He Earned a Scholarship to Play Division II Basketball

After graduating from high school in Newburgh, NY, Pardi attended Goldey-Beacom College in Wilmington, DE, where he earned a full scholarship to play Division II basketball. However, Pardi ended up dropping out after one semester [2] in order to pursue music. As he explained to XXL during a September 2018 interview, "I was always 100 percent basketball — I did everything you could do to be good at basketball. Then one day I was like, 'Nah. I got a real drive and hunger for music.' It literally took over my whole purpose." He decided to drop out when he was home for winter break, and luckily, the decision paid off.

He Used to Work as a Substitute Teacher

While he was quietly working on music and waiting for his big break, Pardi worked as a substitute teacher [3] at a Hudson Valley middle school — that is, until his students discovered his alter ego. Once the administration found out he was the artist behind "Oyyy" (which was his first single released in 2013), he was let go from the school. During a January 2019 interview with Billboard, Pardi said "the school wants [him] to come back" now, but he's probably a bit too busy for a substitute teacher gig these days.

His Stage Name Was Inspired by Back to the Future

Born Jordyn Kyle Lanier Thorpe, Pardi's stage name was initially inspired by Back to the Future's Marty McFly. Originally, he wanted to call himself Pardi McFly [4], but he later ended up deciding to drop the McFly and just keep Pardi. " . . . I thought to myself, 'JAY-Z is not going to do a song with somebody named Pardi McFly,'" he explained to People during a November 2019 interview.

As for the latter half of his name, it was inspired by a France-based women's fashion brand. As he told People, "I used to walk past this Anne Fontaine store all the time, and I didn't know exactly what it meant or what it sold, but I just knew Fontaine sounded hella important." He later looked up the name "Fontaine" and discovered famed French poet Jean de la Fontaine. As someone who considers himself a storyteller, Pardi felt connected to the 17th century poet and eventually made his MySpace debut as Pardison Fontaine.

He's Good Friends With Cardi B

Pardi and Cardi B first met at Sue's Rendezvous gentleman's club in Mount Vernon, NY, where Cardi danced and Pardi worked as an MC. After Cardi revealed she was a big fan of "Oyyy," she invited Pardi to collaborate [5], which eventually led to him writing on several Invasion of Privacy tracks. Later, the two collaborated on Pardi's 2018 song "Backin' It Up," which was the song that helped him shoot to fame. "Every time we work together, it's amazing," Pardi said of Cardi during his People interview. "I decided she was going to be my home girl. So, it was like a perfect match."

He's Written Songs for Several Popular Artists

In addition to writing several tracks for Cardi's Invasion of Privacy, Pardi also spent ample time working as a ghostwriter for Lil Nas X and Ed Sheeran, among others, before deciding to go solo. However, one of the most affirming moments was when Pardi's childhood idol, Kanye West, invited him to write on Ye [6] in 2018. After that — as Pardi explained to Billboard — "it didn't matter what accolades I had. When Kanye co-signed [me], it was like, 'Damn, who's going to tell me otherwise?'"

He Has a Daughter

Pardi often shares pics of himself with his four-year-old daughter, Jordy Jr. [7], on Instagram. According to The Sun, Jordy Jr. was born in November 2016 [8], though Pardi has never revealed the identity of her mother. According to Pardi, one of the songs he wrote for Ye, "Violent Crimes," was actually inspired by his experience [9] of having a daughter. As he told GQ in November 2018, "I know how I looked at things prior. I know how I look at things now. And I can see the duality of the situation, like being a man and being able to take advantage versus seeing legitimate feelings that are there for a woman."

He Doesn't Want to Be Known for His Ghostwriting

In September 2018, Kanye gave Pardi songwriting credit [10] for "Violent Crimes," and surprisingly, Pardi wasn't happy about it. "Pardison Fontaine wrote the Violent Crimes verses," Kanye tweeted. "I changed 2 lines. He wrote the entire song though." According to Pardi, he would rather be known a rapper in his own right [11] than be known for his ghostwriting work. "Nobody needed to know," Pardi explained to GQ. "I hit him about that, like, 'That's not why I do that for.'"