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Long
before his Cash Money brethren the Big Tymers
and Juvenile hit the national spotlight with their
stunning LPs, B.G. (AKA Baby Gangsta) was tearing up
the regional charts with his poignant lyrics and awesome
flow that move all who hear him for the first time. Although
very few people outside of the Deep South and Midwest had
heard of Baby Gangsta prior to his performance on Juvenile's
platinum-selling 400 Degreez, make no
mistake about it, B.G. is a seasoned veteran-a bonafide
supernova set to explode on the national scene.
Born in
the infamous Uptown section of New Orleans, Baby Gangsta
acquired his moniker because of his reputation for doing
dirt at a very early age. According to the 17-year old rap
artist, his trouble are largely due to the loss of his
father and his environment-one of the poorest, most
dangerous urban areas in the nation. "Being from the ghetto,
you get caught up sometimes," explains B.G. "I was out there
acting up and doing stuff that I had no business doing-like
going to jail for ditching school and breaking
curfew."
B.G.'s
love and appreciation for rap music eventually led him to
writing and reciting rhymes. "In junior high school, I would
be in the hallway giving little mini-concerts, or just
writing rhymes whenever and wherever
" offers B.G. "I
just knew I had it in me to make it in the rap game."
So did
Ronald "Slim" Williams and his brother Bryan
"Baby" Williams, the owners of Cash Money Records
who signed B.G. at the tender age of eleven-years old. In no
time, B.G. went from being an unknown local rapper with a
reputation for rowdiness to being one of the region's most
prolific rhymers. His debut LP, the eerie
semi-autobiographical True Story created a major stir in his
home town, easily outselling big name acts two to one
regionally. The album established the young lyricist as the
heir apparent to hard-core reality-based rappers.
He
followed that up with his equally stunning sophomore album,
Chopper City, which sold over 100,000 units,
but it wasn't until he dropped It's All On You Volumes
I & II that the name B.G. began to ring around
the nation's underground. Both volumes sold over 250,000
apiece. As a member of the Hot Boys, an all-star
hip-hop dream team featuring Juvenile, Lil Wayne and
Young Turk, he furthered his status as a regional
superstar with an album titled, Get It How U
Live. So popular is B.G., that his classic hits
"Uptown Thang" and the sparkling baller's
anthem "Get Your Shine On" can still move the
crowd in any club down South or in the Midwest.
Now, with
Cash Money's association with Universal Records, B.G.
is set to explode in the national scene with his fourth solo
album, Chopper City In The Ghetto. Produced by
the up & coming Mannie Fresh, Chopper City In The Ghetto
takes the listener on a whirl-wind tour through the rough
and tumble terrain that is B.G.'s home -New Orleans' Uptown
section (AKA Chopper City). "Chopper City is another word
for an AK-47 assault rifle," explains B.G. The AK-47 can be
analogous to B.G.'s lyrical style and flow which comes off
with a force so deadly and so precise that there is no way
to ignore it's impact. On the eeriely anthemic lead single,
"Cash Money Is An Army" B.G. spits venomous
lyrics amped by Mannie's moog-induced bass-line and a tight
bounce-inspired beat.
Indeed,
B.G.'s Chopper City In The Ghetto packs enough rounds to
ensure a rapid-fire secession of hits throughout the Spring
and Summer, making B.G. and the Cash Money clique the
soldiers to watch in 1999; or as B.G. puts it, "We're coming
in the rap game knocking thangs down, so you either gotta
roll with us or get rolled over."
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