Lil Poppa (born August 3, 1994) is a Florida rapper who delivers thoughtful, street-centric rhymes culled from his experiences in east Jacksonville. Following the releases of his underground mixtapes, he gained viral attention with breakthrough single "Purple Hearts," which was included on his 2018 effort, Under Investigation.

Poppa is currently signed to Interscope Records and he has worked with Stunna 4 Vegas, Mozzy, Quando Rondo and Polo G.

Lil Poppa, born as Janarious Mykel Wheeler on August 3,1994, was raised around his hometown of Jacksonville, Florida. Poppa, taking his moniker after a childhood nickname, started rapping at the tender age of six, honing his skills by rapping in church and crafting rhymes with his big brother. Outside of that spiritual setting, he also learned plenty from the streets, injecting his storytelling with grit and gravity. He built a makeshift studio in his bedroom and began recording his songs.^[18][1]

Poppa started out his career recording music straight out of his bedroom.

He released ‘Life After Desi’ in the middle of 2017.

In 2018, he dropped the first part of his ‘Evergreen Wildchild’ mixtape, which featured production from Teezyi and a few others. In October of 2018, Poppa released his next project, ‘Under Investigation’. The project was given favorable reviews. It was led by the song “Purple Hearts” – a track paying tribute to his fallen friends. “Smoke” featured guest vocals from artists like YFN Lucci and Yungeen Ace. Lil Poppa ended up signing to Interscope Records in 2019. His debut for Interscope was “Man of the Year.”

In March of 2019, Lil Poppa surprised fans with ‘Under Investigation 2.

The album contained fan-favorites like “Dangerous”, “Introduction” and “Eternal Living” with Polo G, which has 20+ million views on the music video.

Mozzy had a guest appearance on “No More”, and No Cap showed up on “Chances.” Poppa finished up 2019 with his 14-track tape ‘Almost Normal.’ The tape featured Quando Rondo and had songs like “Murder Victim”, “God’s Hand” and “Been Thru”. Veteran rapper Rich The Kid rapped a guest verse on the 8th track “Bad Side.”

Evergreen Wildchild 2, which premiered in May 2020, was released during the coronavirus pandemic.

It features Seddy Hendrix and Stunna 4 Vegas on “No Industry Shit” and “Bankrolls & Group!es”.

The project was produced by Ahmet Beatz, Beatsbytrav, and Drell On The Track among others.

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Lil Poppa's net worth is estimated at $300 thousand.

He revealed in a 2020 XXL interview that he’s very antisocial.

Lil Poppa has gained a strong following online with 271 thousand followers on Instagram, above 3 thousand followers on Soundcloud, 6.5 thousand followers on Twitter and 234 thousand subscribers with over 56 million views on YouTube. ^{[14][15][16][17]}