Jalen Hughes, known professionally as thirteendegrees °, is a recording artist residing from Chicago, Illinois.

Thirteen is known for his retro style, taking heavy inspiration from the late 2000’s to early 2010’s Hip-Hop music and fashion. In terms of fashion, during an interview with Vision Vocal, Thirteen stated that he didn’t want to dress how everyone in Chicago were wearing at the time during the height of Chicago Drill, so he studied fashion and got influence in the underground music scene to find his true passion.

In terms of music, during a interview with Kingmil The 8 God, growing up he used to play sports during his childhood. While in college, Thirteen had quit playing basketball due to his future not going the way he wanted it to go. He then talked to a girl from Atlanta about the underground rap scene in Chicago, to which he discovered LUCKI and Juice WRLD, ultimately wanting to start music due to a lack of underground rappers in the Chicago scene.

In the same interview, he explained how he got his stage name, stating:

Thirteen, that was my number when I was growing up playing ball, so thirteen been my number since I was a shorty. So, when it was time to make music, thirteen was my identity, so thirteen had to be apart of my name somehow. So, I’m just thinking like, you know, trying to add like a little flavor to thirteen ‘cause you know you can’t just get thirteen. The degrees came in, it just basically means like I feel like I’m cold at what I do, and in Chicago it’s always cold in Chicago.

Thirteen had first released music in the start of 2022, with his debut mixtape Urban Junkie being released on August 11, 2023. He would quickly follow up with another mixtape Metropolitian on December 14, 2023. Thirteen also has stated that all of his songs were made on his phone.

After releasing a slew of singles and tapes throughout the years, in January 2025, Thirteen started gaining attraction on social media with his breakout single “Da Problem Solva” off his fifth mixtape, Clique City, Vol 2, which would catch the attention of Rod Wave, who co-signed the rapper. Other underground acts such as midwxst, Summrs, and k3 would also co-sign the rapper, with the latter two hopping on the unreleased remixes to “Da Problem Sovla.”

To prevent fans from waiting on the release of his debut studio album, Thirteen would release a mixtape titled CYBER SUNDAYZ on July 20, 2025, consisting of leftover tracks dating back to 2023. On October 3, 2025, Thirteen would release his debut studio album BLACK FRIDAYZ to critical acclaim.

From there, Thirteen has since stated that BLACK FRIDAYZ would be his final trap album and moving forward with his releases, he would no longer hop on “swag beats” and instead would experiment with different sounds on his upcoming sophomore studio album titled Ghetto Hipster, including a potential collaboration with Jane Remover, rumored to see a Summer 2026 release. During the album’s rollout, Thirteen would continue to see success in the underground scene, with releases such as “LYRICZ” and “EMOTIONLEZZ” with Trippie Redd gaining attention across social media.