Webbie

All Music Guide:

Baton Rouge native Webster "Webbie" Gradney, Jr.'s brash and street-smart style was influenced by the early No Limit and Cash Money releases that were creeping out of nearby New Orleans and the classic West Coast sound of Snoop Dogg and Eazy-E. Webbie was only eight when his mother died of cancer. Bouncing from family member to family member was hard, but the West Coast tapes his cousin would loan him provided Webbie with rebellious music that spoke to his inner tension. Later, and not even a teenager yet, he was identifying with the thuggish street music of Master P, Eightball & MJG, and UGK, Dirty South legends who spoke the same slang Webbie did. Seeing that you didn't have to be from the East or West Coast to make your mark in hip-hop, Webbie became serious about the rhymes he had been messing around with since he was five. With so much focus on his rapping, high school was a struggle, but his poor grades didn't seem to matter much when Pimp C from UGK came calling. He was signed to Pimp C's Trill Entertainment before he got his driver's license and recorded two albums for the label: 2003's Ghetto Stories and 2004's Gangsta Muzik, both with fellow Baton Rouge rapper Lil Boosie. In early 2005 the solo Webbie tracks "Gimme Dat" and "Bad Bitch" were appearing on mixtapes by Evil Empire and DJ Smallz, while in the background, Trill was working out a distribution deal with the Warner Brothers-associated label Atlantic. With the contracts signed, Webbie's full-length Savage Life hit the streets in June the same year.

Wikipedia:

Webster Gradney, Jr. (born September 6, 1985), who performs under the mononym Webbie, is an American rapper from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He was signed to the independent Trill Entertainment label from 2003 to 2005. In 2005 he came into the hip hop scene with "Gimme That" featuring Bun B. His songs "Bad Bitch" and "Swerve" were featured on Gangsta Musik, his 2003 group album with Lil Boosie, and in the 2005 movie Hustle & Flow. Webbie's second album, Savage Life 2, was released in the fall 2008 with the hit single "Independent" featuring Lil Boosie and Lil Phat.

Early life

Webbie was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. His mother died when he was nine years old, so his parental care was split between his father and grandmother. Ever since he was five years old, he had been writing rhymes, and throughout his childhood he had become an avid fan of hardcore rap artists including Southern hip hop performers Master P, Eightball & MJG, the Geto Boys, and UGK, as well as West Coast rap such as 2Pac, Eazy-E, and Snoop Dogg. Allthough his grades were poor through out school his math teacher said he did decent during math class.

Music career

He began his career with Baton Rouge superstar Lil Boosie, being featured in Ghetto Stories in 2003 and Gangsta Muzik in 2004. As Webbie's solo track "Give Me That" featuring Bun B was frequently featured in mixtapes, Trill began a deal to sign Webbie to the Warner Bros. Records subsidiary label Atlantic Records. He was signed there, and his major-label debut Savage Life was released in 2005, debuting at number eight on the Billboard 200 chart. Singles from his next album, Savage Life 2, include "Independent" featuring Boosie and Lil Phat. It is Webbie's most successful song to date, peaking at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and reaching the top of the Rap Songs chart. Webbie released his latest album Savage Life 3 on November 15, 2011 under Universal Records.

Acting career

He has released an independent biography movie called Ghetto Stories: The Movie, released in October 2010, with Lil Boosie, based on their lives and lyrical themes.

106 & Park Controversy

On the October 14, 2011 episode of BET’s 106 & Park, Webbie was banned from further appearances on the countdown show. Webbie appeared on the Oct 14th, 2011 show as a guest judge for Freestyle Friday. The reason behind his ban was tied to allegations that he made sexually inappropriate comments to the show's hostess, Rocsi.