Rapper Silento charged after attacking strangers with small axe

Rapper Silento has been charged with assault after he allegedly attacked two strangers with a small axe.

The 22-year-old, who is best known for his viral track ‘Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)’, was reportedly looking for his girlfriend when he entered an unlocked house.

According to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, once inside, the rapper swung a hatchet at two people before one of them managed to disarm him.

Silento has now been charged with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon and is currently being held in jail on a $105,000 (£79,000) bail. If he is convicted, he could receive a maximum sentence of six years in prison.

Authorities said the alleged attack took place while the rapper was out on bail for another arrest in Orange County. He is scheduled to be arraigned today (July 4). At present, neither Silento nor any representatives for him have commented on the case.

‘Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)’ went viral on its release in 2015 when the then-17-year-old released it on YouTube. It also sparked a dance craze and saw the rapper, whose real name is Richard Lamar Hawk, offered a record deal. In its first week of release, it gained over 2.5million views on YouTube.

The track peaked at Number Three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the US and at 19 on the Official UK Singles Chart.

Silento has released two albums in his career so far – August 2018’s ‘Fresh Outta High School’ and its counterpart ‘Fresh Outta High School 2’, which followed five months later.