Desiigner embarked on his music career under his original
nickname Dezolo, before he began releasing his work under the alias of Designer Royel, especially with Royel (his middle name). His sister Sierra convinced him to drop the "Royel" part and then keep the "Designer" part as his new
stage name, doubling the "I". On December 3, 2015, under his new
pseudonym, Desiigner released his debut track, called "Zombie Walk". The song was produced by The Shell God. On December 15, 2015, Desiigner released another single, "
Panda" on
SoundCloud. The song released on
iTunes five days later, before being re-released as his commercial debut single in February 2016. On February 11, 2016, Desiigner signed a
recording contract with
Kanye West's record label
GOOD Music, an imprint of
Def Jam Recordings. In the same month, Desiigner appeared on two songs by West — "
Pt. 2" (which features an
interpolation of "Panda") and "Freestyle 4" — from his seventh album
The Life of Pablo. The following month, Desiigner was enlisted to perform at the
South by Southwest (SXSW) music festival in 2016. In an interview with
Billboard, Desiigner confirmed the release of his first upcoming mixtape, titled
Trap History Month. On May 5, 2016, producer
Mike Dean announced that he would be serving as the
executive producer for Desiigner's upcoming debut studio album. On May 24, Desiigner later announced that the title to his upcoming debut album would be called
The Life of Desiigner. In June 2016,
XXL revealed their annual "Freshmen Class" for 2016, and Desiigner was included on the list with nine other new artists. In June 2016, "
Champions" was released as the lead single from the GOOD Music's ultimately shelved compilation album,
Cruel Winter. Desiigner made a
guest appearance on the song along with West,
Gucci Mane,
Big Sean,
2 Chainz,
Travis Scott,
Yo Gotti, and
Quavo. In the same month, Desiigner made his US television debut, when he performed his single, "Panda" at the
2016 BET Awards. On June 26, 2016, Desiigner released his first full-length mixtape, titled
New English on
Tidal, following a live premiere of the mixtape on June 22. In July 2016, American singer
Demi Lovato brought out Desiigner at their concert in New York. On July 21, 2016, Desiigner premiered his follow up single, "
Tiimmy Turner", which was released as a single on iTunes the next day. The song peaked within the top 40 of the
Billboard Hot 100. Desiigner appeared as a special guest on the
Netflix series
Bill Nye Saves the World. On November 7, 2017, it was reported that
BTS would release a remix of their song "
Mic Drop" featuring Desiigner and remixed by
Steve Aoki. It was set to be released on November 17, 2017, but was postponed and released on November 24, 2017, instead. On May 3, 2018, Desiigner announced on social media that his debut extended play (EP),
L.O.D., would be released at midnight on May 4, 2018. Upon release, it peaked at number 161 on the
Billboard 200 and became his second and final project on a
major label. The EP's namesake was utilized for his own label, LOD Records, through which he released his 2020 single, "Diva"
independently. In a 2022 interview with
VladTV, Desiigner explained why he left GOOD Music in 2019, saying he was "going through a little mental thing" including his father having been comatose, and had tried to contact Kanye and his other labelmates for guidance but didn't receive any. On the morning of November 1, 2022, Desiigner went to
Instagram Live saying "I'm done rapping," after hearing the news of
Migos rapper
Takeoff's death from a shooting in
Houston,
Texas, that same morning. However, he returned to doing so on November 26 when he released the song "My Brodie", accompanied with a music video. == Legal issues ==