Sied Chahrour, better known by his stage names Pittsburgh Slim and later as Slimmie and Slimmie Hendrix is an American rapper from

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, United States, of mixed Algerian and Mexican origins. Previously signed to

Def Jam Recordings Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The l ...

as Pittsburgh Slim (until 2009), he is now signed to Snowballers Entertainment with his new adopted name Slimmie Hendrix.

Biography

Chahrour was born and raised in the

Greenfield Greenfield or Greenfields may refer to: Places Canada * Greenfield, Edmonton, Alberta, a neighbourhood * Greenfield, Colchester County, Nova Scotia * Greenfield, Hants County, Nova Scotia * Greenfield, Kings County, Nova Scotia * Greenfield, Q ...

neighborhood of

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, to an

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

n father and a part-

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

mother. He began working on

rap music 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 ...

while attending Allderdice High School. He played in guitar in

rock band ''Rock Band'' is a series of rhythm games first released in 2007 and developed by Harmonix. Based on their previous development work from the Guitar Hero, ''Guitar Hero'' series, the main ''Rock Band'' games have players use game controllers mod ...

s and had a strong presence in the local rap community, working the likes of producer E. Dan and rapper

Wiz Khalifa Cameron Jibril Thomaz (born September 8, 1987), better known by his stage name Wiz Khalifa, is an American rapper, singer-songwriter and actor. Raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he signed with the local independent label Rostrum Records to re ...

. He opened many local shows for artists such as

Nelly Cornell Iral Haynes Jr. (born November 2, 1974), better known by his stage name Nelly, is an American rapper, singer, and actor. He grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, and embarked on his musical career in 1993 as a member of the Midwest hip hop g ...

Jurassic 5 Jurassic 5 (stylized JuraSsic 5) is an American alternative hip hop group formed by rappers Charles Stewart (Chali 2na), Dante Givens (Akil), Courtenay Henderson (Soup (Jurassic 5), Soup, Zaakir), and Marc Stuart (Marc 7); and disc jockeys Mar ...

, Usher,

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air (S ...

The Roots The Roots are an American Hip-hop, hip hop band formed in 1987 by singer Black Thought, Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and drummer Questlove, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Roots serve as the house band on NBC's ''T ...

Ja Rule Jeffrey Bruce Atkins (born February 29, 1976), better known by his stage name Ja Rule (), is an American rapper, singer, and actor. Born and raised in New York City, Ja Rule became known for blending gangsta rap with pop rap, pop and contempo ...

and

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, ...

. Chahrour relocated to

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and worked as a

waiter Waiting staff (British English, BrE), waiters () / waitresses (), or servers (AmE) are those who work at a restaurant, a diner, or a Bar (establishment), bar and sometimes in private homes, attending to customers by supplying them with food an ...

while he continued to pursue music. Chahrour conceived of a song based on the line "I like when girls kiss girls", and turned to

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

-based producer David Willis, also known as Ski Beatz, for help with the production. For the song, "Girls Kiss Girls", they made a music video featuring ''

Penthouse Penthouse most often refers to: *Penthouse apartment, a special apartment on the top floor of a building * ''Penthouse'' (magazine), a British-founded men's magazine *Mechanical penthouse, a floor, typically located directly under a flat-roof, tha ...

'' magazine model Krista Ayne, inspired by a scene from the 1999 film '' American Pie''. The video became a sensation on the

video sharing An online video platform (OVP) enables users to upload, convert, store, and play back video content on the Internet, often via a private server structured, large-scale system that may generate revenue. Users will generally upload video content vi ...

website

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

and the song started to get played on radio stations across the U.S., beginning with

KISS-FM KISS-FM (99.5 MHz) is a commercial radio station in San Antonio, Texas. It airs a mainstream rock format and is owned by Cox Media Group. The studios and offices are located on Datapoint Drive in Northwest San Antonio near the South Texas M ...

in Pittsburgh. Chahrour began receiving offers from record labels to release the single, but held out for an offer to make an album. Chahrour met with rapper and

CEO

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...

, and was offered a five-album deal with the label. Chahrour had come up with the name Pittsburgh Slim four years earlier, based on a line from Jay-Z's song, "So Ghetto" from '' Vol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter'', where he rapped "Iceberg, Slim, baby ride rims", referencing author and pimp

Iceberg Slim Robert Beck (born Robert Lee Maupin or Robert Moppins Jr.; August 4, 1918 – April 28, 1992), better known as Iceberg Slim, was an American pimp who later became a writer. Beck's 1967 memoir, ''Pimp: The Story of My Life'' sold very well, ...

. Chahrour released the single "Girls Kiss Girls". The song gained popularity from its video on YouTube, leading

to sign him to

on a 5-album deal, where he released his solo debut LP,

Tastemaker (EP) ''Tastemaker'' is the debut EP by rapper Pittsburgh Slim. It was released by Def Jam Records Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhatt ...

, on 4 December 2007 Chahrour appeared on ''

Last Call with Carson Daly ''Last Call with Carson Daly'' is an American late-night television series that was broadcast by NBC from 2002 to 2019. Hosted by former MTV personality Carson Daly, the series was initially formatted as a late-night talk show in line with '' ...

'' on December 11, 2007 and appeared in the film '' The Bleeding'' where he appeared in the role of Crash. The film starred

Vinnie Jones Vincent Peter Jones (born 5 January 1965) is an English actor, presenter, and former professional footballer. Jones played professionally as a defensive midfielder from 1984 to 1999, notably for Wimbledon, Leeds United, Sheffield United, C ...

Michael Matthias Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name * Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...

Michael Madsen Michael Madsen (born September 25, 1957) is an American actor. Alongside his frequent collaborations with Quentin Tarantino—''Reservoir Dogs'' (1992), ''Kill Bill: Volume 2'' (2004), ''The Hateful Eight'' (2015), and ''Once Upon a Time in Hol ...

, DMX and

Armand Assante Armand Anthony Assante Jr. (; born October 4, 1949) is an American actor. He played mobster John Gotti in the 1996 HBO television film '' Gotti'', Odysseus in the 1997 miniseries adaptation of Homer's ''The Odyssey'', Nietzsche in '' When Niet ...

. Chahrour left Def Jam in late 2008. Mostly known for his sexually-explicit lyrics, he released the single "My Bitch is Crazy" from the ''Bleeding'' soundtrack through the iTunes Store in January 2009. His mixtape "Nolita Nights" was released in August, 2009. These works were all credited to his stage name Pittsburgh Slim. He came back in 2011 under a new stage name Slimmie Hendrix with the album ''Steezington Ave'' that includes collaborations with DJ Adam 12, Tony Adams, Dirt Nasty, Tekneek and Axident.

Discography

As Pittsburgh Slim

LPs *2007: ''

'',

- debut LP Singles *2007: "Girls Kiss Girls", Def Jam *2009: "My Bitch is Crazy", Now City Productions *2019: “Do You Ever Stop and Smell the Roses?”, Self-Released *2019: ”A Guide to Life”, Self-Released *2019: ”Strung out on Electricity”; Self-Released Mixtapes *2007:'' Downtown Wednesday Night'' *2009: ''Nolita Nights'' *2012: ''Pittsburgh Slim's Excellent Adventure'' * 2013: ''And The Beat Goes On...'' * 2013: ''Instaglam''

As Slimmie Hendrix

LPs *2011: ''Steezington Ave'', Snowballers Entertainment Singles *2011: "The Skinny Bitches Have More Fun"

Filmography

Notes

References

* Jentzen, Aaron (November 29, 2007)
A Conversation with Pittsburgh Slim
. ''

Pittsburgh City Paper The ''Pittsburgh City Paper'' is Pittsburgh's leading alternative weekly newspaper which focuses on local news, opinion, and arts and entertainment. It bought out ''In Pittsburgh Weekly'' in 2001. As of April 2015, ''City Paper'' is the 14th ...

''. Retrieved on February 23, 2008. * Mervis, Scott (November 11, 2007).
Jay-Z taps hip-hopper with local roots as next 'Tastemaker'
. ''

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving Greater Pittsburgh, metropolitan Pittsburgh in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the fi ...

''. Retrieved on February 23, 2008.
Interview with Pittsburgh Slim
at Adult Industry Press

External links

Slimmie Hendrix Official website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pittsburgh Slim American rappers Def Jam Recordings artists Musicians from Pittsburgh Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Taylor Allderdice High School alumni 21st-century American rappers American people of Algerian descent American musicians of Mexican descent