – His Breakthrough

As a songwriter, Belly has collaborated with numerous notorious artists. Most notably, he wrote 6 songs from The Weekend’s 2015 album Beauty Behind The Madness. Most noteworthy was his work on the massive hit The Hills. Moreover, he co-wrote Beyonce’s 6 Inch, from her latest album Lemonade (2016). Consequently, Belly won the “Songwriter of The Year” in 2016, in Canada.

Rapping

Belly released his debut single, Pressure, in 2006. The song reached top 10 in Canada’s CHR Radio chart and topped the Much Music Video chart. Furthermore, in 2007 he collaborated with Nina Sky, on his second single, Don’t Be Shy, which peaked at number 45 on the Canadian Hot 100. Furthermore, he released History of Violence and an extremely controversial video for it. Since then Belly became known for his strong political view.

His debut album, The Revolution, came out in the summer of the same year. The album contained 2 parts: The People – with profound songs about the issue from the Middle-East, and The System – with more personal songs about friends and memories. The record received a gold certification. In 2012, Belly released his second album, Sleepless Nights 1,5. It didn’t gain much recognition, apart from the collaborations with Snoop Dogg, for I Drink I Smoke, and Kobe, for Back Against the Wall. Belly had collaborated before with Snoop, on the song Hot Girl from 2009.

In 2015, Belly released the mixtape Up For Days, which included apparitions from French Montana, The Weekend, and others. In 2016, the rapper released the single, Zanzibar, with Juicy J and You with Kehlaani. Furthermore, his follow-up album, Inzombia, came out.

Photo source: HotNewHipHop