Content deleted Content added
m ec |
|||
Line 1:
{{Infobox musical artist 2
|Name = Young Dro
|Img = Best thang smokin.jpg
|Img_capt = The cover of Young Dro's debut album, ''Best Thang Smokin'''
|Background = red
|Birth_name = D'Juan Hart
|Alias =
|Born = [[1979]]
|Origin = [[Bankhead (Atlanta)|Bankhead]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]
|Genre = [[Rap music|Rap]]
|Occupation = [[Rapping|Rapper]]
|Years_active = [[2005]] - present
|Label = [[Grand Hustle Records|Grand Hustle]]/[[Atlantic Records]]
|Associated_acts = [[T.I.]], [[P$C]]
|URL = [http://young-dro.com young-dro.com]
}}
'''Young Dro''' (born '''D'Juan Hart''' in [[Atlanta]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] in [[1979]]) is an [[United States|American]] rapper signed to [[T.I.]]'s label, [[Grand Hustle]].
==Biography==
Born in the [[Bankhead (Atlanta)|Bankhead]] Court housing project. Young Dro grew up the second oldest of his mother’s five boys and somewhere amongst the middle seven of his father’s 21 children. Due to poverty, Dro had to live in a variety of housing complexes. He lived in Perry Homes, Herndon Homes, Bowen Homes, Bankhead, Summerhill, Adamsville.
==Tragedy==
At the age of 16, he was shot in the stomach and the back and required almost a year to recover. Dro says of the incident “I had to wear a bag for like a year...I was traumatized from that. I couldn’t laugh. I couldn’t walk or nothing” [http://xxlmag.com/online/?p=1870]. He spent his late teens and early 20s in and out of jail. He began rapping in the 9th grade. [[T.I.]] has been a long-time supporter of Dro. "I had been trying to sign Dro since like '97, before I was even trying to get a deal for myself. Anyone with ears can hear he got talent." he said.[http://xxlmag.com/online/?p=1870].
==Rise to fame==
It was during these many moves in his teen years that he befriended the now [[Grand Hustle Records|Grand Hustle]]/[[Atlantic Records|Atlantic]] recording artist [[T.I.]]; neither of the two took music seriously at the time. Young Dro never considered a career in music until another one of his friends, [[Kris Kross|Chris “Daddy Mack” Smith]], scored platinum success as one half of early 90s duo [[Kris Kross]].
To make his dream a reality, he first met pioneering southern rapper Raheem the Dream in the late 90s, who at the time had [[Pastor Troy]] and [[D4L]] front man Fabo signed to his local label. By the end of 2002, Young Dro's independent single “Yes Sir” and regional hit album "I Got That Dro" became fairly successful.
Around the same time, [[T.I.]] was preparing for his debut album [[I'm Serious]]. While he was promoting the album during a radio interview, Young Dro called the station and asked to talk to the fellow rapper. “I was like, ‘That sounds like my homeboy,’” Dro recalls, “he was like, ‘You the one who sings “Yes Man”? Man, meet me at the Bounce...We went up there and performed.”
That reuniting of two longtime friends evolved into Young Dro signing with [[Grand Hustle]], T.I.'s record label and his major label debut, "[[Best Thang Smokin']]", which went on to go gold. Among the tracks featured on the album, "Shoulder Lean" was chosen to be the lead single. Through the summer of 2006, the track gained momentum through out the South, and then nationally, as it was well-received among the hip-hop community. It received a decent amount of airplay on [[BET]], and managed to climb to #3 spot in the U.S. Rap chart. On the 27th July 2006, Young Dro reached the #1 spot on both the Billboard Urban Monitor chart as well as the R&B Urban Mainstream chart. Simultanouesly, the video hit #1 during the previous week's "106 & Park" countdown on BET, in addition to securing the top spot on MTV2 where it's currently in "ELITE 8". Amazingly on top of that, Warner Music Group announced that the ringtone for Dro's single 'Shoulder Lean' had sold over 500,000 units.
==Other Projects==
Prior to Dro's "[[Best Thang Smokin']]", he had worked with DJ Burn One of [[Atlanta, Georgia]] to produce the mixtape Future Legends Vol. 2, "I've Still Got That Dro", which was released in February of 2006. The album contained "over 18 exclusive new songs and freestyles, along with a collection of songs that could previously only be found on official [[Grand Hustle]] mixtapes, as well as a few tracks off his extremely rare first album "I Got That Dro"." [http://www.iapstore.com/store/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=1402] Though many of the songs never made it on the air, the mixtape featured previews of "Shoulder Lean" and "Rubberband Banks". Also included were many original songs featuring artists such as [[T.I.]], Alfamega, [[Mike Jones]], and Big Kuntry King. Honorable mentions from the album were "I Ain't Lame", "Cartoon", "Dressed 2 Impress", "Blame it on the Dro", and "Ol Skool". He is also featured in the [[It's Okay (One Blood)]] remix. Featuring 20 other rap stars.
==Upcomming==
Dro will release his sophomore album titled [["Young and Restless"]] in late 2007. The first single is entitled "3 Young Niggaz", featuring [[Young Jeezy]] & [[Sean P|Sean Paul]] of The [[YoungBloodz]].
==Discography==
=== Albums===
{| class="wikitable"
!align="left"|Album cover
!align="left"|Album information
|-
|align="left"|[[Image:Best thang smokin.jpg|left|120px]]
|align="left"|'''''[[Best Thang Smokin']]'''''
*Released: [[August 29]], [[2006]]
*Chart positions: #3 US [[Billboard 200]]
*U.S. Sales: 556,000 copies
*Last [[RIAA certification]]: Gold
*Singles: "[[Shoulder Lean]]", "[[Rubberband Banks]]", "My Girl"
|-
|align="left"|[[image:nocover.gif|left|120px]]
|align="left"|'''''[[Young And The Restless (album)|Young and the Restless]]'''''
*Released:
*Chart positions:
*U.S. Sales:
*Last [[RIAA certification]]:
*Singles:
|-
|}
===Singles===
{| class="wikitable"
!align="center" valign="top" width="40"|Year
!align="left" valign="top"|Song
!align="center" valign="top" width="40"|<small>[[Billboard Hot 100|U.S. Hot 100]]<small>
!align="center" valign="top" width="40"|<small>[[Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks|U.S. R&B]]<small>
!align="center" valign="top" width="40"|<small>[[Hot Rap Tracks|U.S. Rap]]<small>
!align="left" valign="top"|Album
|-
|align="center" valign="top"|2006
|align="left" valign="top"|"[[Shoulder Lean]]" <small>''(featuring [[T.I.]])''</small>
|align="center" valign="top"|10
|align="center" valign="top"|'''''1'''''
|align="center" valign="top"|'''''1'''''
|align="left" valign="top"| ''[[Best Thang Smokin']]''
|-
|align="center" valign="top"|2006
|align="left" valign="top"|"[[Rubberband Banks]]"
|align="center" valign="top"|102
|align="center" valign="top"|44
|align="center" valign="top"|23
|align="left" valign="top"| ''[[Best Thang Smokin']]''
|-
|align="center" valign="top"|2007
|align="left" valign="top"|"My Girl"
|align="center" valign="top"|TBR
|align="center" valign="top"|TBR
|align="center" valign="top"|TBR
|align="left" valign="top"| ''[[Best Thang Smokin']]''
|-
|}
===Videography===
* 2005: Do Ya Thing (feat. [[P$C]])
* 2006: [[Shoulder Lean]] (feat. [[T.I.]])
* 2006: [[What You Know]] ([[T.I.]]) (Cameo)
* 2006: [[Front Back]] ([[T.I.]]) (Cameo)
* 2006: [[Why You Wanna]] ([[T.I.]]) (Cameo)
* 2006: [[Rubberband Banks]]
* 2006: [[Top Back]] Remix ([[T.I.]] feat. Young Dro, [[Young Jeezy]], [[P$C|Big Kuntry]], & [[B.G.]])
* 2006: [[We Fly High]] Remix ([[Jim Jones (rapper)|Jim Jones]] feat. [[T.I.]], Young Dro, [[Sean Combs|Diddy]], [[Baby (rapper)|Baby]], & [[Juelz Santana]])
===Guest Appearances===
*[[Top Back]] Remix ([[T.I.]] feat. Young Dro, [[Young Jeezy]], [[P$C|Big Kuntry]], & [[B.G.]])
*We Fly High Remix ([[Jim Jones (rapper)|Jim Jones]] feat. [[T.I.]], Young Dro, [[Sean Combs|Diddy]], [[Baby (rapper)|Baby]], & [[Juelz Santana]])
*One Blood Remix ([[The Game (rapper)|The Game]] feat. 2006 Hiphop Allstars)
*Tell Em What The Wanna Hear ([[Rashad Morgan|Rashad]] feat. [[T.I.]] & [[Young Dro]])
==Awards and nominations==
{| class= "wikitable"
|- bgcolor="#CCCCCC"
! Award !! Category !! Year !! Result
|-
| [[BET Hip Hop Awards]] || Element Award: Best Hip Hop Dance Of The Year (Shoulder Lean) || 2006 || Nominated
|-
| [[BET Hip Hop Awards]] || Best Collabo (Shoulder Lean with [[T.I.]]) || 2006 || Nominated
|-
| [[BET Hip Hop Awards]] || Bet Mobile Hot Ring Award (Shoulder Lean with T.I.) || 2006 || WON
|-
| The Dirty Awards || Best New Dirty || 2006 || Nominated
|-
| [[Ozone Magazine|The Ozone Awards]] || Patiently Waiting Award (Georgia) || 2006 || WON
|-
|}
==See also==
*[[R&B number-one hits of 2006 (USA)]]
==External links==
*[http://www.young-dro.com Young Dro's Official Site]
*[http://www.myspace.com/grandhustleyoungdro Young Dro's Myspace]
*[http://www.atlanticrecords.com/youngdro.com Young Dro's Artist Page on Atlantic Records]
*[http://grandhustle.com/youngdro.com Young Dro's Artist Page on Grand Hustle]
[[Category:1979 births]]
[[Category:People from Georgia (U.S. state)]]
[[Category:American rappers]]
[[Category:Rhythmic Top 40 acts]]
[[Category:African American musicians]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Atlanta]]
[[fr:Young Dro]]
| |||