Professionally known as Aloe Blacc, Egbert Nathaniel Dawkins III is a rapper, singer-songwriter, record producer and philanthropist. He disc jockey Aleksander Thomas “Exile” Manfredi are collectively known as the hip hop duo Emanon.

Blacc is of Panamanian descent. Here are 13 more things about him:

1. He was born in Orange County, California, United States. His parents are originally from Panama. Growing up in Orange County, he listened to a lot of meringue, salsa, calypso, soca and reggae.
2. In 1995, he started making music with Exile.
3. As Emanon, he and Exile competed in the MTV talent series “The Cut” in 1998.
4. In 2001, he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in linguistics and psychology from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California where he was a Renaissance and Trustee Scholar.
5. Stones Throw released his debut studio album “Shine Through” on July 11, 2006 and his second studio album “Good Things” on September 28, 2010.
6. In 2010, he married Melissa “Maya Jupiter” Martinez, a Mexican-Turkish rapper and songwriter from Australia.
7. In 2012, he joined Roseaux, a music project established by Emile Omar.
8. On October 25, 2013, Interscope Records released his third studio album “Lift Your Spirit.”
9. He played Nafloyd Scott in “Get on Up,” a biographical musical drama film about James Brown‘s life. In 2014, it was screened at the Zurich Film Festival in Switzerland, the Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival in Brazil, the Gent International Film Festival in Belgium and at the Camerimage International Film Festival in Poland.
10. He appeared as himself in “Black-ish” Season 4 episode 1 “Juneteenth,” which aired on ABC on October 3, 2017.
11. In 2018, he appeared in two episodes of “StoryBooked.” His first holiday album “Christmas Funk” was released on November 9, 2018.
12. He played Lionel in “Godfather of Harlem” Season 1 episode 2 “The Nitty Gritty,” which aired on October 6, 2019 on Epix.
13. BMG released his fifth studio album “All Love Everything” on October 2, 2020. He competed as Mushroom in “The Masked Singer” Season 4, which aired on Fox from September 23, 2020 to December 16, 2020. He was runner-up to LeAnn Rimes.