Rapper Yungeen Ace from Florida had a rough upbringing that prepared him for a turbulent career in music. He was raised in an unusually solitary environment and, as a teenager, turned to music and the streets. He was one of twelve brothers. In March 2018, he started sharing his solo music online. Shortly after his turbulent, anguished songs gained popularity, he was a part of a drive-by shooting that claimed the lives of his brother and two friends.
Rapper Yungeen Ace from Florida had a rough upbringing that prepared him for a turbulent career in music. He was raised in an unusually solitary environment and, as a teenager, turned to music and the streets. He was one of twelve brothers. In March 2018, he started sharing his solo music online. Shortly after his turbulent, anguished songs gained popularity, he was a part of a drive-by shooting that claimed the lives of his brother and two friends. Following this tragedy, he dropped his debut mixtape, Life of Betrayal. A series of quick mixtape releases featuring his blend of melodic and traditional genres followed, including Life I’m Livin (2018), Can’t Speak on It (2019), Step Harder (2020), and Don Dada (2020). In 2021, the rapper achieved viral success with a street-driven remix of Vanessa Carlton’s “A Thousand Miles.” Later that year, he published his debut album, Life of Betrayal 2x, and in 2022, Survivor of the Trenches. In 2024, Ace released another full-length album, Forgotten Star, which was followed by “Game Over.”
Yungeen Ace, born Keyanta Bullard in 1998, was raised in Chicago before moving to Florida as a young child with his family. As he approached adolescence, Bullard struggled on a daily basis in Jacksonville’s extreme poverty and a hopeless setting full of danger and street crime. In March 2018, he released his debut single, “No Witness,” after starting to write and record solo songs. These promising beginnings were marred in June of that year when Yungeen Ace and several others were ambushed in a drive-by shooting in Jacksonville while returning from dinner. A number of other singles would follow. He was the only member of the group that survived several gunshot wounds, along with his brother Trevon Bullard and pals Royale Smith, Jr. and Jercoby Groover, to emerge from the confrontation alive.
The rapper was placed under house arrest immediately after the shooting due to legal issues; his debut mixtape, Life of Betrayal, was released in August of that year, followed by Life I’m Livin. The first collection includes older classics like the JayDaYoungan collaboration “Jungle” as well as fresh songs inspired by his painful losses. The standout track “Wanted” had a cameo by YoungBoy Never Broke Again. He collaborated on the 16-track Step Harder album in 2019 with Boosie Badazz, Lil Durk, and other artists. The Don Dada mixtape, which featured the single “Heartbroken,” was Ace’s first significant release of 2020. He continued to be successful in 2021 with a string of hits that included “Withdraw from Life” and “Fighting Pain,” which led to the releases of “Opp Boyz” and “Gun Em Down.” 2021’s “Who I Smoke,” which sampled Vanessa Carlton’s “A Thousand Miles” for a rude chorus, proved to be one of the rapper’s most unusual hits. Later that year, he released his full-length first album, Life of Betrayal 2x. Survivor of the Trenches, which included appearances by Rob49, FastMoney Goon, GMK, Real Boston Richey, and others, was released in 2022. With hits like “Did it First” and “I’m Not Alright, Not Okay,” Ace maintained his popularity over the course of the following year. In early 2024, he released another full-length album, Forgotten Star. The 15-song solo concert avoided having any guests and concentrated entirely on its protagonist. Later that year, the follow-up singles “Game Over” and “Ready To Die” were released.
