B.G.

B.G., the Baby Gangsta, must have been one of the most prolific teenagers in music history. Signed to the New Orleans-based independent Cash Money Records at 11 years old, B.G. released six solo albums before his eighteenth birthday. His debut album True Story (1993) was a semi-autobiographical account of his coming of age on the poverty-ridden streets of uptown New Orleans. In the next five years, B.G. released an album per year, including one as a member of the Hot Boys. B.G.'s sales and popularity climbed with each release: It's All on You, Vols.

I and II (1996 and 1997) sold over 250,000 copies each, and the Hot Boys release (1997) sold over 400,000 (1997). In 1998, Cash Money signed a national distribution deal with Universal Records. One year later, B.G.'s first nationally distributed album, Chopper City in the Ghetto, debuted at #9 on Billboard's Top 200; consequently, his first three albums were reissued.