ABN or Assholes by Nature is an American

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

duo, composed of

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

-based

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

Trae tha Truth Trae tha Truth (or simply Trae) is an American rapper. He embarked on a recording career in 1998, and established local prominence in the Southern hip hop, Texas hip hop scene with his solo debut, ''Losing Composure'' (2003). His second and thi ...

and

Z-Ro Joseph Wayne McVey (born January 19, 1977), better known by his stage names Z-Ro and the Mo City Don, is an American rapper from Houston, Texas. He was named one of America's most underrated rappers by ''The New York Times'' in 2007. Early life ...

. They have so far released two studio albums ''Assholes by Nature'' (2003) and ''It Is What It Is'' (2008).

History

The duo is a collaboration between Z-Ro and Trae, both of whom are well established solo

recording artist A musician is someone who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate a person who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters, ...

s within Texas'

underground hip hop Underground hip hop (also known as underground rap or simply underground) traditionally refers to hip hop music that is outside the general mainstream canon or counter-cultural in nature, usually with a heavy emphasis on emotion, lyricism, and/or ...

scene. Their first collaboration was on Z-Ro's debut album ''

Look What You Did to Me To look is to Visual perception, use sight to perceive an object. Look or The Look may refer to: Businesses and products * Look (modeling agency), an Israeli modeling agency * Look (American magazine), ''Look'' (American magazine), a defunct ...

'' (1998), with them regularly appearing on each other's albums thereafter. Z-Ro and Trae grew apart in subsequent years and parted ways altogether after their last (and so far final) album in 2008 due to personal and creative differences. In 2022, in a statement to '' XXL'', Z-Ro claimed

Trae Tha Truth Trae tha Truth (or simply Trae) is an American rapper. He embarked on a recording career in 1998, and established local prominence in the Southern hip hop, Texas hip hop scene with his solo debut, ''Losing Composure'' (2003). His second and thi ...

asked to talk to him outside a Houston Restaurant before he allegedly sucker punched him, following which several men jumped in and continued to assault him. On September 2, 2022, a viral video obtained by

TMZ ''TMZ'' is an American entertainment-focused tabloid news organization owned by Fox Corporation. It made its debut on November 8, 2005, as a collaboration between AOL and Telepictures, a division of Warner Bros., until Time Warner divested ...

, shows Trae attacking

with the rest of his crew, during 50 Cent’s TYCOON weekend. This comes after Trae denied on his Instagram page following the altercation and previous footage that went viral, that Z-Ro was not outnumbered in the fight. In December, Trae was charged with a misdemeanor for assault causing bodily injury. Video surfaced of him turning himself in to authorities; he was reportedly released on bond shortly after.

Discography

ABN's first release was a double CD titled ''Assholes by Nature''. It was released in 2003 by the independent label G-Maab Records and was produced by P.K. Johnson. In 2008 the duo released ''It Is What It Is'' which turned out to be the biggest commercial success for both artists. The album was released on Rap-A-Lot Records and produced by Brandon Crear. The album reached number 62 on the ''Billboard'' 200, 10 on the

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip-hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Luminate. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated January 30, ...

, and 7 on the

Top Rap Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip-hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Luminate. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated January 30, ...

charts. Previously the artists had 13 appearances on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart between them; this was the first in the top 10.

Studio albums

References

External links

* * African-American musical groups Musical groups established in 2003 Musical duos from Texas Southern hip-hop groups American hip-hop duos Family musical groups Gangsta rap groups 2003 establishments in Texas {{US-hiphop-band-stub