Ugly God

Ugly God was born as Royce Davison in Indiana, the USA, on September 19, 1996. He wanted to become a computer engineer when he was young and enrolled at the University of Southern Mississippi. However, he later dropped out to pursue his dream of becoming a musician.

Ugly God became interested in music as a young boy and began to rap while still in school. Initially, he used the pseudonym ‘Pussy Bacon’. However, the explicit nature of the moniker got him into trouble with his parents and his school principal. So, he changed it to ‘Ugly God’; he later confirmed that he just made up the name on the spot. His stage name reflects his own self-image as he always thought of himself as ugly.

He uploaded his first single ‘I Beat My Meat’ which landed him in controversy as the principal of his school asked him to take it down from the internet. He took it down only to upload it later. This time too, he was forced to take it down. However, the ensuing controversy actually made the single very popular. Later, when he went to college and was a freshman at the University of South Mississippi, he uploaded the song once again and since then it has not been taken down.

Ugly God uploaded his single ‘Water’ on his SoundCloud account on March 16, 2016. On November 19, 2016, the single was released for digital download by the American record label Asylum Records. ‘Water’ made its debut on Billboard Hot 100 at number 100 and later peaked at number 80. After the big success of his hit single, Ugly God released his mixtape ‘The Booty Tape’ on August 4, 2017, under Asylum Records. He wrote all the lyrics of the songs himself and the album also featured a solo guest appearance from popular American rapper Wiz Khalifa. The album peaked at number two on the New Zealand Heatseekers Albums (RMNZ). It also reached number 15 on US Independent Albums (Billboard) and number 18 on US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard). On US Billboard 200, it reached as high as number 27. Ugly God has also worked with other popular artists like Rakim Hasheem Allen, aka PnB Rock; he appeared in one of the singles from PnB Rock’s debut album ‘Catch These Vibes’.