Chingy et J-Kwon

The rapper known best to the wider public as Chingy - apparently, he decided that Howard Bailey, Jr. wasn’t quite ‘street’ enough for a career in urban music - is one of the more interesting propositions in recent years in hip hop; over the course of the noughties, he had a string of hits without ever truly breaking through in the classic sense of the term, instead often appearing as back up to the likes of Nelly on tour. Once he put an album out in his own right, though - his 2003 debut was entitled Jackpot - he pulled in high-profile favours from the likes of Snoop Dogg and Ludacris to ensure a platinum certification. In the years since, he’s failed to quite recapture what made him such a safe bet for a big single or a major feature spot back in his noughties heyday, but he remains active both on the road and in the studio; his forthcoming album, No Risk No Reward, may not have a set release date yet, but once it drops, expect UK dates to support it, that should follow the same format as recent U.S. appearances; a hype man, a backing track courtesy of a tour DJ, and some chaotic responses from the crowd.

Back in 2004, J-Kwon made his debut with ‘Tipsy’, a track that rediscovered a sense of genuine fun around a time that hip hop was crying out for something other than 50 Cent’s nauseating materialism. It was a major success both on the charts and in clubs across the world, and brought the rapper to wider attention, off the back of which he launched his debut album, Hood Hop, to mixed reviews. He kept himself in the limelight over the next few years, dropping sporadic tracks like ‘Get XXX’d’ for the film XXX: State of the Union, before releasing two records - Hood Hop and Hood Hop 2.5 - in 2009. A fourth, self-titled album appeared the following year. After a minor controversy in early 2010 saw his record label claim that he was a missing person - he confirmed that he was alive, well and simply taking a break around a month later - he’s largely stayed under the radar since, although he did turn in an energetic performance at the So So Def 20th Anniversary show last year, right around the same times he took pot shots at Odd Future on a diss track. It’s perhaps suggesting that he’s ready to return on a more permanent basis, although he’s going to need another ‘Tipsy’ to really make a mark.