Frank Jahmier Childress[2][3] (born July 6, 1998), known professionally as Comethazine or Frank Kole, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He is best known for his platinum-selling single "Walk", which peaked at number 20 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart and "Bands". Both songs were included on his debut mixtape, Bawskee (2018).[1]
Bawskee was followed up by four sequels; Bawskee 2, Bawskee 3.5, Bawskee 4, and Bawskee 5.[1] His debut rap album, Pandemic, was released in early 2020 to mainly positive critical reception.[4] In 2019, he was an XXL Freshman and performed his cypher alongside rappers Roddy Ricch and Tierra Whack. His latest album, Bawskee 5, was released in November 2022.[5]
Career
Childress began posting his music on audio distribution platform SoundCloud and video distribution platform Spotify as a teenager, allowing him to quit his job as a mechanic to focus on music full-time.[6][7]
In early 2018, a feature on SoundCloud that allows their original sound file to be switched was abused for an unofficial upload of rapper YBN Nahmir's song "Bounce Out with That", that was replaced with his song "Bands", causing it to acquire the chart data of "Bounce Out with That".[8] It is unclear who perpetrated this, though the account associated with the switch has since been removed.[9] This incident helped increase the popularity of "Bands", which later appeared on his debut mixtape Bawskee. Another song on the mixtape, "Walk", became a viral hit and propelled Childress to further recognition. In 2019, he was selected to be a part of the 2019 XXL Freshmen Class.[10] Comethazine announced the creation of his own record label, Hench Mafia Records, in June 2019.
On March 27, 2020, Childress's debut studio album as Comethazine, Pandemic, was released.[11] His next project, Bawskee 4 followed on October 23, 2020, preceded by the music videos for "We Gone Win", "Air Max", and "Derek Jeter".[1] Childress shot another music video for the song, "556", and released the entire album alongside it.
In late December 2020, Childress announced that his upcoming album would be titled Comethazine the Album.
On October 22, 2021, Comethazine the Album was released. It was promoted with the singles "Spinback" and "Six Flags".[12]
On November 17, 2022, Bawskee 5 was released. Childress previewed the tracklist in a tweet posted the day prior.[5]
Following the release of Bawskee 5, Childress discontinued the Comethazine moniker and began creating alternative rock music under the name Frank Kole.[13] In October 2024, he released his first single, Smokestack Lightning, intended as the introduction for his upcoming studio album, Electric Mazeland.[14][15]
