1984–2008: Early life and career beginnings where Polygon grew up and proudly calls his hometown. Johnny Polygon was born John Armour on May 15, 1984, in
Cleveland, Ohio. His family soon relocated to
Tulsa,
Oklahoma, where Polygon was raised and proudly claims as his
hometown. As an adolescent, Johnny Polygon first encountered
hip hop through
breakdancing. He later began
rapping at the age of 14. Polygon continued participating in local theater groups and rap battles, helping him develop a sense of stage presence and projection. As a teenager, Polygon attended
Booker T. Washington High School,
Central High School and Project 12 High School, all of which he was kicked out of. He later
dropped out of high school to further his career as a rapper. "I told my parents I want to do music, and they were like you can’t really do that here. So my dad was like ‘I’ll give you a ride—where you want to go, L.A. or New York City?’ And the weather was nicer in L.A., so I was like ‘let’s go there.’" In 2008, Polygon signed a recording contract with DJ Green Lantern's record label imprint, Invasion Music Group. Once Polygon signed with DJ Green Lantern, he moved to
Brooklyn, where they then recorded several songs, including "Price on Your Head", an original song written for 2008's
Grand Theft Auto IV video game. On May 12, 2009, Polygon released his first project under Invasion Music Group, his debut
extended play (EP), titled
Group Hug.
URB Magazine called
Group Hug "risky yet authentic" and gave it four out of five stars. Polygon also made an appearance on the
Dead Prez mixtape,
Pulse of the People: Turn Off the Radio Vol. 3 (2009). He was featured on the song "NYDP", which was also included in the 2010 film
Brooklyn’s Finest. In late 2009, Polygon made a
cameo appearance in
Kid Cudi’s "
Pursuit of Happiness" music video, alongside fellow rappers
Drake and
Consequence. On February 14, 2010, Polygon released
Rebel Without Applause, a
mixtape presented by
DJ Green Lantern and Karmaloop.com. The mixtape features
guest appearances from
Kid Cudi and Amanda Diva, as well as longtime friend and collaborator, Gabe Royal. The video is a
Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner inspired live action cartoon, using over 3,000 real paper cut outs to tell the story, with no repeating images. "The Riot Song" was featured on an episode of
HBO’s 2010 series,
How to Make it in America. "The Riot Song" was also included on the soundtrack to
How to Make it in America, which was curated by Kid Cudi and Scott Vener, as well as presented by Kid Cudi,
DJ Green Lantern and Broke Mogul. During the intro of the track Cudi states that Johnny is "…the illest up-and-coming artist". On March 31, 2010, Polygon visited Los Angeles’
KPWR's POWER 106 FM THE TAKEOVER with the LA Leakers and DJ Reflex. During the show he performed a
freestyle over
The Black Eyed Peas'
hit single, "
Imma Be". In the July 2010 issue of Oklahoma Magazine, Johnny Polygon had a featured spread. Polygon also had his own online show on karmaloop.tv. The premise of the show revolved around Polygon and his life as a recording artist. On its second season, the show had featured stories about him, Nas, and Kid Cudi, as well as what its like to be in the shoes of Johnny Polygon. In 2010, Polygon's song "Ebonics", was included on the soundtrack to the film, ''
The Rock 'n' Roll Dreams of Duncan Christopher''. On April 1, 2010, during a show in Los Angeles, Polygon announced he was no longer signed to DJ Green Lantern's label imprint and that he would be moving forward as an
independent artist. Polygon's video for "The Riot Song" premiered on
MTV2’s show subterranean on July 28, 2010. Also in late July, "The Riot Song" music video was added to
VH1 Soul and
mtvU. Additionally, "The Riot Song" appeared on BET's
Centric and saw heavy play on
Radio Nova (France). "The Riot Song" video, eventually broke
MTV's Top 100, peaking at number eight. On November 16, 2010, Johnny Polygon released an official 30-track mixtape presented by Orisue, titled
Catch-Up. The project is essentially a
compilation album composed of tracks from Polygon's career up to 2010, as well as
remixes, unreleased tracks and collaborations with other artists. The tape was released in
promotion for his second EP,
Wolf in Cheap Clothing (2010).
Wolf in Cheap Clothing was released for
free download on December 15, 2010, to critical acclaim.
2011–2013: The Nothing In 2011, Polygon returned to his Oklahoma roots where he was featured on the back of
This Land Press' January print issue, as part of the paper's "True Tulsa" portrait series. In April 2011, Johnny Polygon starred as the titular character in a short film titled
Where is Victor Black?, which was directed by
Italian Vogue director Tommaso Cardile. The film, which co-stars
Jennifer Missoni, was entered in the
48 Hour Film Project contest. In an interview published in April 2011, Polygon said he had declined a record deal that would have required him to live in California, out of loyalty to his hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma. In August 2011, Polygon stopped by Los Angeles’ Knocksteady Live and performed "Limosexsuperstar", a new song from his upcoming project,
Pussy Gun, for their
podcast. Polygon's album
Pussy Gun, had been announced for a 2012 release under Bananabeat Records. On March 7, 2012, Polygon released a trailer for a song titled "My Shit >" and released the song for free download, via his Facebook page. Almost eight months after performing the song for Knocksteady TV, Polygon released the un-mastered audio for
Pussy Gun's
lead single, "Limosexsuperstar". In May 2012, Polygon's song “Ebonics” was included in the original motion picture soundtrack to the film ''The Rock 'n' Roll Dreams of Duncan Christopher.'' On September 7, 2012, via his Twitter feed, Polygon announced that he is no longer signed or affiliated with Bananabeat Records and would release
Pussy Gun independently. The music video for his song "My Shit", was also released on September 7. Polygon made his directorial debut in November 2012, directing the music video for
THURZ's "Are You Not", which also features vocals from Polygon himself. In December 2012,
MSN.com named Polygon one of the "Top 5 Artists Up-And-Comers You Should Know." On December 12, 2012, Polygon revealed he would be releasing a project preceding the release of
Pussy Gun. He stated the project would feature 7–12 brand new songs and would be released in early 2013, while announcing
Pussy Gun for late 2013. On February 27, 2013, Polygon released
The Nothing. The 12-track album was the product of collaborations with record producers Picnic Tyme, Daygee Kwia, ACDMY and Mateo. The album was co-produced, mixed and mastered by Manhattan-based record producer Alex Gruenberg.
The Nothing was available for free download and later on March 4, 2013, for digital purchase. Melissa Pandika of
OZY Media wrote
The Nothing is "a kaleidoscope of psychedelic soundscapes laden with darkly personal rhymes, a laid-back flow — and an unexpectedly soulful, haunting falsetto." In March 2013, Polygon embarked on a U.S. national tour entitled Light Up The Night, which began in Tulsa at The Vanguard on March 20, with American hip hop group
Pac Div. A few days later he tweeted: "My next ep will be my last". On February 1, 2014, Polygon released a remix to the song "
Versace", which he re-titled "Old Navy".
2014–2016: Water Damage and I Love You, Goodnight. On March 23, 2014, Polygon unveiled a tentative track list for the new EP, when he posted a screenshot of it on
Instagram, with the caption: "It's happening again. 5 more and it's all yours.". Throughout May 2014, Polygon performed in New York City, to promote his upcoming project. On June 19, 2014, Polygon tweeted: "Droppin a new project next month. Touring it in august". On June 20, 2014, Polygon released a song titled "Never Too Old to Die Young", via independent online music store
Bandcamp. On July 25, 2014, Polygon released "The Weather Report", another single via Bandcamp. On August 30, 2014, after releasing a single titled "The Fall", Polygon revealed his next project would be titled
King of Ashes. On October 1, 2014, Polygon performed and premiered his song "Dead Meat", live in Cosmic Zoo studio, after a long conversation with Intuition, on the Kinda Neat podcast. On November 8, 2014, Polygon revealed he changed the title of his upcoming project and that it would no longer be an EP, but instead a full-length album. On December 21, 2014, Polygon announced he would release the album, now titled
I Love You, Goodnight., after his website reaches 200 members. On February 25, 2015, Polygon unexpectedly released an album titled
Water Damage, selling only a limited 200 copies, via his website. On his website Polygon wrote: "This collection of songs is entitled
Water Damage. Don’t worry guys,
i love you, goodnight is still on its way. It’s being mastered, mixed and then off to the vinyl manufacturer for duplication so an update on the release date is just weeks away. To tide your appetite, I’ve got a collection of leaks from over the years as well as unreleased material you guys have been asking for, for years upon years. I’m finally letting those tracks go." After
Water Damage was released, it was revealed that the project was actually the long-awaited and unreleased album,
Pussy Gun. Polygon later revealed
I Love You, Goodnight., would be released May 15, 2015. The album will be supported by North American and European tour dates and four music video releases. In 2015, Polygon lent his voice as the starring and supporting characters in 50 episodes of a
National Geographic sponsored children's show entitled,
50 Birds, 50 States. In support of the
Water Damage album, Polygon organized the "Hole in the Wall"
concert tour. In March 2015, Polygon made his debut appearance at the
Norman Music Festival. On May 15, 2015, Polygon announced that he had pushed back
I Love You, Goodnight., because his frequent collaborator Picnic Tyme, the producer behind "The Riot Song" and "Kids Broken Hearted", had given him new material to work with for the album. He also revealed the new release date to be June 4, 2015. In May 2015, Polygon was featured in an article on
The Oklahoman and
NewsOK.com. On February 10, 2016, Polygon revealed he had a few hard copies of a secret album that he would only be releasing to people in Los Angeles hand-to-hand. On August 30, 2016, Polygon announced he would be recording his first live album. In September, Polygon revealed he would be recording the album on the twenty-second of that month at live music venue The Yeti, in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
2017–present: Teddy Bear Massacre series On April 20, 2017, in celebration of
cannabis culture, Polygon released a new single titled "Sex and Drugs". On April 14, Polygon announced a new project, tentatively titled
Nimrod Cupid. Polygon released the album
Teddy Bear Massacre, Vol. 1 on May 15, 2019. ==Artistry==