Rodney Toole (born June 25, 1981) better known by his

stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

Hot Rod (formerly Young Hot Rod), is an American

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 ...

from

Sacramento, California Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat, seat of Sacramento County, California, Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento Rive ...

, United States. In 2006, Hot Rod secured a recording contract with

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

-based rapper

50 Cent Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), known professionally as 50 Cent, is an American rapper, actor, and television producer. Born in Queens, a borough of New York City, Jackson began pursuing a musical career in 1996. In 1999–2000, ...

G-Unit Records G-Unit Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group. Founded in 2003 by rapper 50 Cent, the label was operated by Interscope Records until February 2014. Thereafter, distribution of G-Unit operated under Caroline Records a ...

. In 2010 he was moved to G-Note Records, a subsidiary label of G-Unit Records, which focuses on

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

and R&B music.

Early life

Raised in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

, until the age of 24, Hot Rod worked as mortgage broker until spotted by the

G-Unit G-Unit (short for Guerilla-Unit). was an American hip hop group formed by longtime friends and East Coast rappers 50 Cent, Tony Yayo, and Lloyd Banks. After amassing a string of self-released mixtapes in the early 2000s, the group released ...

boss

, who signed him to his label in 2006. Hot Rod would send his homemade demo CD to 50 Cent's G-Unit office's in hope the record label would sign him. After 50 Cent heard the CD he thought that Hot Rod's easy flow reminded him of his own. It was December 2005 when the 24-year-old rapper received a call at his day job as a mortgage broker, and it wasn't from any random G-Unit associate but 50 Cent himself.
Hot Rod started in hip-hop as a teenager in the mid ‘90s, making beats. “When my pops made me his assistant music engineer at the church. That's when I realized my passion for music,” he reflects, “I've always had it in my blood so there was no stopping me from that point on”.

Musical career

Solo career

Hot Rod released his first single in August 2006, called "Be Easy" which featured R&B singer

Mary J. Blige Mary Jane Blige ( ; born January 11, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, actress, and entrepreneur. Often referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Qu ...

under the labels

Interscope Interscope Records is an American record label based in Santa Monica, California, owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture ...

. The single failed to gain any major chart success and therefore he was dropped from the label

in late 2006. Hot Rod was the first of various rappers to host the Digital Dynasty series.

2010–present: ''My Life''

On December 16, 2010, Hot Rod released his second single in four years, " Dance with Me", also the first single from his planned debut album ''My Life''. Produced by Fuego and co-written by Tommy Beringer and Milana Leybovich of Nuthin Under a Million. This was the first single to be released under the newly-formed G-Note Records /

label. In an interview with ''Vibe'' magazine Hot Rod revealed that his album was slated for a summer 2011 release date. He also stated that he had been working with producers such as

David Guetta Pierre David Guetta (; born 7 November 1967) is a French DJ and record producer. He has sold over 10 million albums and 65 million singles globally, with more than 30 billion streams on Spotify. Guetta was voted the number one DJ in the DJ Mag ...

Akon Aliaune Damala Bouga Time Puru Nacka Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon Thiam (born April 16, 1973), known mononymously as Akon (), is a Senegalese-United States, American singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, businessman, and philanthropist. An influ ...

and

Pharrell Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973), also known mononymously as Pharrell, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, and fashion designer. He first became known as one half of the music production duo ...

. Hot Rod had been recording music for his debut album, which was previously called ''Fast Lane'', since he signed with G-Unit in 2006. Hot Rod tweeted that he was working with Snoop Dogg on the album. In early 2011, a preview of Hot Rod's second single from the album, the title track "My Life", leaked onto the internet.

Discography

Mixtapes

* ''Mick Swagger: Life in the Fast Lane: Hosted by 50 Cent'' (January 2007) * ''The Prequel: The Pre-Fast Lane Mixtape'' (March 2007) * ''The Hitman: Hosted By 50 Cent & Shadyville'' (September 2007) * ''Lost In The Middle East' (August 2009) * ''G-Note Presents: It Still Feels Good'' (December 2011)

Singles

* " Dance with Me" (2010) * "My Life" (2012)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hot Rod 1981 births Living people Rappers from Sacramento, California African-American male rappers 21st-century American male rappers 20th-century American male rappers G-Unit Records artists West Coast hip-hop musicians American hip-hop singers 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American musicians