Honey G (rapper)

Anna Georgette Gilford[1] (born 12 March 1981), professionally known as Honey G, is an English rapper.[2] She was a contestant on the thirteenth series of The X Factor in 2016.

Honey G
Birth nameAnna Georgette Gilford
Born (1981-03-12) 12 March 1981
Harrow, London, England
Genres
Occupation(s)Rapper/MC
InstrumentsVocals
Years active2016–present
LabelsSyco

Personal life

Honey G is Jewish and has claimed she has been bullied with antisemitism all her life.[3][4] She attended Salford University and graduated with an upper second-class degree in music in 2004. In July 2017, she came out as a lesbian.[5]

Career

2016: The X Factor

In her first audition, she sang "Work It" by Missy Elliott, which earned her three yes votes. At the six-chair challenge, she sang "WTF (Where They From)" by Missy Elliott and Pharrell Williams, and was eliminated by mentor Sharon Osbourne; however, Osbourne brought her back as a replacement for Ivy Grace Paredes, who was unable to travel to Los Angeles due to visa issues.[6] Osbourne later picked Honey G to advance after her performance of Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise". She ended up in the bottom two for the first time against Ryan Lawrie on week 7. Cowell, Osbourne and Walsh voted to save her. However voting statistics revealed that Lawrie received more votes than Honey G meaning if Walsh sent the result to deadlock, Lawrie would've advanced to the quarter-final and Honey G would've been eliminated. Honey G was in the bottom two in the quarter-final against 5 After Midnight. After the sing-off, only Osbourne voted to send Honey G through to the semi-final, and finished in fifth place.

During her time in the competition, Honey G faced criticism for being a novelty act, branded such by judge Nicole Scherzinger.[7] Isabel Mohan of The Telegraph gave her the title of "the biggest joke in X Factor history."[8]

She performed at The X Factor Final at Wembley Arena as a guest performer where she officially announced that she had signed a record deal with Cowell's record label, Syco Music,[9] and would be releasing her debut single, "The Honey G Show", on 23 December. The single received little promotion[10] and reached number 149 on the UK Singles Chart.[11]

2017–2018: Record label and music releases

In May 2017, Honey G announced that she was launching an independent record label after being dropped by Syco Music. On 30 June 2017, she released her second single "Hit You with the Honey G" alongside a music video. In December 2017, she released her third single "Riding Hot with the Babes". The music video for the track was released on 12 January 2018, on the rapper's Vevo page.

2018–present

During 2018 Gilford worked as an estate agent.[12]

References
  1. Joe Anderton (5 October 2016). "X Factor: Honey G's real life CV is proper impressive". Digital Spy. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  2. "X Factor's Honey G: from her day job to what's under those glasses – here's everything you need to know". Radio Times.
  3. "Honey G: 'I've spent my whole life fighting anti-Semitism'". Jewish News.
  4. "X Factor's Honey G accuses critics of anti-semitism". NME. 24 November 2016.
  5. "X Factor star Honey G comes out as gay". PinkNews. 26 July 2017. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
  6. Jefferies, Mark (25 September 2016). "X Factor's Honey G makes dramatic RETURN at judges houses after being kicked out". Daily Mirror. Trinity Mirror.
  7. "X Factor's Nicole: 'Honey G is a novelty act'". Digital Spy. 7 October 2016.
  8. Mohan, Isabel (1 November 2016). "Honey G is the biggest joke in X Factor history – no wonder she makes Simon Cowell uncomfortable". The Telegraph. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
  9. Draper, James (11 December 2016). "Fan fury after X Factor reject Honey G promotes single on semi-final – just 24 hours BEFORE winner is announced". Daily Mirror.
  10. "Controversial X Factor rapper Honey G says her first single 'was not promoted enough'". The Irish News. 25 January 2017. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  11. Jones, Alan (30 December 2016). "Official Charts Analysis: Little Mix return to albums summit". Music Week. Intent Media. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  12. December 2018, 20. "Honey G dropped from estate agent job". www.femalefirst.co.uk. Retrieved 18 April 2020.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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