Lola Brooke

Brooke was born and raised in Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.[3] She is an only child and was raised by her mother, a widow.[4] Inspired to learn how to rap by the premiere of the music video for 50 Cent's 2002 song "Wanksta", Lil Wayne's song "Cannon" from his 2006 mixtape Dedication 2, and Meek Mill, she started making music in 2016 with her cousin, Jah, who learned how to make beats using Pro Tools.[5][3][6][7] She worked as a residential aide at a shelter until 2017, when she quit her job to pursue a music career.[4][8]

Brooke signed with Team 80 Productions in 2016.[9] She released her breakout single, "Don't Play with It", in 2021.[10] Her first song went viral on Twitter before subsequently getting popular on TikTok and Instagram. Brooke attributes her iconic cadence to Pop Smoke. Brooke was signed to Arista Records in January 2023 and was an opening act on A Boogie wit da Hoodie's Me v. Myself Tour throughout early 2023.[11][12] Her song "So Disrespectful" and a remix of "Don't Play with It", the latter of which featured American rappers Latto and Yung Miami, were both released in March 2023.[13][14] Also that month, she made a cameo on an episode of the CBS television series East New York.[5]

Brooke was featured on the Girls Mix version of Ciara's song "Da Girls", alongside Ciara and Lady London. It was released on April 14, 2023.[15][16][17] An official music video was released on the same day.[18] In June, she was selected as 2023 XXL Freshmen Class.[19]

Brooke's music is hip hop. Her stage name is a combination of the names of the Looney Tunes character Lola Bunny and Brooklyn.[4] She has listed her biggest influences on her music as Meek Mill, Lil Wayne, 50 Cent, Foxy Brown, DMX and Lil' Kim and she refers to herself by the nickname Big Gator.[10][5]