B.G.
By All Music Guide
By All Music Guide
At the age of only 11, B.G. recorded his first album, True Story (1993), and quickly made a name for himself in the South. The Cash Money brothers rushed the prodigy back into the studio to record yet another album, Chopper City (1997), which again captivated the region with its teen gangsta firing off rhymes with the poise of a seasoned veteran. Realizing that this was no mere novelty act, the Williams brothers kept shuttling B.G. back into the studio, resulting in two successive follow-ups: Its All on U, Vol. 1 and Its All on U, Vol. 2 (both 1997). Around this same time, with the money they had made off the B.G. albums, Cash Money signed a few other local
ap artists and created the Hot Boys, a group featuring B.G., Juvenile, Lil Wayne, and Young Turk. The first Hot Boys album, Get It How U Live! (1997), further established B.G. as an up-and-coming rapper.
Following the success of the Hot Boys debut in the South and Midwest with little to no commercial airplay, the Williams brothers signed a deal with Universal Records in summer 1998 that provided distribution, marketing, and promotion support for future Cash Money releases. B.G.s next album, Chopper City in the Ghetto (1999), surprised many by debuting at number nine on the Billboard charts. The albums lead single, Cash Money Is an Army, supplied some push, but it was the anthemic Bling Bling that hit big. Another Hot Boys album, Guerrilla Warfare (1999), followed soon after, driven by the successful single I Need a Hot Girl, and next, B.G.s catalog was re-released in the wake of Cash Moneys sudden rise to success.
In late 2000, long after the Cash Money camp had become a household name, B.G. dropped his sixth solo album, Checkmate, led by the single I Know, only weeks after the release of Baller Blockin, a soundtrack and straight-to-video film also featuring the ever-busy B.G. The rapper then surprisingly parted ways with Cash Money as rumors circulated. He resurfaced a few years later with Livin Legend (2003), which Koch released, followed by 2004s Life After Cash Money, 2005s The Heart of tha Streetz, Vol. 1, and 2006s The Heart of tha Streetz, Vol. 2. Early in 2007 he introduced his crew, the Chopper City Boyz, with the album We Got This.
