To say a lot has happened to AZ Chike in the last year would be a vast understatement. Born Damaria Kayshawn Walker, the South Central, L.A. rapper’s career goes back to the AZCult, a hip-hop collective formed in 2013. He would go on to tour with Shoreline Mafia, perform at Rolling Loud and in 2017 release “Burn Rubber Again,” a track that is up to 25 million SoundCloud streams and counting. While more recordings and tours would follow, in the last year his career hit another level: He was featured on Schoolboy Q’s “Movie” and performed with him at L.A.’s Roxy (one of his favorite venues); in June he popped up at Kendrick Lamar’s “Pop Out: The Ken & Friends Concert” at the Kia Forum where he performed  “Light It Up” with Rucci, Drakeo and Shoreline Mafia; and, not least in any way, he appeared on Kendrick Lamar’s massive hit single “Peekaboo” from his No. 1 album GNX released in November.

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