B.G.

The young prince of Cash Money, B.G., a.k.a. Baby Gangsta, was plucked out of the notorious Uptown ghetto of New Orleans by Cash Money founders Baby and Slim Williams when he was just eleven years old. Rather than play up the prodigy's youthful innocence, the Williams brothers capitalized on the somewhat disturbing thrill of hearing a hardly pubescent boy spitting grime-filled rhymes laced with violence and sex talk. Over in-house producer Mannie Fresh's sparkling electro beats, he quickly established himself as a regional superstar on the Southern rap scene. As was their way, Cash Money, recognizing a star when they saw one, released album after album from B.G., paying little heed to established artist-release schedules. In 1997 alone, B.G. put out three albums, the best of which, It's All on U, Vol. 2, helped Cash Money link up with Universal Music in a lucrative distribution deal. He also, along with labelmate Juvenile, was made one of the cornerstones of Cash Money's supergroup, Hot Boyz.

Chopper City in the Ghetto, from 1999 was a phenomenal success, placing Cash Money on the national map, making B.G. a household name, and adding the word bling to the cultural vocabulary. With its smash hit, "Bling Bling," and its anthemic roll call, "Cash Money Is an Army," it stands as B.G.'s best work. 1999 also saw the rerelease of B.G.'s first album, recorded at the tender, and one would think innocent, age of 11. Its pleasures are largely cheap thrills. Checkmate would be B.G.'s final record with Cash Money, as he departed unamicably from the empire soon afterward. His followup, released three years later, would go mostly unnoticed, suffering from the absence of Mannie Fresh and his Cash Money cohorts. (CHRIS RYAN)

From 2004's The New Rolling Stone Album Guide