 |
B.G., the Baby Gangsta
Like many of the rappers that you'll read about here, B.G. came from a hard knock life. Baby Gangsta, as his nickname stands for, was born in one of the toughest cities in the entire United States, New Orleans (especially now that Katrina blew through). He was born in the 13th Ward in Uptown New Orleans, a perfect spot to learn about the gangsta lifestyle up close and personal. How bad could it have been? The violence there hit home for B.G., as his father was killed in all the violence.
But B.G. did not let it hold him back. In the early 1990s, he went from being just Christopher Dorsey to becoming B.G. when he signed with Cash Money Records. How old was he? At 11, he was the youngest recording artist to do so. By the time he was 14, the first B.G. record came out, called "True Story."
Fame and Fortune at 14
Cash Money was not the most stable recording label at the time, and many rappers came and went there. But B.G. stuck it out and made Cash Money a lot of what it is today. B.G. got the special attention and blessing of the record label head, Brian Williams.
With his help and the with the B.G. lyrics and talent, his next album "Chopper City," put together when he was getting old at 15, sold nearly 150,000 copies. But the beauty of B.G. is that he must have some serious youthful vigor, because he is one extremely prolific recording artist.
Was he bored? No, he was getting paid at this point some serious change. In 1997, B.G. signed a multimillion dollar record deal (some say as much as $30 million) with Universal. He then launched two more B.G. records, "It's All on U," volumes 1 and 2.B.G. is Big Time
Soon after, the best B.G. record of them all would come out-" Chopper City in the Ghetto"-along with the biggest B.G. song of all time to date, "Bling Bling." Also on the record was one of the biggest dance hits of the year, which guest starred Juvenille. The name of that track? "Back That Azz Up." Now I know you've heard that!
Bling bling? You've heard of that, right? Well, supposedly the B.G. song gave pop culture that term for all of the gold, watches, high priced cars, and everything else nice and pricey. This is all back in 1999 mind you.
And as you'd expect, B.G. didn't sit back on his fame. He put out another B.G. album in 2000 called "Checkmate," then formed his own label with his now patented name, Chopper City Records, in 2002. Since then, B.G. 's put out five other albums, including "Livin' Legend," "The Heart of Tha Streetz" volume 1 and 2, and the 2008 album "Too Hood 2 Be Hollywood."
