Aaron Hoffman (born August 16, 1985) better known by his stage name SonReal, is a Canadian Singer and songwriter signed to the Black Box Recordings record label.
SonReal began his career in 2008 with the release of a series of mixtapes he recorded while living in Vancouver, BC. These included: Good Morning (2008), The Stroll (2009),The Lightyear Mixtape (2010), Where's Waldo (2010), Words I Said (2012), Good News (2012), and One Long Day (2014).
2012 also saw the release of The Closers, a collaboration with Toronto's Rich Kidd which was nominated for a Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year in 2013. It also included the critically acclaimed single "Hometown".
In the summer of 2013 SonReal released the single and music video for his song "Everywhere We Go". The video for this release boasted the best talent show sequence since Napoleon Dynamite and has racked up over 22 million plays on YouTube to date. His subsequent EP, the Juno-nominated For The Town (2015), continued the visual tradition, including some of the most creative music videos on the web in "Preach", "For The Town", and "Woah Nilly".
In 2016 SonReal released The Name EP which included hit singles and music videos for "No Warm Up" and "Can I Get a Witness". "Can I Get a Witness" peaked at #52 on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100 chart and was certified Platinum in Canada.
In August 2017 SonReal released his first full length studio album entitled One Long Dream. Producers on the project include Rahki (known for his work with Kendrick Lamar, Syd, and Mac Miller), Alex Lustig, and the legendary DJ Khalil. This release saw the subsequent music video releases for the singles "Repo Man", "Grammy Song (Live)", "Problems", and "Potential". SonReal made his debut international radio appearance on Sway's Universe in August 2017 to promote the release of his album, which also included a live on-air freestyle during Sway's iconic "5 Fingers of Death" segment.
Following the release of this album SonReal released the song "My Friend" (produced by Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds and Charlie Handsome) on November 2, 2017 . This song is a deeply personal and touching tribute to his late father Glenn Hoffman, who suffered a heart attack while SonReal was on tour in early 2016. A music video for My Friend was also released in November 2017.
In July 2018 SonReal released the single "Have a Nice Day". The quirky music video for "Have a Nice Day" has since been nominated for a Juno Award for Video of the Year in 2019. along with a second nomination for a Prism Prize. The video was directed by Peter Huang and produced by Mad Ruk Entertainment, both of whom have been long time creative partners to SonReal.
SonReal released two other singles with accompanying music videos in the latter half of 2018: "Last Year" and "No More". "No More" was released in partnership with Telus as part of their campaign to end Cyber Bullying.
In February 2019 he teased this upcoming album with the release of the lead single "Parachute". In typical SonReal style this single also saw the release of a unique music video.
Aaron Hoffman (born August 16, 1985) better known by his stage name SonReal, is a Canadian Singer and songwriter signed to the Black Box Recordings record label.
SonReal began his career in 2008 with the release of a series of mixtapes he recorded while living in Vancouver, BC. These included: Good Morning (2008), The Stroll (2009),The Lightyear Mixtape (2010), Where's Waldo (2010), Words I Said (2012), Good News (2012), and One Long Day (2014).
2012 also saw the release of The Closers, a collaboration with Toronto's Rich Kidd which was nominated for a Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year in 2013. It also included the critically acclaimed single "Hometown".
In the summer of 2013 SonReal released the single and music video for his song "Everywhere We Go". The video for this release boasted the best talent show sequence since Napoleon Dynamite and has racked up over 22 million plays on YouTube to date. His subsequent EP, the Juno-nominated For The Town (2015), continued the visual tradition, including some of the most creative music videos on the web in "Preach", "For The Town", and "Woah Nilly".
In 2016 SonReal released The Name EP which included hit singles and music videos for "No Warm Up" and "Can I Get a Witness". "Can I Get a Witness" peaked at #52 on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100 chart and was certified Platinum in Canada.
In August 2017 SonReal released his first full length studio album entitled One Long Dream. Producers on the project include Rahki (known for his work with Kendrick Lamar, Syd, and Mac Miller), Alex Lustig, and the legendary DJ Khalil. This release saw the subsequent music video releases for the singles "Repo Man", "Grammy Song (Live)", "Problems", and "Potential". SonReal made his debut international radio appearance on Sway's Universe in August 2017 to promote the release of his album, which also included a live on-air freestyle during Sway's iconic "5 Fingers of Death" segment.
Following the release of this album SonReal released the song "My Friend" (produced by Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds and Charlie Handsome) on November 2, 2017 . This song is a deeply personal and touching tribute to his late father Glenn Hoffman, who suffered a heart attack while SonReal was on tour in early 2016. A music video for My Friend was also released in November 2017.
In July 2018 SonReal released the single "Have a Nice Day". The quirky music video for "Have a Nice Day" has since been nominated for a Juno Award for Video of the Year in 2019. along with a second nomination for a Prism Prize. The video was directed by Peter Huang and produced by Mad Ruk Entertainment, both of whom have been long time creative partners to SonReal.
SonReal released two other singles with accompanying music videos in the latter half of 2018: "Last Year" and "No More". "No More" was released in partnership with Telus as part of their campaign to end Cyber Bullying.
In February 2019 he teased this upcoming album with the release of the lead single "Parachute". In typical SonReal style this single also saw the release of a unique music video.