Silentó

Richard Lamar Hawk (born January 23, 1998), known professionally as Silentó, is an American former rapper. Raised in Atlanta, Georgia, Hawk is best known for his 2015 debut single "Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)", which peaked at number three on the US Billboard Hot 100 when he was 19 years old. Hawk is currently serving a 30-year sentence for the murder of his cousin, Frederick Rooks III.

In 2021, he was arrested in DeKalb County, Georgia, after a string of arrests for various crimes and charged with the murder of his cousin. In 2025, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty to the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter.

Early life Richard Lamar Hawk in Stone Mountain, Georgia. He has stated that he was born with multiple drugs found in his system, including cocaine, heroin, and marijuana, and that he grew up seeing his family members attempting to kill one another and talking to walls. He was raised in Atlanta, where he began performing music as part of a group while in eighth grade before making solo music as a high-schooler.

Prompted by losing a high school talent show, Hawk independently released his debut single, "Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)", as Silentó on SoundCloud in January 2015. User-generated videos on both YouTube and Vine then made the song a dance craze and brought it to viral success by June 2015. It peaked at number three on the US Billboard Hot 100, where it spent 53 weeks, and was certified 6× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It also topped Billboards Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart in September 2015. A&R executive Alex Wilhelm signed Silentó to Capitol Records in May 2015. The song's success made Silentó known as a one-hit wonder.

In June 2015, Silentó performed "Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)" on the ABC program Good Morning America, which he described as his breakout moment, in conjunction with the release of the song's accompanying music video. "Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)" was nominated for the Teen Choice Award for Choice Music – R&B/Hip-Hop Song in 2015. Silentó was further featured on a remix of Dawin's October 2015 song "Dessert" and on Sophia Grace's June 2016 song "Girl in the Mirror". He later performed "Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)" at the 2016 Kids' Choice Awards in March of that year and in Times Square for Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve that year.

Silentó's collaborative single with Korean singer Punch was released in 2016 and produced by Brave Brothers; it won the World Collaboration Award at the 26th Seoul Music Awards in January 2017, where Silentó performed it and "Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)". Silentó was the featured guest on Let's Dance: The Tour, a national tour from March to May 2016 that also featured DLow, We Are Toonz, iLoveMemphis, and 99 Percent. Silentó's debut studio album, Fresh Outta High School, was released in August 2018, while its follow-up, Fresh Outta High School, Pt. 2, was released five months later. Steve "Flash" Juon of RapReviews wrote in a review of Fresh Outta High School that the album "unintentionally feels like a slow descent into madness".

Personal life In May 2019, Silentó appeared on the daytime talk show The Doctors to discuss his adverse childhood experiences and his resulting anxiety and depression. According to Chanel Hudson, his publicist at the time, he was scheduled to make subsequent appearances on other television shows and partake in further therapy sessions, but did not attend either. He also stated that he attempted suicide in 2020.

Legal issues and manslaughter conviction In March 2017, after failing to appear at two of his scheduled performances in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)—one in Al Ain and another in Abu Dhabi—the city of Al Ain placed a travel ban on Silentó, ordering him to forfeit his passport and barring him from leaving the UAE until he paid the shows' promoter (US$81,690) in lost fees. He soon posted a crowdfunding link to his Twitter for his return to the United States titled "Free Silento".

In August 2020, Silentó was arrested by the Santa Ana Police Department and taken into custody by the Orange County Sheriff's Department on a charge of inflicting injury on a cohabitant, then released. The next day, he entered a random home in Valley Village, Los Angeles, wielding a hatchet in search of his girlfriend, which he swung at two people before his friend came to inform him he was at the wrong house. He was disarmed by the family in the home, arrested by the Los Angeles Police Department, and charged with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon.

Silentó was then arrested in Atlanta and charged with speeding, reckless driving, parking in a prohibited space, and driving on roadways laned for traffic in October 2020 after driving at on Interstate 85, where the speed limit was , and telling officers that he was able to drive that quickly because he was "not a regular person". He was released later that day.

At around 3:30 a.m. on January 21, 2021, in DeKalb County, Georgia, Silentó's 34-year-old cousin, Frederick Rooks, was found bleeding profusely by police, with gunshot wounds in his face and leg, before dying. Silentó was arrested in connection with the shooting and charged with malice murder and felony murder. Silentó's grandparents asked the judge to deny his $25,000 bail request. In June 2025, Hawk was sentenced to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty but mentally ill to the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter. He also received a consecutive five-year sentence for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for firing a gun in the direction of two other people.

Musical style Silentó stated in 2015 that his style, which he described as a mix of rapping and singing, was defined by the lack of profanity in his songs.

Discography

Mixtapes TitleAlbum detailsFresh Outta High School Released: August 3, 2018 Label: BB&R Enterprises Format: Digital download, streamingFresh Outta High School 2 Released: December 7, 2018 Label: BB&R Enterprises Format: Digital download, streaming Skyrolyrics Released: October 14, 2020 Label: Self-released Format: Digital download, streaming Bars Behind Bars Released: March 13, 2021 Label: BB&R Enterprises Format: Digital download, streaming

Extended plays +TitleEP details SilentóMOB: The Doctor's Exclusive Released: May 10, 2019 Label: BB&R Enterprises Format: Digital download, streaming

Singles As lead artist + List of singles, with selected chart positions and certifications Title Year Peak chart positions Certifications Album US AUS CAN DEN FRA GER NZ SWE SWI UK "Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)" 2015 3 9 15 16 19 50 11 52 41 19 RIAA: 6× Platinum ARIA: 2× Platinum BPI: Gold BVMI: Gold GLF: Gold IFPI DEN: Platinum MC: 2× Platinum RMNZ: Platinum "No Worries" 2020 — — — — — — — — — — Skyrolyrics "No Sense" — — — — — — — — — — Bars Behind Bars "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

As featured artist + List of singles, with selected chart positions and certifications Title Year Peak chart positions Certifications Album DEN SWE (Sunny featuring Silentó) 2015 — — — "Dessert"(Dawin featuring Silentó) 17 — — IFPI DEN: Platinum Dessert "Girl in the Mirror" (Sophia Grace featuring Silentó) 2016 — — — "Emoji" (Sicko Mobb featuring Silentó) — — — "Spotlight" (Samuel featuring Silentó) — — — "Slide" (ELS featuring Silentó) 2017 — — — "Like It Like It"(Marcus & Martinus featuring Silentó) — 16 48 Moments "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Promotional singles + List of singles Title Year Album "Get Em" 2016

Guest appearances + List of non-single guest appearances, with other performing artists, showing year released and album name Title Year Other artist(s) Album "Volcano" 2015 The Vamps Wake Up "Juicy Fruit" 2018 Night & Day (Day Edition)

Awards and nominations