Pulling a page from Lil Wayne’s playbook, a blistering barrage of self-released mixtapes followed: “Trap-A-Velli” (2009), “Trap-A-Velli 2: The Residue” (2010), “Codeine Cowboy (A 2 Chainz Collective)” (2010) and “T.R.U. His snarling rhymes gradually evolved into a more colorful, economical style that just as easily could play well with trap music fanatics (a genre so-named for drawing inspiration from Southern drug markets, or “traps”) as with mainstream rap followers. The stage name Tity Boi was dropped for the more marketable 2 Chainz.
Under the supervision of Tek, a plan was set in motion. He had his shot and it’s over.’ Atlanta was a market that wouldn’t pick up on him, which is crazy because your hometown is always the market that will be all over you. “They were the ones saying, ‘Tity Boi is done. “The hardest part was the nonbelievers,” says 2 Chainz’ manager, Coach Tek of Street Executives Entertainment. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100, did little to establish Tity Boi beyond the group and that one song. But the group’s 2007 hit “Duffle Bag Boy,” which featured a soaring performance by Lil Wayne and peaked at No. Originally recording under the name Tity Boi, a childhood nickname, the former basketball prospect managed to find minor success rapping alongside Dolla Boy as part of the Disturbing Tha Peace duo Playaz Circle. It’s a rare day that any artist, much less a rapper, is able to successfully reinvent and rebrand themselves, and yet that’s exactly what 2 Chainz has accomplished during the last 16 months. Indeed, the triumph of 2 Chainz is nothing short of remarkable. People would say, ‘Man, what the hell is he doing in there?’ Now everyone gets to see what all the long nights and short days was about.” “There was no one saying, ‘Oh, you are going to blow up!’ Because I was one of the cats that was always in the studio.
“I almost wanted to stop rapping,” 2 Chainz says, reflecting on a career that dates back to the late ’90s and includes years spent as the fourth man on the crowded bench that made up the roster of Ludacris‘ Def Jam imprint, Disturbing Tha Peace. Not that kick-starting his solo career was a simple process. 14), carries the type of event album buzz usually reserved for A-list artists. And his Def Jam solo debut, “Based on a T.R.U. This year alone, 2 Chainz has popped up on a tidal wave of diverse tracks including songs with Jadakiss, Justin Bieber, Big K.R.I.T., Snoop Dogg, Chris Brown and Wiz Khalifa. And his list of cameos reads like a musical crossword puzzle without borders. 2 and Nicki Minaj‘s hood-laced anthem “Beez in the Trap,” featuring 2 Chainz, is No. 1 2 Chainz’ own single, “No Lie,” featuring Drake, is No. That good will, coupled with the artist’s own relentless output of late, has shot 2 Chainz to the top of the Hot Hip-Hop/R&B Songs chart. But with Chainz, I’m able to see him work with everybody from the Young Money camp to G.O.O.D. When I was managing 50 and G-Unit, there was a lot of alienation we weren’t able to work with everybody. “Everybody in the hip-hop world is embracing 2 Chainz just like they did when Wayne was doing features on everybody’s songs. “I haven’t seen anything like this since Lil Wayne reinvented himself,” says Michael “Sha Money XL” Clervoix, the Def Jam VP of A&R who signed 2 Chainz to the venerable label earlier this year. Music posse cut “Mercy,” where he drops one of the song’s most memorable (and quotable) couplets: “OK, now ketchup to my campaign/ Coupe the color of mayonnaise.” His gift for unshakable wordplay is the reason he was tapped to anchor West’s steamrolling G.O.O.D. With all respect due to Def Jam labelmates Rick Ross and Kanye West, as of today, 2 Chainz is the hottest rapper on the planet.
I’m getting people to actually smile when they listen to my music.”īut fans are doing more than just grinning ear to ear over an artist whose signature name-drop and catchphrase (“2 CHAINZZZ!!!”) has become part of the current hip-hop culture lexicon. I just feel like fashion has been a part of my artistic expression as well as my wordplay. “In ’07 I was saying, ‘Walk into the Gucci store, honey, I’m home.’ That’s just who I am. “This isn’t an image for me,” says 2 Chainz, born Tauheed Epps, of his outsized, highly stylized profile.
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