Corey Jerome Hodges, known professionally as Lil' Corey and later Bando Jonez, was born on November 13, 1988, in Atlanta, Georgia. He is a singer-songwriter who taught himself to play the piano by ear at age five and began performing publicly during his high school years. His early life was marked by hardship due to his parents' drug addiction, which led him to take care of himself and often find shelter in abandoned houses, inspiring his stage name "Bando," Atlanta slang for such structures. He debuted as Lil' Corey with the hit single "Hush Lil' Lady" featuring Lil' Romeo in 2002, leading to the release of his debut album I'm Just Corey. The album included notable tracks like "MVP" featuring Shaquille O'Neal and "All I Do" featuring Michael Jackson. In 2014, under the name Bando Jonez, he released the single "Sex You," which gained significant urban contemporary radio play. Corey Hodges was re-discovered by Polow da Don in 2013, leading to a signing with Zone 4 and later Epic Records. His subsequent singles include "Say Yes" (2017), "Stack It Up" (2017), "Bust It Open" (2018), "Wet" (2019), and "All Night" (2019).
