645AR

Austin Alan Rochez (born September 2, 1997), known professionally as 645AR, is an American rapper. Best known for his use of a high-pitched voice, a hallmark of the hip hop style dubbed "squeak rap", he has released singles with artists such as Danny Brown, Tyga, FKA Twigs, Tony Shhnow, BabyTron, Tommy Cash, Valee, and Dorian Electra. 645AR first gained recognition after his 2018 single "Crack" went viral, and he further solidified his success with the release of "4 da Trap" the following year. He subsequently signed with Columbia Records.

Life and career Rochez was born in the South Bronx region of New York City on September 2, 1997. He is of Honduran descent. At age 11, he moved with his family to the Southern United States, living in Florida for about a year before settling in Smyrna, Georgia, He returned to New York in 2016 to attend Hostos Community College, playing basketball for the school's team, but his interest in music led him to return to Atlanta that same year where the hip hop scene had been heating up with the advent of trap's rise in popularity. The numbers in his name came from his building number in the Bronx, while the letters are his first and last initials.

After producing several songs, Rochez recognized the importance of distinguishing himself. He first employed his signature squeaky voice in the 2018 single "Crack". The song garnered attention, including from the music industry, when its video was reposted by fellow New Yorker Lil Tecca. This led to the release of his self-titled debut album in 2019, and the single "4 da Trap" later in the year. The momentum led the rapper to sign a record deal with Columbia Records. Though often suspected of being achieved artificially with tools such as pitch correction, 645AR has stated that his squeak is entirely natural, His natural voice is a baritone. Dr. Calbert Graham of the University of Cambridge Language Sciences Centre said 645AR's voice sounded like a human synthesizer, and that it sounded like he was tensing his thyrohyoid muscle to achieve his falsetto. Graham said he "wouldn't imagine a musician would say that's the proper way of producing a falsetto", calling it innovative and saying 645AR is "testing the boundaries of what constitutes rap". Elmo, and Isabelle from the video game series Animal Crossing, as well as animals such as mosquitoes, Despite this, 645AR is also considered to be sincere about his work, saying he finds his lyrics to be important and that he takes more time writing them than other artists. with the rapper even being outright called a hyperpop artist. He has made songs with hyperpop artists such as Dorian Electra, and Umru.

Multiple artists have had their own use of falsetto compared to 645AR, such as Adam Levine, Baby Keem, FKA Twigs, and Fousheé.

Influences While growing up in the Bronx, 645AR listened to New York rappers 50 Cent and Jay-Z. After moving south, he incorporated Southern rappers T-Pain and Lil Wayne into his listening. Unorthodox (2022, with SenseiATL) New Beginnings (2022, with Lil Crank) Unstoppable (2022) S.O.S Vol. 1 (2024) Space AR Star (2024) 645AR&B (2024)

Singles