After a successful, but allegedly unprofitable career with Cash Money Records, B.G. turned heads by reinventing himself as part of another group comprised of his younger brother and his childhood friends. As the Chopper City Boyz, B.G., V.L. Mike, Hakim, Snipe and Gar released We Got This [click to read] through a distribution deal with Koch. The album debuted at number 20 on the Billboard 200 and was hailed as one of the most successful independent albums of 2007.
Since their debut, a lot has changed for the Chopper City Boyz. Hakim (a.k.a. Hakizzle), still remains on good terms with his Chopper City family, but he is pursuing a career as a soloist. As the group prepares to release Life in the Concrete Jungle, their first effort through a joint venture with Asylum, Snipe and Gar took some time out to catch everyone up to speed on all the changes. Despite the crossover appeal of their lead single, “Bubblegum Muzik,” which features Chopper City artist Lady Dolla, both members insist there will be no ringtone music on the album.
“We didn’t want to lighten it up, but we did want to attack the clubs and the females a little more,”Snipe tells HipHopDX. Gar is in full agreement, adding, “We’re always going to have that street music…that gangsta music. But, at the same time, we wanna let the ladies know we’ve got something for them too.”
A club single could surely lighten the mood for a city that still shows scars from Hurricane Katrina. Additionally, former member V.L. Mike was murdered in April, making him one of seven people slain during a violent four-day stretch. Snipe and Gar remain optimistic, despite the fact that crime is causing more and more of New Orleans’ artists to make headlines for all the wrong reasons.
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“[Mayor] Ray Nagin can only do so much and there’s a whole chain of command on that man,” says Gar. “That situation comes from people who have a higher rank than Ray Nagin. He’s alright with me. Dude has done all he can do. I have two children and I know the way life is down here is not conducive to raising children.”
Snipe takes a decidedly different approach to life in Crescent City adding, “I would never leave New Orleans [because] this is in my blood. The only way I could leave is if my mother was to leave. I ain’t going nowhere.” They may be of two minds in terms of living in “The N.O.,” but Snipe and Gar share the same plan as far as their city’s signature sound is concerned.
“We’re gonna bring it back to the point where everybody is uniting,” says Snipe. “We’ve got a 27-city promotional tour coming up too.” The group backs up their claim with a lengthy list of cameos for their upcoming album, which features fellow Louisiana natives C-Murder, Hurricane Chris, Skip of UTP, B.G., and former Cash Money artist Lac. Rocko, Alfamega and Blood Raw of USDA also make appearances. Life in the Concrete Jungle will be released on August 26. Additional music and tour information is available at the Chopper City Boyz‘ MySpace page.
