Webbie (born September 6, 1985) is stage and recording name of American hip-hop rapper Webster Gradney, Jr., hailing from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S.
Having learned to write rhymes during elementary school, Webbie would later relate to the sounds of hardcore southern rap and used it to cope with his mother’s passing aged eight. Strongly influenced by the likes of Master P, UGK, and Eightball & MJG, the rapper began to focus all of his attention on his songwriting, leading his school grades to suffer. Webbie subsequently signed with Pimp C’s Trill Entertainment before his 16th birthday and began collaborating with fellow Louisiana-native Lil Boosie. The first fruit of the collaboration was the 2003 album “Ghetto Stories”, followed by “Gangsta Musik” a year later. During his time with Trill Entertainment the label went from strength to strength and secured a distribution deal with Asylum Records. Meanwhile on the strength of his tracks “Gimme Dat” and “Bad Bitch”, which began to appear on mixtapes by DJ Smallz and Evil Empire, Webbie was able to sign a deal with Atlantic Records in association with Trill.
The rapper’s debut full-length “Savage Life” subsequently arrived in July 2005 led by the single “Give Me That” featuring Bun B. The album earned positive reviews and charted at No. 8 on the Billboard 200 upon release. The record introduced the rapper to many new listeners and in doing so he became much like the Southern rappers he would listen to growing up. Webbie’s sophomore album “Savage Life 2”, peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard 200, aided by his most successful single to date “Independent” featuring Lil Boosie and Lil Phat. With appearances from Rick Ross, Birdman, and Pimp C, the record appeared in February 2008. Continuing his series of “Savage Life” albums, Webbie’s third full-length “Savage Life 3” was released in November 2011, followed by “Savage Life 4” in November 2013.
Bruce Hornsby
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