Milli (rapper)

Danupha Khanatheerakul (ดนุภา คณาธีรกุล; ) (born 13 November 2002) better known by her stage name, Milli, is a Thai rapper and singer. She rose to prominence nationally with her debut single "Phak Kon" (พักก่อน), which was released in February 2020. It was followed by another successful single "Sud Pang" (สุดปัง) later that year. In April 2022, she performed at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, becoming the first Thai solo artist to perform there.

In 2022, Danupha appeared on BBC's 100 Women list as one of the world's inspiring and influential women of the year.

Early life
Milli was born on 13 November 2002 in Bangkok, Thailand. She graduated from. She has had an interest in hip-hop since when she was in Matthayom 2 (equivalent to Grade 8) and has cited Nicki Minaj as her inspiration.

Career
Milli began her career on stage by competing on the Thai TV show The Rapper 2. She was praised by the contest's judges for her exotic acting and singing style. She is registered as an artist under YUPP!, a Thai rapping-centred label.

Debut singles
Milli recorded her first single "Phak Khon" (พักก่อน) in February 2020, a sarcastic hip-hop fused song about her friends in school and a message of anti-bullying. This song uses Lu, Isan and English. It launched her into popularity, with the music video reaching 90,226,674 views on YouTube as of April 2022.

In June 2020, she recorded a second single "Sud Pang" (สุดปัง), that is about her life, dreams and beauty. This song uses Thai (Northern and Southern), Isan, Japanese, phasa lu, and English. This song has 43,308,512 views on YouTube as of April 2022.

"Mirror Mirror" was released in October 2021 and is a collaborative song by Milli, F.HERO, and Changbin, a prominent member of the South Korean boy group, Stray Kids. The track gained significant popularity in Thailand, garnering over 100 million views on YouTube.

Coachella Festival 2022
Milli performed with artists from 88rising at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on 17 April 2022, making her the first Thai solo artist to perform there. Her performance included a rapping that mentioned "trains from Rama V's reign – in use for 120 years"; referring to the outdated trains still used regularly in modern Thai Railway, and "hundred-thousand-baht Kinnari light poles"; referring to the notorious corruption case of Racha Thewa subdistrict government spending state funds on the Kinnari-topped light poles, costing THB 100,000 each and THB 68.2 millions in total. She finished her show eating a dish of Thai dessert mango sticky rice on the stage, leading to a surge in consumption of the dish in Thailand, with orders for mango sticky rice doubling in some stores. A mango sticky rice store in Bangkok reported that an additional 30 kg of sticky rice had to be prepared following the unprecedented surge for the dish.

Around the same time, the Thai film  in which she made a cameo has been released in cinemas. She coincidentally mentioned her dream of becoming an internationally recognised artist as part of her dialogue in the film. This prompts the film's director Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit to post on Facebook congratulating her, saying "the film and reality have now crossed and co-exist at the same time".

Personal life
On 21 July 2021, the military government of Prayut Chan-o-cha charged her for criticizing its poor response to the COVID-19 pandemic. She was accused of posting information which "threatens the national security", a crime punishable by up to five years in prison. Thai netizens, including multiple artists and music entities, voiced out their support of her using the hashtag "#Saveมิลลิ" (#SaveMilli). The government additionally vowed to prosecute at least 20 more Thai influencers for criticizing the government, accusing them of spreading "fake news". She was fined 2,000 baht according to the Criminal Code Section 393.

Following the 2022 Nong Bua Lamphu massacre, Milli in a now deleted tweet stated that visiting the area where the massacre took place was a burden and didn't help the bereaved families. This caused outrage in Thailand, leading to #BanMili to be trended on Twitter. She later tweeted to apologize for the tweet.

Lyrics/rap/melody

 * ร้าย (FIERCE) – หวาย
 * MiNi HEART (มินิฮาร์ท) – Miya Thongchua
 * Booty Bomb – 4EVE

Television

 * The Graduates บัณฑิตเจ็บใหม่ (2021)

Film

 * , directed by Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit (2022)