YoungBloodZ is an American

Southern hip hop Southern hip-hop, also known as Southern rap, South Coast hip-hop, or dirty south, is a blanket term for a regional genre of American hip-hop music that emerged in the Southern United States, especially in Georgia, Texas, Louisiana, Tennessee ...

duo from

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

composed of J-Bo and Sean Paul (later stylized as Sean P) formed in 1997. The duo were discovered by

Kawan Prather Kawan Kawmi "KP" Prather (born March 30, 1973) is an American record executive. He began his career as a DJ for the Atlanta-based hip hop group Parental Advisory (P.A.) in 1991, which were part of the larger collective Dungeon Family. The grou ...

and signed with his company Ghet-O-Vision, an imprint of

LaFace Records LaFace Records was an American record label based in Atlanta, Georgia, that operated as a unit of Sony Music Entertainment from 2008 to 2011 and was historically a part of Bertelsmann Music Group from 1989 to 2004. It was most active and achiev ...

to release their debut studio album, ''

Against Da Grain ''Against da Grain'' is the debut studio album by American Southern hip hop duo YoungBloodZ, from Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It was released on October 12, 1999, by LaFace Records and Arista Records. The album features guest appeara ...

'' (1999). Their second album, ''

Drankin' Patnaz ''Drankin' Patnaz'' is the second studio album by American Southern hip hop duo YoungBloodZ, from Atlanta, Georgia. It was released on August 26, 2003, via So So Def/Arista Records. The album features guest appearances from Jazze Pha, Backbone, K ...

'' (2003), peaked at number five on the ''Billboard'' 200 and spawned the single " Damn!" (featuring

Lil Jon Jonathan H. Smith (born January 17, 1971), better known by his stage name Lil Jon, is an American rapper, DJ, and record producer. Regarded as a progenitor of the club-oriented hip-hop subgenre crunk, his production and voice presence were inst ...

), which peaked at number four on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The duo's third album, '' Ev'rybody Know Me'' (2005), was released by LaFace and Zomba. YoungBloodZ are one of many commercially successful Atlanta-based hip hop acts.

Career

J-Bo and Sean Paul met at Decatur's Miller Grove Middle School, where they started the Attic Crew with some friends. Their debut album was ''Against Da Grain'', released in 1999 on LaFace. The duo are best known for singles like "U-Way" (1999) and "85" (2000), which featured

Big Boi Antwan André Patton (born February 1, 1975), known professionally as Big Boi, is an American rapper and record producer. Born in Savannah, Georgia, and raised in Atlanta, he was one half of the Southern hip-hop duo Outkast along with rapper ...

. After a 3-year absence, they returned with ''Cadillac Pimpin in 2003, scoring a moderate hit. The duo's sophomore effort featured Grammy-nominated single " Damn!", reaching No. 4 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and becoming their only top 10 hit. It was produced by

. YoungBloodz released '' Ev'rybody Know Me'' in 2005. It featured guest vocals from

Young Buck David Darnell Brown (born March 15, 1981), better known by his stage name Young Buck, is an American rapper. He signed with Birdman's Cash Money Records in 1997, formed the hip hop collective UTP with Juvenile and Soulja Slim in 2000, and j ...

and another

-produced hit " Presidential" and production by Scott Storch. Their song "I'mma Shine" was featured in the 2006 film '' Step Up'' and on its soundtrack. YoungBloodZ has made many appearances in a number of hit singles including Cherish's " Do It to It", Sammie's " You Should Be My Girl", both produced by

Jazze Pha Phalon Anton Alexander, known professionally as Jazze Pha ( ), is an American record producer, rapper, singer and songwriter. He founded the record label Sho'nuff Records in 1995, through which he signed R&B singer Ciara in 2003. He produced h ...

. Sean P appeared on the ''Billboard'' R&B/Hip-Hop number one song " Snap Yo Fingers" by

featuring

E-40 Earl Tywone Stevens (born November 15, 1967), better known by his stage name E-40, is an American rapper. Stevens is a founding member of the rap group The Click (band), The Click and the founder of Sick Wid It Records. He has released 27 stud ...

. YoungBloodz have also been featured in songs with

T.I. Clifford Joseph Harris Jr. (born September 25, 1980), known professionally as T.I. or Tip, is an American rapper and singer raised in Atlanta, Georgia. Harris is credited as a pioneer of the hip hop subgenre trap music, along with fellow Georgi ...

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 ...

Gucci Mane Radric Delantic Davis (born February 12, 1980), known professionally as Gucci Mane, is an American rapper. He is credited, along with fellow Atlanta-based rappers T.I. and Jeezy, with pioneering the hip hop subgenre trap music for mainstream a ...

, Lil Scrappy,

Twista Carl Terrell Mitchell (born November 27, 1973), better known by his stage name Twista (also known as Tung Twista), is an American rapper. He is best known for his Chopper (rap), chopper style of rapping and for once holding the title of fastest ...

DJ Khaled Khaled Mohammed Khaled (; born November 26, 1975), known professionally as DJ Khaled, is an American DJ and record producer. Originally a Miami-based radio personality, Khaled has since become known for enlisting high-profile music industry ar ...

and

T-Pain Faheem Rashad Najm (born September 30, 1984), known professionally as T-Pain, is an American singer and rapper. He is known for popularizing creative use of Auto-Tune pitch correction, often used with extreme parameter settings to create electro ...

. The group are working on a new album ''Back From the Liquor Sto'', that is scheduled for release soon. The first official singles from the EP are entitled "Foolish" and "She Drank, She Smoke" both produced by Rawbeatzz.

Legal issues

YoungBloodZ were arrested on June 1, 2006, on drugs and weapons charges in Atlanta after a traffic stop involving a tour bus with an expired license plate. All charges were eventually dropped and subsequently the driver was charged. J-Bo and Sean P never had any trouble with the law before this arrest.

Discography

Studio albums * ''

Against da Grain ''Against da Grain'' is the debut studio album by American Southern hip hop duo YoungBloodZ, from Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It was released on October 12, 1999, by LaFace Records and Arista Records. The album features guest appeara ...

'' (1999) * ''

'' (2003) * '' Ev'rybody Know Me'' (2005) Solo albums * Sean P - '' Hood Anthems'' (2007) * J-Bo - '' Atl's Finest'' (2008)

References

External links

* Billboard chart history African-American male rappers African-American musical duos Musical duos from Georgia (U.S. state) American hip-hop duos Southern hip-hop groups Rappers from Atlanta Musical groups from Atlanta 1997 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) {{US-hiphop-band-stub