B.G.

While other kids were spending their formative years playing kick-ball in the schoolyard, a young rapper named Baby Gangsta (B.G.) was already spitting rhymes at the tender age of 8. Since busting out with True Story in 1995, B.G. has remained one of hip-hop’s most dominant artists. His achievements are many; for starters, not only did he help make Ca$h Money a household name (eventually earning the clique one of the richest deals in the history of hip-hop), his blockbuster hit “Bling Bling” also became one of America’s favorite catch phrases. To this day, it’s immortalized in the English vernacular.

Since the release of Livin’ Legend, B.G. has been through a period of personal growth and transition. Employing the skills of platinum producers Medacine Men/KLC, the rapper put blood sweat and tears into Life After Cash Money. For starters, the lead off single “I Want It” might just be his most commercial song since “Bling Bling.”

About 70 tracks were cut for this release, with only the best 18 making the final cut. This release is the come-back you’ve been waiting for.

On the eve of his eight CD release, B.G. feels that he’s established himself as one of hip-hop’s elite talents. He explains, “It’s time for me to spread my wings, they need some new entrepreneurs in the game who are going to keep it real and bring it back to the streets. A lot of these other cats are getting old.” B.G. further professes, “If you do your homework or research on me, this is my eight album and I’ve done two or three group albums,” explains the former member of the platinum group the Hot Boy$.

B.G. was among the first rappers on Cash Money Records, and though he eventually departed from the label and forged his own path through the rap industry, he remains associated with Cash Money, with which he enjoyed his greatest success, most notably the epochal 1999 hit "Bling Bling." Born Christopher Dorsey on September 3, 1980, in New Orleans, LA, B.G. made his recording debut in 1995, at age 14, on the Cash Money album True Story, also featuring Lil Wayne (then only 11 years old) and Mannie Fresh (Cash Money's longtime in-house producer). Three albums -- Chopper City (1996), It's All on U, Vol. 1 (1997), and It's All on U, Vol. 2 (1997) -- followed, along with the debut album by the Hot Boys (a group featuring B.G.), Get It How U Live! (1997), before Cash Money signed a major-label distribution deal with Universal Records.

B.G.'s next album, Chopper City in the Ghetto (1999), was among the first Cash Money albums to benefit from the distribution deal with Universal, spawning the nationwide hit single "Bling Bling" (thus popularizing the term) and reaching platinum status. A second Hot Boys album, Guerrilla Warfare (1999), was released in the wake of this success, and it likewise went platinum, spawning a pair of hits ("We on Fire," "I Need a Hot Girl"). Also in 1999, Cash Money, at the height of its popularity, went about reissuing some of its back catalog titles, including True Story and Chopper City. B.G.'s next album, Checkmate (2000), was his last for Cash Money, as he left following a dispute over money.

In 2002 B.G. formed his own label, Chopper City Records (distributed by Koch), and subsequently released Livin' Legend (2003), a bitter album that aired out his beef with Cash Money rappers Brian "Baby" Williams (aka Birdman) and Lil Wayne. A series of Chopper City releases followed, including Life After Cash Money (2004), The Heart of tha Streetz, Vol. 1 (2005), The Heart of tha Streetz, Vol. 2 (2006), and We Got This (2007), the latter a collaborative album featuring his affiliate group, the Chopper City Boyz. The four-man group was whittled down to a duo when their second effort, Life in the Concrete Jungle, arrived in 2008. ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide