Artist Spotlight: 2 Chainz

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On September 12th, 1977, the Virgo God’s blessed College Park, Georgia with Tauheed “2 Chainz” Epps. Due to his father being in and out of prison he was raised by his mother. Although, society says it takes a woman and a man to raise a child, this didn’t hinder 2 Chainz from being a success story.

2 Chainz attended North Clayton High School where he was a star basketball player. At 15, he dealt marijuana and was arrested for drug possession but that didn’t stop his academic performance because he graduated in the top 5% of his class. He received a scholarship to Alabama State University and played on the Hornet’s Men’s Basketball team from 1995-1997. Later he transferred to Virginia State University.

2 Chainz and his high school friend Dolla Boy formed a duo called Playaz Circle and began to perform together. ‘Supply & Demand’ was Playaz Circle’s debut album, which appeared at #27 on the Billboard 200 and sold more than 26,000 copies within the first week. Unfortunately, at week two it dropped to #79 on the Billboard 200. Throughout their duo time together, they became friends with rapper Ludacris after he moved into their apartment complex and performed with him as well.

Fast-forwarding to his solo career, 2 Chainz announced his studio debut album ‘Based on a T.R.U. Story’ in March 2012. Two months later, he dropped the hit single “No Lie” featuring Drake, which debuted at #46 on the Billboard Hot 100. He released his second album ‘B.O.A.T.S. 11’ in September of 2013. This was another successful album which sold 63,000 copies in the 1st week. Three years later in March of 2016 he dropped ‘ColleGrove’ and in June of 2017 he gave the world “Pretty Girls Like Trap Music.”

Thus far, 2 Chainz has been nominated for six Grammys and has one under the category for ‘Best Rap Performance’ for his 2016 hit song “No Problem”. He has also won five BET Awards and one Soul Train Award.

Currently, 2 Chainz resides in Atlanta and is married to Kesha Ward and they have three children together named Heaven, Harmony and Halo. On February 8th, 2018 he released an EP entitled “The Play Don’t Care Who Makes It”.