Serpentwithfeet

Wise was raised in Baltimore, Maryland. He grew up amongst a religious family; his father owned a Christian bookstore and his mother was a choir director.[2] Wise joined the church choir as a child and grew up with classical and gospel music as a primary influence.

When he was 11 years old his mom asked him if he wanted to audition for the Maryland State Boys Choir and he refused so she signed him up anyways and he ended up loving it. [3] This was his introduction to classical vocal music. He realized from this experience that there was a lack of diversity in the choir and there was "not much room for the black voice." [3]

He attended high school at Baltimore City College, which is a school for gifted and talented students and was known for their internationally competitive choir. At the age of 14, he competed in choir competitions with his school choir in Europe and won trophies. He said in an interview with Loud and Quiet, "It was all black kids, but our repertoire was predominantly classical. And that blew my mind." After this, Wise decided that he wanted to become a world-class performer and he started taking vocal lessons to become a classically trained opera singer. [3]

He later moved to Philadelphia, where he attended the University of the Arts. Although Wise was initially interested in becoming a classical opera singer, he was rejected from conservatories he applied to.

After leaving the University of the Arts, Wise spent time in Paris and in Philadelphia's neo-soul scene. However, his voice was seen as closer in tone to opera than to his peers in neo-soul.[4] Wise then moved to New York, where he released his first single "Curiosity of Other Men" in 2014.

The song led to Wise's eventual signing with Tri Angle Records in 2015 and the release of Wise's debut EP, blisters, in 2016. The EP featured production from The Haxan Cloak, who has worked with artists including Björk and The Body. blisters debuted to extremely positive reviews from critics.[5][6][7]

Wise began work on his debut studio album soil in 2017 with producers including Clams Casino, Katie Gately, and Adele collaborator Paul Epworth. The album was released on June 8, 2018 to rave reviews from critics.[8][9][10]

In 2017, Wise went on tour with the band Grizzly Bear as their opener. [11] In the BROCKHAMPTON album iridescence, Serpentwithfeet features on the song "Tonya", which was first performed live on the The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. He appeared on a remix of Björk's "Blissing Me", and performed in concert with Björk on her 2019 Cornucopia tour.[12]

On June 26, 2019 he released a song "Receipts" which featured Ty Dolla Sign.[13] In 2020, he was featured in a track titled "Start" in Ellie Goulding's fourth studio album Brightest Blue,[14] and collaborated with Ty Dolla Sign again by singing background vocals and writing on Ty Dolla Sign’s song "Ego Death", a collaborative track with Kanye West, FKA Twigs, and Skrillex,[15] and additionally appeared on an interlude on Ty Dolla Sign's 2020 album, Featuring Ty Dolla Sign.

On March 30, 2020, he released the single "A Comma" in collaboration with Adult Swim. He also announced his upcoming EP "Apparition", via Secretly Canadian. [16]

On January 8, 2021, he was featured in Virgil Abloh's single titled "Delicate Limbs".[17]

In January 2021, Serpentwithfeet announced his second studio album Deacon, and release the lead single "Fellowship", co-produced with Sampha and Lil Silva. The album is set for release on March 26.

Wise is gay and from a young age used gospel music to express his sexuality.[18]