LOS ANGELES, California -- The artist known as Silento has been charged with threatening two strangers with a hatchet at their home in a Los Angeles suburb, prosecutors said Thursday.
The rapper was arrested for two separate alleged incidents recently, one for domestic violence, and one for entering a home in the San Fernando Valley with a hatchet and threatening the residents there.
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Silento's real name is Richard Lamar Hawk, age 22.
The Los Angeles District Attorney's Office said two felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon have been filed against Hawk, noting the alleged crime was committed while he was out on bail for the Santa Ana incident.
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Hawk was scheduled to be arraigned Friday. Bail was set at $105,000. He faces a possible maximum sentence up to six years in state prison, if convicted.
Using the stage name Silento, Hawk rocketed to fame in 2015 when his hit single "Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)" topped the charts. The song inspired a dance craze at the time, along with countless social media videos of fans performing the individual dances.
"Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)" has since been viewed more than 1.7 billion times on YouTube.