Today, March 5, is Sonny Digital's 28th birthday.

Born Sonny Corey Uwaezuoke, his life began in Saginaw, Michigan, before moving to Atlanta. He started rapping as a pre-teen at school, but struggled to find beats. Once he turned 13, he took matters into his own hands and started to produce, inspired by one of his cousins. He was extremely dedicated at a very young age, giving a lot of his time to making music and honing his craft. His earliest influences were Drumma Boy and Shawty Redd; he patterned his beats similarly to theirs, before eventually finding his own sound.

He started to really push his music once he turned 16, and a few years after, his moment arrived. He produced YC's Billboard top 50 hit "Racks" in 2011, which also featured Future. The song catapulted the careers of everyone involved, and set off a working relationship between Future and Sonny.

Since then, he has released a flurry of mixtapes that feature songs he's produced on, tapes where he raps and makes beats, and notched production credits on some of the biggest hits of the last few years. Coincidentally enough, one of Sonny Digital's biggest tracks is 2012's "Birthday Song," a collaboration between Kanye West and 2 Chainz. In 2014, he co-produced ILoveMakonnen's breakthrough single, "Tuesday," which also featured Drake. Since then, he's collaborated with a who's who of rap, working with names like Meek Mill, 21 Savage, Lil Uzi Vert, Machine Gun Kelly and more. He also has an EP titled Woke You Up on the way, where he'll be rapping.

Happy birthday, Sonny Digital!

See 60 Hip-Hop Albums Turning 20 in 2018

More From XXL