What’s in a name?
I’d imagine 2 Chainz (ne Tauheed Epps, formerly known as the extremely unfortunate and perpetually head scratch inducing Tity Boi) would say “a whole lot.”
2 Chainz’s T.R.U. REALigion mixtape just hit the net this week to much fanfare and mostly solid reviews and word of mouth (from what I can gather). People seem genuinely excited, as if a new bastion of Atlanta trap rap has arrived on the scene. Perplexingly, CyHi the Prynce’s “Emotional,” a cut from CyHi’s 2010 mixtape Royal Flush 2, 2 Chainz even refers to himself as part of the new Atlanta. 2 Chainz is experiencing a career renaissance, it seems. Hell, he’s even been interviewed by Forbes this week. Which is about as perplexing as it sounds.
But 2 Chainz has been around for almost 14 years, as a member of Playaz Circle and a solo artist. Though he may have superficially been reborn as 2 Chainz, he is still very much the same rapper he was as Tity Boi: a serviceable, occasionally very entertaining gangsta rapper. I haven’t listened to the entire tape yet, but, unless I’m mistaken, he hasn’t suddenly transformed into a conscious rapper, or a punchline expert, or political firebrand.
All that considered, I choose to remember him as Tity Boi. To that I end, he is forever etched in my memory as the second batter up on Ludacris’ “We Got,” a bizarre ode to guns with a beat built around something that sounds like a marimba, a string pad, a cough sound effect, and occasional rapid fire gunshot snares. Tity Boi drops a solid verse, I-20 compares himself to J-Lo, Chingy says something about having sex with his gun (now how wasn’t this guy a bigger success??), and Ludacris swoops in at the end with a stellar performance, showing everyone up as usual. Yeah…no wonder Tity Boi changed his name. Aside from the minor problem that I’m not sure any radio DJ or TV host was actually allowed to call him by his name. Just a minor problem, I’m sure.
Enjoy “We Got” and download T.R.U. REALigion here.
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