Young Gunz
Young Gunz |
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The Young Gunz, composed of Young Chris (born Christopher F. Ries on October 7, 1983) & Young Neef aka Neef Buck (born Haneef Muhammad on December 29, 1983), is a Rap duo from Nicetown, North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are former members of Beanie Sigel's State Property collective and are currently signed to the Roc-A-Fella Records label. Young Gunz' debut single, "Can't Stop, Won't Stop", was one of the top 20 on the Billboard charts of 2003.
Early life
While growing up in the neighborhood of Nicetown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Haneef "Neef" Muhammad & Christopher "Young Chris" Ries made a promise to their mothers that they would someday "get them out the hood."
To achieve this goal, Chris & Neef apparently decided to sell narcotics. However, Neef was inspired by rap music and started to write rap lyrics and perform at the lunch table during middle school. He later encouraged his childhood friend, Chris (who, according to many critics and even Neef himself, would ironically become a better rapper), to stop selling drugs and form a rap group with him.
By high school the pair had a manager and the interest of major rap labels. This experience soon led to a record deal with Roc-A-Fella records. These events were eventually detailed in the title track to the group's debut album Tough Luv.
Early career
The duo signed with Roc-A-Fella in 1999 and immediately started recording with their labelmates, though an album never manifested itself. The first appearance of either member on a mainstream record was on the track "1-900-Hustler" from Jay-Z's multi-platinum album, The Dynasty: Roc La Familia. Though he didn't rap, Young Chris introduced himself during a skit on the song.
Later, on Jay-Z's next effort The Blueprint, the Young Gunz, who where simply called "Chris & Neef" at the time, got a high-profile shoutout from him on the vicious diss track "The Takeover" and in also another song on the album called "All I Need". This would cause some speculation and interest to who they were.
During this period, Chris and Neef continued to sell drugs, because of the neglect and small amount of work they were receiving from their label. The duo first rapped on and made a few guest appearances on the State Property soundtrack album as well as making small cameos in the movie itself. Also during this period of their career, Young Chris would carry the weight of the group appearing throughout Dame Dash's Dream Team compilation, and Beanie Sigel's The Reason. This would cause a slight rift between the two but they were eventually able to settle it and even record a song about it, releasing their emotions on the aforementioned "Tough Luv".
In turn, this altercation made them closer instead of tearing them apart. Neef soon realized his mistake and the pair stopped selling drugs (permanently) accepted all the guest appearances they could attain, and appeared on the second installment of Jay-Z's Blueprint album, Freeway's Philadelphia Freeway, State Property's The Chain Gang Vol. 2, and Memphis Bleek's M.A.D.E.; all while recording their album.
The Young Gunz scored their first hit single "Can't Stop, Won't Stop", the lead-off single from the Chain Gang Vol II album. The song and its video received major airplay on the MTV2 and BET networks and radio, leading the song to reach #14 on the Billboard charts.
Roc-A-Fella Albums
The guest appearances and State Property albums helped put Chris & Neef get on the Hip-Hop map. And after the success of their single, "Can't Stop, Won't Stop", the label jumped and was ready to release their debut album, Tough Luv. The album itself boasted features and production from the likes of artists and producers such as Jay-Z, Scott Storch, Just Blaze, Beanie Sigel, members of The Diplomats, Chingy & others. Chris & Neef scored moderate success with the remix to "Can't Stop, Won't Stop" which features a guest appearance by St. Louis rapper, Chingy and Trina. The duo followed up with the hit record "No Better Love", featuring former Roc-A-Fella Records crooner Rell. Their third single was the Just Blaze produced "Friday Night". The album received solid reviews and a 3.5 rating from the Source magazine. The album debuted on the Billboard 200 at #3 after selling 128,000 copies in its first week. That week, the album at #2 was the debut album of labelmate Kanye West, which was released just two weeks prior to Tough Luv. The Young Gunz went on to achieve Gold status in sales from the debut album.[1]
After a brief hiatus, the duo returned with Swizz Beatz produced "Set It Off" from their second album, Brothers from Another. This albums, which was released May, 24th 2005, sales were somewhat of a disappointment compared to the first, despite the decent exposure of the lead single, promotion from Jay-Z himself, TV, radio & magazine appearances. It was the second release from the "new" Roc-A-Fella Records, referencing when Jay-Z became president of Def Jam Records, the first being Memphis Bleek's 534. The album debuted on the Billboard 200 at #15, and included guest features from Kanye West, Swizz Beatz, Slim of 112 (Marvin Scandrick III) and John Legend.[2]
"Beefs" with other Rap Artists
The Young Gunz were part of a public beef and a war of words with West Coast rapper, The Game. The feud stems from The Game's beef with Memphis Bleek, which escalated into a beef with the entire Roc-A-Fella camp with the exception of Kanye West, Jay-Z and Just Blaze. The Game dissed Bleek and The Young Gunz on a 15-minute G-Unit diss entitled "300 Bars and Runnin'" as well as on his mix-tape album "Ghost Unit". The Young Gunz, along with Pooda Brown, responded with a freestyle of their own. Surprisingly, Chris & Neef also beefed with actor, comedian and now Dipset rapper, Katt "Money Mike" Wiliams. This beef stemmed from Set It Off by the Young Gunz, in which they called Katt Williams, a "fake ass pimp." This beef was encouraged by The Game as he and Katt dissed the two on a Freestyle over their own "Set It Off" beat.[3]
Formerly, when State Property was still together before Beanie Segil's incarceration, the Young Gunz had beef with the entire D-Block crew as well as Nas & the Bravehearts but, the beef has been squashed, evidenced by when they all performed together at Jay-Z's "I Declare War" concert.
There was friction between the State Property stable during Segil's prison time, and after he was released, State Porperty was unofficially broken up. Since that time, they have mended the fences and are suppose to bring out a new State Property album via Def Jam in 2008/09.[4]
Discography
Albums
| 2004 | Tough Luv
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| 2005 | Brothers From Another |
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| 2008 | Now or Never (Young Chris Solo) |
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| 2005 | Rapid Fire (with Pooda Brown)
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Singles
| Year | Song | U.S. Hot 100 | U.S. R&B | U.S. Rap | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | "Can't Stop, Won't Stop | 14 | 10 | 6 | The Chain Gang Vol. 2 |
| 2004 | "No Better Love | 36 | 15 | 11 | Tough Luv |
| 2004 | "Friday Night | - | 44 | 21 | Tough Luv |
| 2005 | "Set It Off | - | 52 | - | Brothers From Another |
| 2005 | "Don't Keep Me Waiting (Come Back Soon) | - | - | - | Brothers From Another |
Music Video and Movie Appearances
From Beanie Sigel's The Reason
- 2001: "Think It's A Game" (Young Chris - performing, Neef - cameo)
From State Property OST
- 2001: "Roc the Mic" (cameo)
From Dame Dash's Paid in Full OST/Dream Tream
- 2002: "One For Peedi" (Young Chris - performing, Neef - cameo)
From Jay-Z's The Blueprint 2: the Gift & the Curse
- 2003: "Excuse Me Miss" (cameo)
From Freeway's Philadelphia Freeway
- 2003: "Flipside" (cameo)
- 2003: "Alright" (cameo)
From Bad Boys II OST
- 2003: "Flipside" (cameo)
From The Chain Gang, Vol. 2
- 2003: "Can't Stop, Won't Stop"
From Tough Luv
- 2003: "Can't Stop, Won't Stop [Remix]"
- 2004: "No Better Love"
- 2004: "Friday Night"
From Memphis Bleek's 534
- 2005: "Like That" (cameo)
From Brothers from Another
- 2005: " Set It Off"
- 2006: "Don't Keep Me Waiting (Come Back Soon)" (feat. Slim Of 112)
From Teairra Mari's Roc-a-fella Presents...Teairra Mari
- 2005: "Make Her Feel Good" (cameo)
- State Property 2 (2005)
- Fade to Black (2004)
- State Property (2002)
References
- ^ Norah #1, Young Gunz Hot Shot Debut | Billboard
- ^ Audioslave Opens at #1 | Billboard
- ^ [www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTAc7gEjt-Q Katt Williams & Game "Set it Off"]
- ^ Roc-A-Fella Remaining At Def Jam ... For Now