2 Chainz
Tauheed Epps, known professionally as 2 Chainz, is an American rapper, songwriter, and actor. Born and raised in College Park, Georgia, he gained recognition as one-half of the Southern hip-hop duo Playaz Circle, alongside hometown rapper Earl "Dolla Boy" Conyers. The duo signed with fellow Georgia-based rapper Ludacris' Disturbing tha Peace label and became best known for their 2007 debut single "Duffle Bag Boy".
In February 2012, Epps signed a solo recording contract with Def Jam Recordings, a subsidiary of Universal Music Group. In April of that year, his guest performance on Kanye West's single, "Mercy" marked his first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 as a solo act, peaking at number 13. His debut studio album, Based on a T.R.U. Story, was preceded by the double platinum-certified singles "No Lie" and "Birthday Song", peaked atop the Billboard 200, and spawned the top 40 single "I'm Different", although critical reception was mixed. His second album, B.O.A.T.S. II: Me Time, was led by the single "Feds Watching" and saw improved critical reception despite a slight commercial decline. His subsequent albums— ColleGrove, Pretty Girls Like Trap Music, Rap or Go to the League, So Help Me God!, and Dope Don't Sell Itself —were released to moderate commercial success. After the release of his collaborative album with Lil Wayne, Welcome 2 Collegrove, he parted ways with Def Jam in 2024.
Epps has won a Grammy Award from six nominations; his guest appearance on Chance the Rapper's 2016 single "No Problem" won Best Rap Performance. His other accolades include three BET Awards from 11 nominations, and five BET Hip Hop Awards from 19 nominations. He has also hosted Vice TV's 2017 reality series Most Expensivest, in which he reviews luxury consumer goods; it aired for four seasons.
Early life
2 Chainz was born Tauheed Epps in College Park, Georgia. He attended North Clayton High School, where he played basketball and graduated second in his class. While in high school, he dealt marijuana and was arrested for felony cocaine possession when he was 15 years old.College basketball career
He later attended Alabama State University on a scholarship and played on its basketball team from 1996 to 1997. His jersey number was 23.Rolling Stone asked 2Chainz about longstanding rumors, widely reported by many sources, in addition to Wikipedia, that he had graduated from Alabama State with a 4.0GPA. He replied, "Don't believe anything on Wack-ipedia. There's a lot of false stuff on there, to the point that every time I try to fix one thing, something else comes out." In fact, he transferred to Virginia State University due to circumstances he was reluctant to speak about. "I got into some trouble, went somewhere else, and came back. But I graduated, and that's that. That was then," he said.
Statistics
Musical career
1997–2010: Playaz Circle and Disturbing tha Peace
Epps formed the hip-hop duo Playaz Circle in College Park, Georgia, in 1997, with his high school friend Earl Conyers, while Epps adopted "Tity Boi" as his moniker. Following the release of an independent album titled United We Stand, United We Fall, the duo was introduced to fellow Atlanta rapper Ludacris when he moved into their College Park apartment complex while he was acting as a DJ. After taking interest in Playaz Circle, Ludacris began to record several songs with the group, playing some of them on his radio station.Ludacris soon became one of the highest-selling rappers in the Southern United States. After hearing of their situation, Ludacris requested from Epps that the duo join his newly formed record label, Disturbing Tha Peace, a subsidiary of Def Jam Recordings. Epps agreed to sign, although Conyers did not officially join the label until his mother regained her health a year after the initial signing.
The duo's release their debut album, Supply & Demand, on October 30, 2007. Their lead single and debut track, "Duffle Bag Boy", became urban hit. Featuring Lil Wayne, they performed the song at the BET Hip Hop Awards. The duo released their second studio album, Flight 360: The Takeoff, on September 29, 2009. In January 2010, Playaz Circle filmed a music video for the single "Big Dawg" featuring Lil Wayne and Birdman, at Studio Space Atlanta. Shortly afterwards, Epps left Disturbing tha Peace to advance his career. Although Ludacris was initially reluctant, feeling Epps could still be financially successful, he eventually accepted the decision.
2011–2012: Name change and ''Based on a T.R.U. Story''
Epps faced allegations of sexism for his original pseudonym, "Tity Boi", although he has repeatedly denied such accusations. In early 2011, he decided to change his stage name to "2 Chainz," as he perceived it to be more "family–friendly." Regarding the name change, he further explained to Vibe magazine: "The name Tity Boi actually came from my big mama, from me being spoiled and an only child—breastfed. My mama called me Tity Boi, my dad called me Tity Man, my hood called me Tit so when we was trying to rap I had been going by Tit my whole life, Tit, Tity, Tity Man —it's just like a country nickname —term for being an only child." Following the name change, Epps released a mixtape titled T.R.U. REALigion, which became his first mixtape to appear on the music charts, peaking at number 58 on the US Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. After the success of the mixtape, Epps made numerous guest appearances on tracks by prominent artists such as Kanye West and Nicki Minaj.On March 24, 2012, Epps announced that his debut studio album, originally titled T.R.U. to My REALigion, would be renamed Based on a T.R.U. Story and released on August 14, 2012. The album's lead single, "No Lie," featured Canadian rapper Drake, was released on May 8, 2012. On May 11, rumors spread that Epps had signed with Kanye West's GOOD Music label after West tweeted, "2 Chainz is charging 100k for a verse now cause he's G.O.O.D!!!!!" However, Epps later denied those rumors, saying, "He just said I'm good, like I'm ill. But we was talking and I think I was jeopardizing my brand sometimes by doing the homeboy special. So I think he felt like we should just put that out there that we ain't doing no more of that." On May 30, 2012, 2 Chainz was featured on Ciara's promotional single "Sweat," the intended lead single from her fifth studio album, One Woman Army.
Based on a T.R.U. Story debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, selling 147,000 copies in its first week. The album received mixed reviews, earning a score of 55 on metacritic. By September 23, 2012, it had sold 288,000 copies in the United States. That September, Epps performed at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards alongside his longtime friend Lil Wayne. After releasing his debut album, Based on a T.R.U. Story, Epps made significant strides. He organized his first solo worldwide tour, selling out most of its dates. He was nominated for over 13 BET Hip Hop Awards, and he won four; he earned The Source Magazine's "Man of the Year" award, released collaborative endeavors with ADIDAS and later Beats By Dre; and received nominations for three Grammy Awards, including Best Rap Album.
2012–2015: ''B.O.A.T.S. II: Me Time'' and ''ColleGrove''
In late 2012, Epps stated that once he completed the B.O.A.T.S. concert tour, he would reenter the studio. In November 2012, he revealed he was three songs deep into his second studio album. The album's estimated release date was April 2013. The rapper made a guest appearance on NBC's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in an episode that aired on May 8, 2013. He also appeared as himself in the second season of the CBS sitcom 2 Broke Girls, where he traveled on the same private planes as the two main characters. On May 23, 2013, he announced that he would release his second studio album, B.O.A.T.S. II: Me Time, on September 10, 2013. On June 2, 2013, Epps premiered the first single from the album, titled "Feds Watching," at the Hot 97's Summer Jam. The song features Pharrell Williams, and they recorded it on the night of the 2013 Grammy Awards. On June 15, Epps announced the title of his second album would be B.O.A.T.S. II: Me Time. Def Jam Recordings released the album on September 10, 2013.B.O.A.T.S. II: Me Time featured guest appearances from Pharrell Williams, Fergie, Drake, Lil Wayne, Pusha T, Mase, Chrisette Michele, Iamsu!, T-Pain, Dolla Boy, Rich Homie Quan, and Lloyd. Diplo, Mike WiLL Made It, Drumma Boy, J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, Mannie Fresh, Wonder Arillo, Honorable C.N.O.T.E., and DJ Toomp handled the production of the album. The single "Used 2," along with the promotional singles "Where U Been?" and "Netflix," support it. Music critics generally gave the album positive reviews. It also fared decently commercially, debuting at number three on the US Billboard 200 and number two on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, selling 63,000 copies in its first week.
On October 23, 2013, Epps revealed that he had begun working on his third studio album immediately after the release of B.O.A.T.S. II. He also stated that he had the first single from his third album ready for release and that he still wanted to get Jay-Z featured on the album. In November 2015, 2 Chainz revealed that he was releasing a joint album with Lil Wayne, titled ColleGrove. On May 5, 2014, Epps released a brand new EP titled FreeBase for free digital download. The album featured seven songs and collaborations with Lil Boosie, A$AP Rocky, Rick Ross, and other artists. The EP earned over 200,000 downloads. In January 2014, Epps released a promotional single titled "I'm a Dog."