Summer Walker

Biography

Summer Marjani Walker (born April 11, 1996) is an American singer and songwriter. She signed with the Atlanta-based record label Love Renaissance, an imprint of Interscope Records, in late 2017 to release her debut commercial mixtape, Last Day of Summer×Last Day of Summer12 October 2018 · Studio album · Mixtape/StreetSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1BP1:492Talk Yo Shit0:393Girls Need Love2:214CPR3:235Smartwater2:246Deep1:327Baby1:288I’m There1:559Karma3:0910Prayed Up2:4811Shame2:4612Just Like Me4:10 (2018). Its lead single, "Girls Need Love×Girls Need Love27 July 2018 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Girls Need Love2:23", spawned a remix featuring Canadian rapper Drake, which became her first entry on the Billboard Hot 100. Her debut studio album, Over It×Over It4 October 2019 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 18 tracks1Over It2:112Body3:143Playing Games (extended version)2:234Drunk Dialing…LODT2:155Come Thru3:016Potential2:537Fun Girl1:508Tonight2:579Me2:0810Like It2:5211Just Might3:2612Stretch You Out2:2313Off of You2:0514Anna Mae2:1815I’ll Kill You3:0016Nobody Else3:5317Playing Games2:2418Girls Need Love (remix)3:42 (2019), was met with critical praise, peaked at number two on the Billboard 200 chart—briefly breaking the record for the biggest debut streaming week for a female R&B artist—and received triple platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Her second studio album, Still Over It×Still Over It5 November 2021 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 21 tracks1Bitter - Narration By Cardi B4:502Ex for a Reason (with JT from City Girls)3:463No Love (with SZA)3:514Throw It Away2:335Reciprocate3:036You Don’t Know Me3:207Circus2:158Insane3:109Constant Bullshit3:1710Switch a Nigga Out2:5711Unloyal (with Ari Lennox)3:2712Closure2:1113Toxic (with Lil Durk)4:2614Dat Right There (with Pharrell Williams & The Neptunes)3:1015Screwin (with Omarion)5:3316Broken Promises3:0317Session 332:07184th Baby Mama (prelude)1:15194th Baby Mama3:4520Ciara’s Prayer1:5421Broken Promises – A Cappella (2021), debuted atop the Billboard 200. The album broke the record for most streams in a single day by a female artist on Apple Music and broke her previous record for largest streaming debut-week for a female R&B artist; she also matched Taylor Swift as the only female musical act to have 18 concurrent songs from one album enter the Billboard Hot 100. It spawned the single "Ex for a Reason×Ex for a Reason15 October 2021 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Ex for a Reason3:46" (with JT of City Girls), which peaked within the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100, while its follow-up, "No Love" (with SZA and Cardi B), peaked within the top 15 and received platinum certification by the RIAA. Her 2023 single, "Good Good" (with Usher and 21 Savage), also entered the chart's top 40.
Her accolades include a Billboard Music Award, a IHeartRadio Music Awards, three Soul Train Music Awards, and four Grammy Award nominations. In 2022 Billboard Women in Music recognized Walker with the Chart Breaker Award for her achievement on Billboard charts. As of 2026, Walker has sold over 53.5 million certified units from the RIAA between albums and songs.

Early life

Walker was born and raised in Atlanta. From 2016 to 2018, she had a small cleaning business. She taught herself how to play the guitar by watching tutorials on YouTube. Soon after, she began performing covers and posting various videos of herself to both YouTube and Vine.

2018–2019: Career beginnings and Last Day of Summer

Walker was discovered on Vine by a woman of the same name, who works as the studio manager of an Atlanta-based label called Love Renaissance. In 2017, she signed with this label and Interscope Records. On October 19, 2018, Walker released her debut commercial mixtape, titled Last Day of Summer×Last Day of Summer12 October 2018 · Studio album · Mixtape/StreetSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1BP1:492Talk Yo Shit0:393Girls Need Love2:214CPR3:235Smartwater2:246Deep1:327Baby1:288I’m There1:559Karma3:0910Prayed Up2:4811Shame2:4612Just Like Me4:10, supported by the lead single, "Girls Need Love×Girls Need Love27 July 2018 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Girls Need Love2:23". Walker's album contained her thoughts on love, doubt, and womanhood.
Towards the end of 2018, Walker toured with 6lack on the From East Atlanta With Love Tour. Following the success of her mixtape, Apple Music named Walker as its newest Up Next artist in 2019, and she became the number 8 R&B artist worldwide across the platform. On January 25, 2019, Walker released her first EP titled Clear×CLEAR25 January 2019 · EPSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracks1Riot1:442Grave3:053Wasted2:354Settling3:29, consisting of four tracks of acoustic recordings. On February 27, she released the remix to her song, "Girls Need Love", with Drake.

2019–2020: Breakthrough and Over It

On August 23, 2019, Walker released "Playing Games×Playing Games23 August 2019 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Playing Games2:21" as the first single for her debut album, titled Over It×Over It4 October 2019 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 18 tracks1Over It2:112Body3:143Playing Games (extended version)2:234Drunk Dialing…LODT2:155Come Thru3:016Potential2:537Fun Girl1:508Tonight2:579Me2:0810Like It2:5211Just Might3:2612Stretch You Out2:2313Off of You2:0514Anna Mae2:1815I’ll Kill You3:0016Nobody Else3:5317Playing Games2:2418Girls Need Love (remix)3:42. The song, which contains an interpolation of Destiny's Child's number-one hit "Say My Name", was produced by London on da Track. Over It debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 with 134,000 units in its first week. Its debut week marked the largest streaming week for an R&B album by a female artist, in terms of on-demand audio streams. The album topped the R&B Albums chart for 14 nonconsecutive weeks. Walker supported Over It with her accompanying The First and Last Tour, which kicked off on October 20. Walker canceled 20 out of 29 dates, citing social anxiety. On November 17, Walker won her first Soul Train Music Award for Best New Artist, but later received backlash from fans for her short speech and was accused of faking her social anxiety.
On June 29, Walker announced the release of an EP, titled Life on Earth×Life on Earth10 July 2020 · EPSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 5 tracks1Let It Go3:112SWV3:023My Affection3:334White Tee3:315Deeper2:58 to be released on July 10. The announcement came a day after she performed "Session 32×Session 325 April 2018 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Session 321:38" and "Come Thru" with Usher at the 2020 BET Awards, where Walker was nominated for Best New Artist and Best Female R&B/Pop Artist. Life on Earth debuted atop the Billboard's Top R&B Albums chart, becoming Walker's second number one×Number One13 November 2025 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Number One2:47. It also debuted at number 8 on the Billboard 200 becoming Walker's second top 10 project on the chart.
Two tracks from the EP charted on the Billboard Hot 100: "Let It Go", and "My Affection" featuring PartyNextDoor, at numbers 84 and 86, respectively. "Come Thru" featuring Usher was certified platinum on August 20 by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). A few days later, on August 25, her song "Body" was certified gold, "Playing Games" was certified two-time platinum, and "Girls Need Love×Girls Need Love27 July 2018 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Girls Need Love2:23" was certified three-time platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), respectively. On October 14, Walker won the Billboard Music Award for the Best Female R&B Artist at the 2020 ceremony, beating out Beyoncé and Lizzo. Walker was also nominated for Top R&B Artist and Top R&B Album for Over It.
On November 23, she released a repackaged version of the Over It album, titled Over It (Complete Edition). The repackaged version of the album features all 18 songs from the standard version of the album plus additional instrumentals, a capella versions, live renditions and more. On December 10, Walker's debut song, "Session 32" was certified gold and her collaboration featuring Jhené Aiko, titled "I'll Kill You" was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), respectively. On the Billboard 200 year-end chart of 2020, Over It was the second best performing R&B album of the year behind The Weeknd's After Hours and was the seventeenth best performing album overall.

2021–present: Still Over It and Finally Over It

On November 5, 2021, Walker released her second album Still Over It×Still Over It5 November 2021 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 21 tracks1Bitter - Narration By Cardi B4:502Ex for a Reason (with JT from City Girls)3:463No Love (with SZA)3:514Throw It Away2:335Reciprocate3:036You Don’t Know Me3:207Circus2:158Insane3:109Constant Bullshit3:1710Switch a Nigga Out2:5711Unloyal (with Ari Lennox)3:2712Closure2:1113Toxic (with Lil Durk)4:2614Dat Right There (with Pharrell Williams & The Neptunes)3:1015Screwin (with Omarion)5:3316Broken Promises3:0317Session 332:07184th Baby Mama (prelude)1:15194th Baby Mama3:4520Ciara’s Prayer1:5421Broken Promises – A Cappella which has since broken the record for biggest R&B debut on the US albums chart since Beyoncé's album Lemonade. The album surpassed 166,000 units within the first week of release. On November 29, Walker and Ari Lennox performed the song "Unloyal" together at the 2021 Soul Train Music Awards.
The "No Love" extended remix featuring Cardi B was announced on March 21, 2022. On March 25, it was released along with a music video. In May, Walker was featured on Kendrick Lamar's track "Purple Hearts" from the 2022 album Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers, for which Walker earned her first Grammy Award nomination.
On September 28, 2022, Ciara released the single "Better Thangs×Better Thangs28 September 2022 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Better Thangs3:34", featuring Walker. The official music video, directed by Mia Barnes, premiered online on September 30.
In 2023, Walker was featured on several songs including "Good Good" by Usher, "So Be It" by Alex Vaughn, "Hell n Back×Hell n Back21 September 2023 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Hell n Back3:15" by Bakar, "I Might×I Might30 November 2023 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1I Might2:56" by Sexyy Red, and "Prove It×prove it12 January 2024 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1prove it3:28" by 21 Savage. She also released her Clear 2: Soft Life EP, which served as a sequel to her 2019 EP, Clear×CLEAR25 January 2019 · EPSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracks1Riot1:442Grave3:053Wasted2:354Settling3:29, and rereleased her debut commercial mixtape, Last Day Of Summer×Last Day of Summer12 October 2018 · Studio album · Mixtape/StreetSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1BP1:492Talk Yo Shit0:393Girls Need Love2:214CPR3:235Smartwater2:246Deep1:327Baby1:288I’m There1:559Karma3:0910Prayed Up2:4811Shame2:4612Just Like Me4:10 (Sped Up), along with four new versions of her song Girls Need Love, titled Girls Need Love (Girls Mix). These updated versions, which included a solo acoustic performance from Walker, also featured artists like Victoria Monet, Tyla, and Tink.
On November 14, 2025, Walker released her third album, Finally Over It×Finally Over It14 November 2025 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 18 tracks1Scars0:512Robbed You3:573No1:564Go Girl2:505Baby3:0761-800 Heartbreak2:197Heart of a Woman2:518Situationship5:269Give Me a Reason2:5210FMT3:2911How Sway2:1312Baller3:3513Don't Make Me Do It/Temptation3:2214Get Yo Boy4:3515Number One2:4616Stitch Me Up2:4517Allegedly2:4818Finally Over It2:24.

Personal life

Walker has well over 24 tattoos as of 2019, including face tattoos.
In November 2020, Walker announced that she was expecting her first child, with current boyfriend London on da Track. Her daughter was born on March 22, 2021. Months later, the pair ended their relationship. On June 25, 2022, she announced on Instagram Live that she was expecting her second child with current boyfriend rapper Larry A.K.A. Lvrd Pharaoh. She gave birth to twin boys on December 29, 2022. She dated BMF co-star and rapper Demetrius Flenory Jr. from April to July 2023.
In December 2024, she began dating Chicago rapper Rico Recklezz. On May 8, 2025, she announced they broke up.

Artistry

Walker has said that she draws inspiration from Amy Winehouse, Jimi Hendrix, Donell Jones and Erykah Badu. She noted Mary J. Blige as an inspiration for the vulnerability and authenticity she displays in her own music, saying "back when Mary J. Blige and Faith Evans were making R&B, they had real pain and real stories. That's why it was so good." Walker has also cited Lauryn Hill and D'Angelo as inspirations for her to experiment and explore new sounds within the R&B and neo soul genres.