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Born on 12 September 1977 in College Park, Georgia, Epps formed a hip-hop duo in high school with his friend Dolla Boy (Earl Conyers) named Playaz Circle. At the time, he adopted the moniker Tity Boi, and together they released an independent album entitled “United We Stand, United We Fall.” They were then introduced to rapper Ludacris (who was still just a DJ), who took an interest in the duo and recorded and played some of their output together.
It was through this connection that Epps was able to hit his big break. Ludacris had become one of the highest selling rappers, and had invited Epps and Conyers to sign to his label, Disturbing the Peace. The debut album “Supply and Demand” was released in 2007, followed by a second album in 2009 called “Flight 360: The Takeoff.”
After leaving Disturbing the Peace, Epps changed his moniker to 2 Chainz to not have to deal with the accusations of how derogatory Tity Boi was. He then releaed a mixtape called “T.R.U REALigion” which peaked at number 58 on the US Billboard Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart. In 2012 he released his first studio album with Def Jam entitled “Based On A T.R.U Story” and sold over 100,000 copies in it’s first week. He also went on his first world headlining tour and was nominated for over 13 BET Hip Hop awards (four of which he won) and three Grammys.
In 2013, 2 Chainz ran into legal trouble, having a few run-ins with illegal drug possession. However, by September he released his second studio album, “B.O.A.T.S. II: Me Time,” which featured guest appearances by a number of other artists such as Pharrell Williams, Drake, T-Pain and Lloyd.
2 Chainz - or ‘Tity Boi’ as he proudly proclaims himself on Twitter - is one of mainstream hip hop’s more intriguing propositions of recent years; he’s one of those rappers, like a modern-day Busta Rhymes, who seems to have made a name for himself more for his guest spots on the songs of others than in his own, solo right. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a slew of hits to his name already, though, with the Kanye-featuring ‘Birthday Song’ and ‘Used 2’ among the choice cuts from his solo canon. On the live front, too, he’s made some serious headway in recent years as far his own profile is concerned; his set at last year’s Made in America festival in Philadelphia - as well as suggesting the implicit approval of the event’s founder, Jay Z - was an exercise in controlled intensity, with sparse beats forcing Chainz and his hype men to do the heavy lifting. He rose to the occasion by delivering his verses with genuine menace, controlling the crowd less through typical, “everybody bounce!” tactics and more in terms of presenting himself as a brooding, compelling presence; to see a mainstream rapper take such a different approach was genuinely refreshing, and when he does route a proper uK tour of his own, we should hope for more of the same.
Joeg_67
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