Chingy

Howard Bailey, Jr. is an American hip-hop music artist. His hits date back to 2003 and include: "Right Thurr," "Holidae In," "One Call Away" featuring J-Weav, "Balla Baby" and more recently, "Pullin' Me Back" featuring Tyrese, and "Dem Jeans" featuring Jermaine Dupri." He has also taken part in the "Get Low (Remix)" music video. Chingy goes by the logo "G.I.B.", which stands for Git It Boyz. He was on the road from August 6-January 7 and is now in his hometown St. Louis helping his younger cousin Young Spiffy create his debut album, Troublemaka. Spiffy will be the first off his label Slot-A-Lot Records.

Chingy has recently ceased his dispute with Disturbing tha Peace and has officially signed back to them.

Chingy is the CEO and flagship artist of Slot-A-Lot Records. He is partially responsible for the career of J-Kwon. He is working with his protogee, Young Spiffy. Chingy is signed in a joint-venture between Disturbing Tha Peace (DTP) and his own Slot-A-Lot Records. He has been involved in numerous rap feuds including Nelly, Ludacris, and the St. Lunatics. Chingy is also involved a a feud with former label, Capitol Records.

Early life
Chingy was born Howard Bailey Jr. in Walnut Park on the northside of St. Louis, Missouri on March 9, 1980. He attended school in the St. Louis metro area. Early on, Chingy developed a passion for rapping and began to play around with it. He began rapping under the psuedonym Chingy, which is what he and his friends would call someone that they felt were rich, which is what he aspired to be. He would sign to Fo-Reel Entertainment, which is home to Nelly and the St. Lunatics. Chingy would get his first shot at fame by touring with Nelly. This would lead to a chance meeting with legendary southern rapper, Ludacris, who immediately signed Chingy to his Disturbing tha Peace record label.

Music career
Soon after gaining his deal, Chingy was featured on various DTP songs and songs with artists such as Busta Rhymes, Fat Joe, Ja Rule, Nick Cannon, and appeared on the 2 Fast 2 Furious soundtrack. Chingy also became a huge cameo man as he appeared in videos by Lil Jon, J-Kwon, Ludacris, DTP, Shawnna, Snoop Dogg and others. He still was not very well-known to the public. Ludacris had put out some promo singles to create hype around Chingy. This was not very successful, initially. He then went back into the studio to record one more song, "Right Thurr," originally this was just a promo song, but due to its success, it was made the lead single from his debut album, Jackpot. Disturbing Tha Peace then quickly helped Chingy complete his album. He was unable to secure a deal with Disturbing Tha Peace/Def Jam at the time, so Ludacris negotiated a deal to distribute Chingy through Capitol Records.

Jackpot (2003)
On July 15, 2003, Chingy released his debut album, Jackpot on DTP and Capitol Records. Guest appearances include Ludacris, Snoop Dogg, Murphy Lee, I-20, Tity Boi of Playaz Circle, Trina, & Jermaine Dupri. The album was powered by the summer smash, "Right Thurr." The album also featured the hit single, "Holidae Inn." That single featured Snoop Dogg and Ludacris. The final single was a love ballad, "One Call Away," which featured television star Jason Weaver. That single was also a summer smash. The album was very successful and would go 3x Platinum within a year of its release. After the release of Jackpot, Chingy would fall into a dispute with Ludacris and DTP, which would lead to him leaving DTP and forming his own label Slot-A-Lot Records, which was also distributed by Capitol.

Powerballin' (2004)
Chingy would release his second album, Powerballin' on November 16, 2004. The album would peak at #10 on the charts. The album featured the hit single, "Balla Baby." It was the only major hit from the album, but the second single, "Don't Worry" was a minor hit. The album featured numerous guest appearances from artists like R. Kelly, Bun B, Lil Wayne, Lil Flip, Janet Jackson, David Banner, Nate Dogg, & others. The album would still be a success, but not on the level of his debut. Powerballin'  was considered a failure by many and cemented to some critics that Chingy was nothing more than a one hit wonder. Despite this the album still managed to go Platinum. After the release of this album, rumors began to swirl that he was going to sign with 50 Cent's G-Unit label for better promotion. He had been in talks to become the flagship artist for G-Unit Midwest, but he ended up turning the position down due to him not getting as much money he thought that he deserved.

Hoodstar (2006)
Hoodstar was Chingy's third album. He released it on September 19, 2006. The album featured a star-studded lineup of producers and rappers, such as Mr. Collipark, longtime collaborator Jermaine Dupri, Timbaland, and Mannie Fresh. Numerous guest verses were featured on the album. It features the summer hit single, "Pullin Me Back." The song features Tyrese on the hook and was produced by Jermaine Dupri. Other singles were "Brand New Kicks," "Hands Up," and "Dem Jeans." Hoodstar debuted at #8, selling 77,000 copies and has since gone Gold. This is Chingy's lowest-selling album to date. After the release of this album, Chingy would go on tour to promote the singles. When he got off tour he had a few surprising announcements.

Return to Disturbing tha Peace
It had seemed that Chingy would never return to DTP after his comments about Ludacris taking his money from his album sales. They would engage in a feud in which Ludacris would diss him on War With God just months before Chingy would leave Capitol Records. Chingy stated his reason for leaving was due to their lack of promotion of his Hoodstar LP. In April 2007, he would end his feud with Ludacris and would sign a joint-venture between DTP and his Slot-A-Lot Records. He would be featured on the lead single from the label's compilation album, Strength in Numbers on the single "Celebrity Chick." He would then begin recording his new DTP album.

Hate It or Love It (2007)
Hate It or Love It is the fourth studio album by Chingy and the first since his return to DTP Records. The album featured production from Scott Storch, Timbaland, and Cool and Dre. The lead single from Hate It or Love It is "Fly Like Me," which features Amerie on the chorus. It was released on December 18, 2007. Appearances come from Ludacris, Bobby Valentino, Steph Jones, Trey Songz, Rick Ross, and Anthony Hamilton. This marked his debut album for Def Jam Recordings and his second album for Disturbing Tha Peace.

The U.S version of the album has actually sold lots of copies in the UK and reached as high as #3 on HMV's 'top 10 hip hop albums chart' but is currently at #7 (expected to drop since price is now £9.99). The album entered the U.S. Billboard Charts at a disappointing #84 and has currently managed to sell only 50,000 copies within the United States.

Nelly
In December 2004, Chingy stated that he was offended by some comments made by fellow St. Louis rapper, Nelly. The comment came from his album Sweat on the song "Another One." The lyric was "I like the way you do that right thurr/Just remember why you do that right thurr." Nelly would later speak about this and would say it was a word from the wise to show some respect from one of the St. Louis rap pioneers. He said that it was not a subliminal diss because it says 'I LIKE, the way you do that right thurr', when he could have said something different. Nelly said he felt that because he paid so much respect to other rappers that the ones from his area should pay respect to him. He also went on to say that he was responsible for Chingy getting put on because he used to take him on tour when he had just began his career. Chingy would respond to Nelly and would throw a diss at Ludacris (his former boss) on the track "We Got," which was released on January 2005. He came at them with the line, "I heard that song, boy; It ain't another, boy,' then on the line, 'Better keep my name outta your mouth, boy/...I been discovered, boy; that's why you hatin', boy/...The media hyped you, boy/KRS crushed you, boy/Put up the chains, bars, and platinum teeth; bring the drama, bring the beef, boy/trouble to the streets, boy/You started it boy/Well I'm a finish it, boy." He said that he recorded this song when it all began and he said that he was tired of the subliminal diss records and them calling him out in interviews. He also said he's the one who sold 3 million for DTP and he is now just getting paid for is and that Ludacris knows what he is talking about. The feud has since ended and they both have said that they are open to collaborations with each other.

Ludacris
In late 2003, Chingy engaged in a feud with his label's boss, Ludacris, over the royalties from his debut album. Chingy claimed that Ludacris was not giving him the proper pay for his services, while Ludacris says that he paid Chingy properly. This led to Chingy leaving DTP Records in December 2003. He quickly found Slot-A-Lot Records under Capitol Records and aimed numerous disses at Ludacris and DTP. They beefed into 2004 with Chingy calling Ludacris and Nelly out on his album Powerballin'. Because Chingy did not honor his contract with Disturbing Tha Peace, he had to still pay them some percentage of what he made from his album releases. Ludacris only dissed Chingy twice with "War With God,and Tell It Like It Is feeling that the best diss to Chingy was the success he was experiencing during this time. Chingy continued to state that he was ripped off by DTP until the release of his third album in 2006. He goes on to say that he no longer has beef with Ludacris and DTP, but he still could never return to the label. This was later proved wrong as he left Capitol Records and signed a joint-venture with his own Slot-A-Lot Records, which officially ended their four year feud.

Personal life
Chingy grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, but after becoming a popular rap star, Chingy moved to Atlanta, Georgia. He also has houses in California, Florida, and New York.Chingy also has two sons Alazea and Mykeal. He still also owns a house in the St. Louis area, but instead of the metro area, he lives in the suburbs of O'Fallon, in a neighborhood called Bainbridge.

Business Ventures
Chingy owns and operates his own label, Slot-A-Lot Records. The label was a vanity label granted to him by former distributor Capitol Records. He has signed artists like Young Spiffy to the label along with his group, G.I.B. (Git It Boyz). Chingy will also take over an executive role at DTP Records. He partially owns 510 Ocean a restaurant in Miami, FL.

Albums

 * 2003: Jackpot
 * 2004: Powerballin'
 * 2006: Hoodstar
 * 2007: Hate It or Love It