A pioneer of Brooklyn drill, rapper Bobby Shmurda became a viral sensation with his 2014 single "Hot N*gga." Both the song and its accompanying dance moves caught on at an astronomical rate, with Shmurda's East Coast adaptation of the powerful drill style coming out of Chicago creating a template that would become the standard for many artists that followed. His quick success happened alongside legal troubles, and after a series of arrests, charges, and court hearings, Shmurda ultimately did time on Rikers Island before being moved to another prison following his involvement in a scuffle with other inmates. He was released from prison in 2021, and made "No Time for Sleep (freestyle)" his first new song after incarceration, a few months later.

Bobby Shmurda was born Ackquille Pollard in 1994, and relocated to Brooklyn after starting life in Florida. The young Bobby remixed 50 Cent and Jay-Z tracks with Southern beats, and used this East Coast/Dirty South blend of styles when he joined the Brooklyn crew GS9. In 2014 he dropped the solo track "Hot N*gga" along with the video, the latter featuring the GS9 crew and a street dance called the Shmoney Dance. The track was an instant hit, with artists like Jeezy releasing their own remixes, while Beyoncé and Jay-Z co-signed Shmurda when they worked the Shmoney Dance into their national On the Run tour. By the end of 2014, Shmurda had signed with the Epic label, while GS9 released their Shmoney Shmurda mixtape. Another single, "Bobby Bitch" charted as well, and Shmurda released both the Shmurdaville mixtape and debut EP Shmurda She Wrote before 2014 was up. Legal troubles also plagued Shmurda around the time of his breakthrough, and an arrest in 2014 eventually led to a a prison sentence. Shmurda worked on music even while locked up, going so far as to record his verse for 6ix9ine's platinum 2018 single "Stoopid" over the phone direct from prison. Shmurda was released from jail in 2021, and by that time he was so revered in hip-hop circles that Migos member Quavo made it a point to travel to the prison and pick Shmurda up in person. In July of 2021, Shmurda released "No Time for Sleep (freestyle)," his first solo track after serving time. ~ David Jeffries, Rovi