Brooke Candy

Brooke Dyan Candy (born July 20, 1989) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and tattoo artist.

After graduating from high school in 2007, Candy moved to San Francisco, California with the intent of becoming a photographer.

During this time, she interacted with "creative, mostly queer circles" that introduced her to the idea of creative sexual expression.

She eventually returned to Los Angeles after deciding to start a career in music.

Candy lived out of her car for a period, working as a stripper at the Seventh Veil adult club in Hollywood.

Her activities as a stripper strained her relationship with her parents who disapproved of the job due to its sexual nature.

While working as an intern for Rachel Zoe, Candy contacted Larry Flynt, seeking work as a photographer for Hustler, though was instead employed as a mannequin stylist for Hustler store fronts, a job she described as "dress[ing] the mannequins slutty."

Candy later repaired her relationship with them after they began to view her as a successful musician.

While working as a mannequin stylist for Hustler store fronts, Candy was approached at a party by producer Khris Lorenz, who was drawn to her outlandish fashion style and invited her to the studio to create a song together.

Raised in the suburbs of Los Angeles, she rose to prominence after starring in Grimes' music video for "Genesis" (2012).

Following its success, Candy's status in the underground scene rose as she began to release her own music, including the songs "Das Me" (2012), "Everybody Does" (2013), and "I Wanna Fuck Right Now" (2013).

Already having had amateur experience with publishing song concepts and covers of popular rap songs on her Tumblr blog, Candy and close friend Jesse Saint John worked with Lorenz on Candy's debut single "Das Me", which eventually received an official release on October 16, 2012.

In August 2012, Candy co-starred in the music video for "Genesis" by Canadian musician Grimes.

The two met at a party after Candy's fashion caught Grimes' attention.

During 2012 and 2013, Candy independently released her first three music videos for her songs; "Das Me", "Everybody Does", and "I Wanna Fuck Right Now" on YouTube.

The videos had each amassed more than a million views by early 2013.

Candy's first major label recording took place when she appeared on the track "Cloud Aura" on Charli XCX's debut album True Romance.

The two were introduced by Azealia Banks when Candy hosted Banks' Mermaid Ball in Los Angeles.

Candy recorded several club-rap songs during her early years in the music industry, eight of which accumulated on her debut mixtape,The Mixtape, self-released on June 25, 2013.

In late 2013, Candy caught singer and songwriter Sia's attention, and was contacted via Instagram with the purpose of writing one song for her.

Sia eventually ended up executive producing Candy's debut EP, helping her to get a record contract and to find, in Sia's words: "[a] decent, nice, honest management, and [to] help [her] make the art [she] want to make from a place of positive mental health and love".

In 2014, she signed a recording contract with RCA and released her debut major label single, "Opulence", with an accompanying EP of the same name.

Later, she joined Columbia's UK roster.

Candy eventually signed with RCA Records in February 2014.

"Opulence", co-written with Sia and produced by Diplo, was her first single with the label.

Candy performed it on April 3, 2014, at Nicola Formichetti's debut Diesel fashion show on Venice before releasing it on April 22, 2014, for digital download along with its official music video directed by Steven Klein and styled by Formichetti.

The video explores the theme of "freaks," a concept that was conceived by Candy and Formichetti at a drag bar in Tokyo.

It features transgender women, drag queens, and gay men who are friends with Candy.

"We're all freaks and outcasts, and this was meant to empower them," Candy said.

Formichetti, Candy and Klein worked on a V Magazine shoot that led to Steven Klein directing "Opulence," the music video to the eponymous lead single from Candy's debut EP.

Candy's debut album, Daddy Issues, was originally intended for a 2015 release but saw a series of delays.

Following a slew of pop-driven singles in 2016, including "Happy Days", "Paper or Plastic" and the moderately-successful "Living Out Loud", Candy left the labels in 2017.

Throughout 2017 and 2018, she toured alongside Charli XCX and Lizzo, also headlining her own tour, the Tie Me Up Tour.

Candy released her first full-length album, Sexorcism, in October 2019.

Brooke Candy was born in Oxnard, California, to Tom Candy, the former chief financial officer of the pornographic magazine Hustler, and a pediatric nurse.

She grew up in the Los Angeles suburb of Agoura Hills.

She is of Italian descent on her mother's side while her father's side is Orthodox Jewish.

Her parents divorced when she was eight.

Candy frequently spent time in the office of Larry Flynt, the chief executive officer of Hustler during her childhood.

At the age of twelve, Candy became addicted to recreational substances.