The Hot Boys | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Also known as | The Hot Boyz |
Origin | New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. |
Genres | |
Years active |
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Labels | |
Spinoff of | |
Members | Lil Wayne Juvenile B.G. Turk |
Past members | Bulletproof |
The Hot Boys (often styled as Hot Boy$) is an American hip hop group from New Orleans, Louisiana, formed in 1997 and composed of rappers B.G., Lil Wayne, Juvenile and Turk.
The group signed with then-independent record label Cash Money Records to release their debut studio album, Get It How U Live! (1997). Despite mixed reviews, it peaked at number 22 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart with regional sales, and has since sold 400,000 units domestically. Following Cash Money's joint venture deal with now-defunct Universal Records, the group released their second album, Guerrilla Warfare (1999), to further commercial success, peaking at number five on the Billboard 200, selling 142,000 copies in its first week, and receiving platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). [1]
The group disbanded in 2001 when Juvenile, Turk, and B.G. left Cash Money, citing financial mismanagement, leaving Lil Wayne as the only original member signed to the label. Despite this, one further album from the group — Let 'Em Burn (2003), composed of material originally recorded between 1998 and 2000 — was released, and peaked at number 14 on the Billboard 200.
Many setbacks have prevented the group from having an official reunion. In 2006, Turk was sentenced to 14 years in prison for second degree attempted murder, slowing down plans for a reunion in 2009. Shortly before Turk's release from prison in 2012, B.G. was sentenced to 14 years in prison for gun possession and witness tampering; he was released in 2023. Since then, Hot Boys has managed to release one song together, a remix of Turk's 2012 song "Zip It".
The Hot Boys formed in the summer of 1997 with original members B.G., Lil Wayne, Juvenile, Turk and Birdman's nephew Bulletproof AKA Lil Derrick. Lil Derrick left the group shortly after recording the first album and was killed in 2002. [2]
The Hot Boys made their first official appearance together on B.G.'s third studio album, It's All on U, Vol. 1 . They soon released their debut album, titled Get It How U Live! , which sold over 300,000 copies, primarily in New Orleans. [3] The album charted nationally as well at 37 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Chart. In 1998, Ca$h Money agreed to a $30 million pressing and distribution deal with Universal Records. This led to releases such as Juvenile's 400 Degreez , which was certified 4× Platinum in America. [4] The Hot Boys made numerous appearances on many of the albums' tracks such as, "Back That Azz Up" featuring Lil Wayne and Mannie Fresh, and "Ha", where the Hot Boys were featured in the music video and the remix. The Hot Boys appeared on both B.G. and Lil Wayne's albums in 1999, Chopper City In The Ghetto , by B.G., and, Tha Block Is Hot , by Lil Wayne Both albums were certified Platinum. The group also released singles such as, "Cash Money Is An Army" and "Bling Bling" by B.G., "Tha Block Is Hot" and "Respect Us" by Lil Wayne, and "U Understand" and "I Got That Fire" by Juvenile.
On July 27, 1999, The Hot Boys released their second major label studio album, Guerrilla Warfare , [5] which reached No. 1 on the Billboard magazine Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and No. 5 on the Billboard 200. [6] It featured two charting singles, "We On Fire" and "I Need A Hot Girl". "I Need a Hot Girl" peaked at No. 65 on the Billboard Hot 100. [7] The album also had contributions from the Big Tymers, Baby and Mannie Fresh. Like with the group's previous album, Mannie Fresh produced every track.
By 2003 B.G., Turk, and Juvenile had all departed from Cash Money for financial issues, leaving Lil Wayne as the group's only member still with the label. Cash Money still managed to release the group's final album together, Let 'Em Burn, composed of songs the group recorded between 1998 and 2000. The Hot Boys went on to have solo recording careers with varying degrees of success. Lil Wayne became the most prolific Hot Boy, with all of his albums going at least Gold in America and amassing a large fan base which grew with the development of his boutique label, Young Money. Turk was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment in 2006 [8] and was released in October 2012. [9] Juvenile and B.G. initially showed resentment to Cash Money but over time settled their disputes and disagreements with the label.
Following the group's disbandment in 2001, the group remained on hiatus until 2009, when Lil Wayne brought out Juvenile and B.G. at one of his shows on the I Am Music Tour in New Orleans. Lil Wayne had been reportedly trying to spearhead a Hot Boys reunion beginning in 2008, with the support of the other group members. [10] However, by 2012, only two songs featuring Lil Wayne, Juvenile, and B.G. materialized: "Ya Heard Me" from B.G.'s 2009 album Too Hood 2 Be Hollywood and the exclusive "If I Ain't a Hot Boy". Although Turk was released from prison in 2012, [11] talks of a reunion were quelled when B.G. was arrested for weapons possession in 2009 [12] and subsequently sentenced to 14 years in federal prison for gun possession and witness tampering in 2012. [13] In December 2012, Turk released a song called "Zip It" featuring Lil Wayne on his SoundCloud account. A few weeks later, a remix was released with Juvenile featured on the last verse. [14] In February 2013, a version with all four members of the group was released, with B.G. recording his verse over the phone from prison. In 2013, The Hot Boys (minus B.G.) appeared in the video of 2 Chainz's song "Used 2", whose lyrics are reminiscent of Juvenile's "Back That Azz Up". "Used 2" was produced by Mannie Fresh, who also appears in the video. The Hot Boys (without B.G.) performed with Mannie Fresh during Lil Wayne's Lil WeezyAna Fest in August 2015. [15] Lil Wayne, Juvenile, and The Big Tymers reunited on a song called "Hate" in 2016. [16]
B.G was released from prison on September 5, 2023.
On May 19, 2024, Juvenile went on Instagram Live to confirm that the Hot Boys have reunited and are working on a new studio album. [17] However, Lil Wayne appeared on an interview, he claimed he knew “nothing about the reunion”.
In November 2024, the group officially reunited at Lil Wayne’s Lil Weezyana Fest in New Orleans.
Title | Release | Peak chart positions | Sales | Certifications | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
US [18] | US R&B [19] | ||||
Get It How U Live! |
| — | 22 |
| |
Guerrilla Warfare |
| 5 | 1 |
| |
Let 'Em Burn |
| 14 | 3 | ||
Title | Release | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
US [21] | US R&B [22] | US Rap [23] | |||||||||||
"Neighborhood Superstar" (featuring Big Tymers) | 1997 | — | — | — | Get It How U Live! | ||||||||
"We on Fire" | 1999 | — | 49 | Guerrilla Warfare | |||||||||
"I Need a Hot Girl" (featuring Big Tymers) | 65 | 23 | — | ||||||||||
"Rock Ice" (featuring Big Tymers) | — | — | — | Blue Streak: The Album | |||||||||
"My Section" | 2003 | — | — | — | Let 'Em Burn | ||||||||
"Gangsta Nigga" | — | — | — | ||||||||||
"—" denotes releases that did not chart. |
Terius Gray, better known by his stage name Juvenile, is an American rapper best known for his work with Birdman's Cash Money Records in the late 1990s and early 2000s, both solo and as a member of the label's then-flagship group, Hot Boys.
400 Degreez is the commercial debut and overall third studio album by American rapper Juvenile. The album was released on November 3, 1998, by Universal Records and Bryan "Baby" Williams' Cash Money Records. It remains Juvenile's best-selling album of his solo career, with six million copies sold as of 2021. The album received quadruple platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on December 19, 2000.
Cash Money Records is an American record label founded in 1991 by brothers Ronald "Slim" Williams and Bryan "Baby" Williams. The label gained prominence in the late 1990s for having signed and released albums for New Orleans-based musical acts including Lil Wayne, Juvenile, B.G., and Hot Boys. It became an imprint of Universal Records, a division of Universal Music Group in March 1998, and remained so during its following iterations as Universal Republic, Universal Motown and ultimately Republic Records.
The Cash Money Millionaires were a supergroup of Cash Money recording artists from New Orleans, Louisiana, formed in 1996 and disbanded in 2001. The group was composed of the Big Tymer$ and the Hot Boy$. The Cash Money Millionaires went on numerous tours, including tours with the Ruff Ryders and Nelly. In September 2000, the Millionaires released a soundtrack album to Baller Blockin' in which they starred. In 2001, the group disbanded due to monetary issues.
Big Tymers were an American hip hop duo composed of Cash Money Records co-founder Baby and the label's lead producer Mannie Fresh, both of whom originate from New Orleans, Louisiana. Active from 1997 to 2005, and once more in 2018, it was spun off from the label's supergroup, Cash Money Millionaires.
Bryan Christopher Williams, better known by his stage names Birdman or Baby, is an American rapper and record executive. He is the public face of Cash Money Records, a record label he co-founded with his older brother, Ronald "Slim" Williams, in 1991. Birdman released his eponymous debut studio album in 2002, and released three follow-up albums—Fast Money (2005), 5 * Stunna (2007), and Priceless (2009)—to moderate commercial success and mixed critical reception. Along with his solo career, he is a member of the hip hop duo Big Tymers with producer Mannie Fresh, as well as the supergroup Cash Money Millionaires.
Christopher Noel Dorsey, better known by his stage name B.G., is an American rapper from New Orleans, Louisiana. He began his musical career in 1993 upon signing with Birdman's Cash Money Records at the age of 12. Dorsey and label-mates Lil Wayne, Juvenile and Turk collectively formed the group Hot Boys in 1997, with whom he has released three commercially successful albums. As a solo act, Dorsey has released five solo albums for Cash Money—Chopper City (1996), It's All on U, Vol. 1 (1997), It's All on U, Vol. 2 (1997), the platinum-certified Chopper City in the Ghetto (1999) and Checkmate (2000)—to moderate success. He parted ways with the label in 2001 and founded Chopper City Records later that year.
Tab Virgil Jr. better known by his stage name Turk, is an American rapper from New Orleans, Louisiana. He is best known for his late 1990s run at Birdman's Cash Money Records with the group the Hot Boys.
"Back That Azz Up", also known as "Back That Thang Up" for a radio edit, is a song recorded by American rapper Juvenile featuring fellow American rappers Mannie Fresh and Lil Wayne. Produced by Fresh, it was released on June 11, 1999, as the second single from Juvenile's 1998 album 400 Degreez. The song was Juvenile's biggest hit single at the time until the chart-topping "Slow Motion" in 2004, surpassing "Back That Azz Up" which peaked at number 19 on the Billboard Hot 100.
500 Degreez is the third solo studio album by American rapper Lil Wayne. It was released on July 23, 2002, through Cash Money Records and Universal Records. The album was titled in continuation of the naming sequence of successful 1998's 400 Degreez album by fellow Hot Boys rapper and ex-labelmate Juvenile.
Guerrilla Warfare is the second studio album by the New Orleans hip-hop group Hot Boys, released on July 27, 1999, on Cash Money Records. It was an instant hit, debuting at #5 on the Billboard 200 and #1 on the Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums selling 142,000 copies in its first week, and remains their most successful album as a group and with Cash Money Records.
"Ha" is a 1998 single by rapper Juvenile, from his third album 400 Degreez. It was produced by Mannie Fresh. This song, along with Juvenile's "Back That Azz Up" and B.G.'s "Bling Bling" was responsible for taking Cash Money Records from a small local label in New Orleans to the pop mainstream. The song is notable for its unique style of rapping, with every line except the chorus ending with "ha". The chorus to the song includes a line taken from the earlier Juvenile single "Solja Rags".
Young & Thuggin is the debut studio album by American rapper Turk, released on June 5, 2001 through Cash Money Records, and produced entirely by Mannie Fresh. The album was a success on the charts, selling 82,000 copies in its first week, peaking at #9 on the Billboard 200 and #2 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. Among the guests featured on the album were his fellow Hot Boys, the Big Tymers and Mack 10.
"I Need a Hot Girl" is a song by New Orleans hip-hop group, the Hot Boys. The single was featured on their album Guerrilla Warfare. The song, as well as the entire album, was produced by Mannie Fresh. "I Need a Hot Girl" was written by Lil Wayne, B.G. and Turk. Juvenile did not appear on the track, but was featured in the video. The song was moderately successful, peaking at No. 65 on theBillboard Hot 100, the Hot Boys' only song there.
Byron Otto Thomas, better known by his stage name Mannie Fresh, is an American record producer, DJ and rapper from New Orleans, Louisiana. He is best known for his production work for Cash Money Records releases, as well being half of the hip hop duo Big Tymers with the label's co-founder, Birdman.
The discography of American rapper B.G. consists of ten studio albums, two mixtapes, twenty-one singles, one promotional single and twelve music videos.
Baller Blockin is the soundtrack for the film Baller Blockin' by the Cash Money Millionaires, released September 12, 2000 on Cash Money Records. The soundtrack features most of the then-roster of Cash Money Records, including Birdman, Mannie Fresh, B.G., Lil Wayne, Juvenile, and Turk. Other artists include E-40, UGK, Eightball & MJG, Nas and Mack 10.
The following list is a discography of production by American hip hop record producer and recording artist Mannie Fresh. It includes a list of songs produced, co-produced and remixed by year, album, artist and title.
"Used 2" is a song by American rapper 2 Chainz from his second studio album B.O.A.T.S. II: Me Time (2013). Produced and co-written by Mannie Fresh, it was released as the second single from the album on September 18, 2013.
"Tha Block Is Hot" is the debut single by American rapper Lil Wayne, and features fellow American rappers B.G. and Juvenile. It was released on October 23, 1999 via Cash Money Records as the lead single from the former's debut solo studio album of the same name (1999). Recording sessions took place at Cash Money Studios in Metairie, Louisiana. Production was handled by Mannie Fresh with executive producers Ronald "Slim" Williams and Birdman.