New Orleans rapper Chopper has inked a deal with Cash Money/Universal Records, as a result of his discontent at Bad Boy Records.
After a conversation with Cash Money’s Bryan “Baby” Williams, Chopper, who also goes by the name of Young City, decided to make the career-altering switch.
“It’s just one of those situations where, you know, I wasn’t new to [Cash Money/Universal]. I have seen them, grown up around them. I knew who was who,” Chopper told AllHipHop.com. “And you know, I wasn’t comfortable with P. Diddy–even though the album went platinum, ’cause I just couldn’t be myself. Then I talked to Baby- he said come over to Cash Money. Thing didn’t work out as first–you know how things are. But now I know it was destiny.”
Chopper received national attention as a member of Da Band on MTV’s Making The Band 2.
Although Da Band released a hit album in 2003 titled Too Hot For TV that debuted at #2 on Billboard’s Top 200 chart and moved over 200,000 copies the first week in stores, the group never realized its full potential.
Eventually, Chopper was signed to Bad Boy South as a solo artist.
Chopper chose to leave Bad Boy after he and his family were affected by Hurricane Katrina and a brief stint in jail, the result of armed robbery charges dating back to September of 2001.
He was eventually sentenced to two years of probation and 100 hours of community service.
“I made a smart move,” Chopper told AllHipHop.com. “It is a great feeling–a feeling I could only get with working with them. I’m proud to rock with Cash Money–and to get things started, I’m going to Miami on the 20th to work on the Ca$h M.O.E (Ca$h Money Over Everything) album.”
Ca$h M.O.E (Cash Money Over Everything) hits stores later this year.