Donovan Johnson (born July 9, 1985 in Wichita, Kansas), better known by his stage name XV, is an American rapper currently signed to Warner Bros. Records. Since 2006, XV has released over 15 mixtapes.
The 25-year old Wichita, Kansas native is a fresh face to the music industry, but has been working towards becoming a household name for nearly 5 years. That work just might pay off with the release of his highly anticipated debut, “The Kid With The Green Backpack”, in which XV has been working on for a year and a half.
Born and raised on the Northeast side of Wichita, Kansas, XV (born Donavan Johnson) was not your average kid on the block. Suffering from an incredibly rare phobia known as Excelsiorophobia, he is deathly fearful of placing a hat firmly upon his cranium.
He has fought this fear his entire life, as you can clearly see, placing baseball caps at various angles atop his head. Despite suffering from this career and personality defining phobia, he has persevered to establish a life that resembles some normalcy. Of course he played basketball, rode his bike and reenacted scenes from Power Rangers, like any other youthful spirit would. But his interests varied from those of his three brothers.
With a born love for music like his father, who was a record label A&R and an employee at BET, XV began writing songs at the age of 9. Though he was raised by his Mom and Step-Father, the love of music was instilled in him, as well as various other talents such as, writing screenplays and designing websites.
