HEADHUNCHOELI: From Courts to Cameras to Club Stages, the Vision is Bigger Than Music

From the heart of Norbeck Grove in Montgomery County, Maryland, comes a voice with something real to say. HEADHUNCHOELI—also known as HEADHUNCHO or H£ADHUNCHØ—isn’t just rapping to be heard. He’s building something bigger. A movement rooted in hustle, resilience, and raw creativity.

Now a student at Bowie State, HEADHUNCHOELI’s journey didn’t start in the studio. It started on the court. He was a point and shooting guard for powerhouse programs like Montrose Christian and National Christian Academy. But when injuries hit, and life at home got heavy—his father incarcerated, his mother battling cancer—he had to shift fast. With younger siblings depending on him, the grind got real early.

“I had to hustle however I could,” he says. That meant moving from the streets to building an edible business, funding his own way into music. By 2018, while his father was still locked up, he found himself inspired watching his neighborhood brothers record. That spark turned into fire.

In 2019, once his dad came home, the family moved into a new house—and that’s where the next chapter began. ELI built a home studio from scratch, recording local talent like Dwhit, ItsMane, Yung Q, and King Quise. At the same time, he studied legends like Jay-Z, 50 Cent, The Lox, and Benny the Butcher—who taught him how to write without even trying.

The result? A sound that’s evolved from street drill to something more universal—love, loss, ambition, and club-ready vibes that cross age groups and cultures. In 2023, his breakout project NBG Law hit over 100,000 streams on Spotify before being pulled over contract issues. That setback only fueled him. Since then, he’s been performing, recording, and leveling up—dropping singles like Money Reels and Amour, and preparing to own the summer with Shooting Stars, his next big drop landing April 18th.

But music isn’t his only lane. HEADHUNCHOELI is also co-founder of AI Productions, and his film Crazy Love is making noise. Co-created with his cousin Drxp, the film has won awards across film festivals, earning him Best Editor at DMFF and streaming now on Tubi, Amazon Prime, YouTube, and Peacock. Built with no budget, just grit and vision, it’s a blueprint for self-made success.

“The biggest challenge was doing it all from the ground up,” he says. “Writing, directing, filming, editing—we had to teach ourselves everything. But we got it done.”

That mindset carries into everything he touches. From placing 4th in the Coast 2 Coast DMV competition in March 2025 (and securing a spot in the national finals in Miami), to balancing school, music, family, and film—his grind is nonstop. With a full album Yung Prince dropping in 2025 (produced by his brother YeahThatsNu), he’s not just building a fanbase—he’s building a legacy.

Where’s all this going? Global. HEADHUNCHOELI wants to perform worldwide, with Nigeria high on his list. He wants to be more than an artist—he wants to be a mogul. One who creates, invests, opens doors, and shows other young people from his area that you can make it, no matter the starting point.

“I want to be known as a visionary,” he says. “Not just for music or film, but for how I live, what I build, and who I uplift.”

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