Gawne

Luke Gawne (born March 12, 1997), known mononymously as Gawne (stylized in all caps), is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter from Oak Park, Illinois. He is known for his fast, aggressive rapping style.

Early life
Luke Gawne was born on March 12, 1997, in Oak Park, Illinois. He is of Mexican ancestry. Gawne originally wanted to pursue an interest in sports, but when he was fifteen he suffered a brain injury that put him out of high school for two and a half years. Gawne was in severe pain and had symptoms such as high sensitivity, vertigo, and migraines. To relieve the pain, he took medications such as Xanax but ended up getting overly reliant on them, struggling with addiction. In an attempt to turn away from addiction, Gawne started rapping. He was able to graduate from Oak Park and River Forest High School in 2014.

Career
While he has been rapping since 2010, Gawne's popularity originally started rising in 2017. He had received a record deal when he was 18, but he found he could not escape from a bad contract that he had. Gawne's mother had to withdraw early from her 401(k) to help buy him out of the contract. In 2019, however, he was able to regain his momentum, releasing the single "Rise". He then started branching out and collaborating with other artists, such as Mac Lethal, Futuristic, Lil Xan, Jarren Benton, and Tech N9ne.

Gawne was covered by media in late 2023 when he co-signed with Shaquille O'Neal on his single "Chaos" and was also gifted a $1 million custom Rolls-Royce. In October 2023, Gawne got a message on Instagram from O'Neal, and was originally skeptical. They called on FaceTime, and Gawne flew to Los Angeles to meet O'Neal in person.

Personal life
After finishing community college at Triton College, Gawne graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, majoring in Accounting and Marketing. He knew Emery Lehman, an Olympic speed skater, personally in middle school and made a tribute song to him with two other friends in 2014.

Influences and style
Gawne has stated that his favorite band as a kid was System of a Down. This may have been an inspiration for his dynamic flow and style.