Chingy Biography
St. Louis, Missouri seems like an unlikely place to produce hip-hop stars, but when rapper Nelly and his St. Lunatics crew introduced southern slang--with the popular double R spelling and drawn out pronunciation--in the form of pop-rap in 2000, it was only a matter of time before others began to emerge. Enter Chingy, whose debut album, 2003's Jackpot, entered the charts in the number two position the day it went on sale. Its first single, "Right Thurr," had made Chingy famous before the album was even dropped, and guest vocalists like Ludacris and Snoop Dogg gave the new rapper instant credibility. A little more than a year later, came Powerballin', with a host of high-profile collaborators, including Janet Jackson and R. Kelly. With that, Chingy beat the tag of "Nelly rip-off."
On March 9, 1980, Howard Bailey Jr. was born to two struggling parents residing in an area called Walnut Park, on St. Louis' North Side. It was a street-tough neighborhood where young Howard lived in a small, two-bedroom house with nearly a dozen of his relatives. Money was almost a foreign concept to the eventual star. Chingy described his upbringing in an XXL cover story. "I don't come from any sort of money. My mama was working and my father was hustlin' ... so we had something, but nothing too much." By the time his parents divorced when he was a teenager, Chingy was writing rhymes and into music. He claimed he began writing rhymes at the age of eight. "I grew up listening to Michael Jackson, Marvin Gaye, the Temptations. Music made me think, and party. I wanted to express myself like those artists were. Talking on a record sounded like a good idea to me," the artist stated on his official website. Music seemed the only way to escape the strain of poverty.
Becoming an overnight celebrity in the hip-hop world isn't unfathomable, but it is a risky business that involves a lot of luck. At a young age, Chingy knew there was no other avenue but music for his soul. With his friend Justin, he started a pre-teen rap group called L.S.D., short for Lethal Substance of Dope. The duo played local talent shows, but there was little going on in St. Louis in terms of hip-hop at the time. Meanwhile, the 12-year old Howard got himself into trouble with the law when he hot-wired a car, spending three weeks in a juvenile facility for the prank. After toying with the stage name Thugsy, Howard eventually settled on calling himself Chingy, a name he and his friends called someone with money in his pocket. High school afternoons were spent with the trio Without Warning and later Three Strikes. Neither group got the response Chingy hoped for. They did, however, give him enough exposure to get noticed by fledgling production team the Trak Starz.
On March 9, 1980, Howard Bailey Jr. was born to two struggling parents residing in an area called Walnut Park, on St. Louis' North Side. It was a street-tough neighborhood where young Howard lived in a small, two-bedroom house with nearly a dozen of his relatives. Money was almost a foreign concept to the eventual star. Chingy described his upbringing in an XXL cover story. "I don't come from any sort of money. My mama was working and my father was hustlin' ... so we had something, but nothing too much." By the time his parents divorced when he was a teenager, Chingy was writing rhymes and into music. He claimed he began writing rhymes at the age of eight. "I grew up listening to Michael Jackson, Marvin Gaye, the Temptations. Music made me think, and party. I wanted to express myself like those artists were. Talking on a record sounded like a good idea to me," the artist stated on his official website. Music seemed the only way to escape the strain of poverty.
Becoming an overnight celebrity in the hip-hop world isn't unfathomable, but it is a risky business that involves a lot of luck. At a young age, Chingy knew there was no other avenue but music for his soul. With his friend Justin, he started a pre-teen rap group called L.S.D., short for Lethal Substance of Dope. The duo played local talent shows, but there was little going on in St. Louis in terms of hip-hop at the time. Meanwhile, the 12-year old Howard got himself into trouble with the law when he hot-wired a car, spending three weeks in a juvenile facility for the prank. After toying with the stage name Thugsy, Howard eventually settled on calling himself Chingy, a name he and his friends called someone with money in his pocket. High school afternoons were spent with the trio Without Warning and later Three Strikes. Neither group got the response Chingy hoped for. They did, however, give him enough exposure to get noticed by fledgling production team the Trak Starz.
Profile
Born Howard Bailey Jr. on March 9, 1980, in St. Louis, MO.
Contact Information
Website: http://www.chingy.com
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