Born and raised in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, a community of roughly 18,000 located near Pittsburgh, Eem started his career as a producer, creating and selling beats online, producing songs for artists like $NOT and T9ine, including the latter’s fan favorite tracks “BENZO” and “Revenge.” Eem’s success as a producer fueled his desire to become an artist in his own right. His career as an artist kicked into high gear when he shared “AWKWARD FREESTYLE,” a self-produced, personality-filled song that used elements of Tyler, The Creator’s 2013 song “Awkward.” The song quickly went viral, inspiring thousands of TikTok creations, generating millions of streams on all platforms, and eventually reaching the ears of Tyler himself, who gave the song his enthusiastic co-sign.

Since then, Eem scored follow-up hits like “JUST FRIENDS?” and “LOUIE V,” generated multiple viral moments at Rolling Loud Festival, and drew the attention of the Johnstown newspaper, The Tribune-Democrat, who profiled the local hero and captured his community’s excitement about his success. With millions of streams on his catalog per week, the 22-year-old Eem Triplin has a shot to become one of his generation’s biggest stars.