Vanda L. Watkins (born August 7, 1976), known professionally as Criminal Manne, is an American rapper and actor from Tennessee. He is a former member of the Memphis-based hip hop trio the Project Playaz. As a solo artist, his second album, ''Street Ways'' (2005) peaked at number 97 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

''s

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, ...

chart, followed by his collaborative album with

Pastor Troy Micah LeVar "Pastor" Troy (born November 18, 1977) is an American rapper from Augusta, Georgia. He is best known for his 2002 single "Are We Cuttin'" (featuring Ms. Jade), which entered the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The year prior, he signed wi ...

: ''Atlanta 2 Memphis'' (2006), which peaked at number 88. Criminal Manne has also starred in the films ''Da Neighborhood Dopemane'' and ''The Woods''.

Career

Watkins began his recording career with producer DJ Squeeky. Watkins first joined the Memphis-based hip hop trio Project Playaz, which consisted of Criminal Manne, Thugsta and Yo Lynch. The group is known for their 1998 single, "Buck & Naked" and their second single, "Buck with Me" the following year, whose success led them to sign with

Relativity Records Relativity Records was an American record label founded by Barry Kobrin at the site of his vinyl record shop, Important Record Distributors (IRD) in metropolitan New York City. The IRD distribution name was later known as RED Distribution and ag ...

. The song "Buck with Me" aired on BET's ''Rap City''. Project Playaz then signed with Rap-A-Lot Records in 2000, although they parted ways with the label in 2002. Criminal Manne then pursued a solo career with his debut album, ''Playtime's Over'' (2002), which was released by Rap-A-Lot Records. He parted ways with Rap-A-Lot Records by 2003. In 2004, he collaborated with Yung Kee to release the single, "Tryna Buss Sumthing". His second album, ''Street Ways'' followed in 2005 and climbed to number 97 on ''Billboard''s

chart, while his 2006 collaborative album, ''Atlanta 2 Memphis'' with

, peaked at number 88 on the chart. In 2007, Criminal Manne released the mixtape ''Da Neighborhood Dopeman'', hosted by

DJ Drama Tyree Cinque Simmons (born April 22, 1978), known professionally as DJ Drama, is an American disc jockey (DJ), record executive and music promoter. He initially gained recognition as the DJ for Atlanta-based rapper T.I., and continued to gai ...

and The Aphiliates. A year later in 2008, Criminal Manne and hometown native

Frayser Boy Cedric Kelvin Coleman, professionally known by his stage name Frayser Boy, is an American rapper from Memphis, Tennessee. He was formerly signed to Hypnotize Minds, the record label run by Three 6 Mafia founders DJ Paul and Juicy J, and had r ...

released the album ''The Takeover''. In 2009, Manne released two additional albums titled ''Certified Dopeboy'' and ''Got Work''. He followed up with ''Certified DopeBoy/The Re-Up'' in 2010. ''Blow'' and ''Blow 2'' in 2011, followed by ''Blow 3'' in 2012, ''Blow 3.5'' in 2013 and finally ''The Come Up'' in 2014. The singles "Arm & Hammer", "Black Boston George", "Kings of The Trap", "I'm Tripping", and "Trap Talk" were released during and after this time frame.

Discography

Independent mixtapes * 2002: ''Play Time's Over'' * 2003: ''Neighborhood Dope Manne'' * 2005: ''Street Ways'' * 2009: ''Got Work'' * 2016: Trap Talk *2013: Black Boston George * 2017: Return of the Neighborhood Dopeman *2018: King Kong *2019: Underground King *2021: King Kong II * 2022: ''Big Dawg'' * 2023: Neighborhood Dope Mane * 2024: ''RICH BROKE''

Collaborations

* 2006: '' Atlanta 2 Memphis'' (with

)

Mixtapes

* 2007: ''Da Supplyer Mixtape'' * 2007: ''Da Neighborhood Dopeman * 2008: ''The Takeover'' (with

) * 2009: ''Certified Dopeboy'' (hosted by DJ Scream) * 2010: ''Certified Dopeboy 2: The Re-Up'' (hosted by DJ Scream) * 2010: ''Certified Dopeboy Vol. 3: Supply & Demand'' (hosted by DJ 007) * 2010: ''Certified Dopeboy Vol. 4'' * 2010: ''Certified Dopeboy Vol. 5: The Cook Up'' * 2011: ''Blow'' (hosted by Dj Scream & DJ 5150) * 2011: ''Blow 2'' * 2012: ''Blow 3'' * 2013: ''Blow 3.5 Grams''(hosted by Traps N Trunks & DJ Mic Tee) * 2013: ''The Come Up'' * 2014: ''Arm & Hammer'' * 2014: ''Kings of the Trap'' (with OJ Da Juiceman) (hosted by DJ Scream

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Criminal Manne African-American male rappers 20th-century American male rappers 21st-century American male rappers Living people Rappers from Memphis, Tennessee 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century African-American musicians 1979 births