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Webbie
Background information
Birth name	Webster Gradney, Jr.
Born	September 6, 1985 (1985-09-06) (age 23)
Origin	Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States
Genre(s)	Hip hop
Years active	2000–present
Label(s)	Asylum/Trill/Atlantic/Warner Bros.
Associated acts	UGK, Lil Boosie, 3 Deep
Website	www.webbiemuzik.com

Webster Gradney, Jr. (born September 6, 1985), better known by his stage name Webbie, is an American rapper from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He was signed to the independent Trill Entertainment label from 2003 to 2005.¹ In 2005 he came into the hip hop scene in with "Gimme That" featuring Bun B. His songs "Bad Bitch" and "Swerve" were featured on Gangsta Musik, his 2003 group album with Lil' Boosie, and in the 2005 movie Hustle & Flow. Both songs are also on Webbie's debut album Savage Life which was released on the summer of 2005 under Atlantic Records.¹ He is currently planning an independent biography movie called Ghetto Stories: The Movie with Lil' Boosie based on their lives and lyrical themes.²

Contents 1 Early life 2 Music career 3 Personal life 4 Discography 4.1 Albums 4.1.1 Collaboration 4.2 Singles 4.2.1 Solo 4.2.2 Other charted songs 4.2.3 Featured Songs 4.3 Mixtapes 5 References 6 External links

Early life

Webbie was born September 6, 1985 as Webster Gradney, Jr. in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.¹ His mother Joycelyn died of cancer when he was eight years old, so his parental care was split between his father and grandmother.³ Ever since he was five years old, he had been writing rhymes, and throughout his childhood he had become an avid fan of hardcore rap artists including Southern hip hop performers Master P, Eightball & MJG, the Geto Boys, and UGK, as well as West Coast rap such as 2Pac, Eazy-E, and Snoop Dogg. His admiration for hip-hop is attributed to his cousin from California.³ He attended Broadmoor Middle School, where he played quarterback for the football team the Buccaneers. 7th grade math teacher Sean Fluharty described Gradney as a "quiet, mild-mannered student" and said "he was actually pretty good at math."³

Things changed for him one day in the fall of 2001 after he made a freestyle rap about his late mother.⁴ Thus, he was signed to independent label Trill Entertainment by rapper Pimp C of UGK.¹

Music career

Under Trill, he recorded two albums in collaboration with fellow Baton Rouge-based rapper Lil' Boosie, Ghetto Stories in 2003 and Gangsta Musik in 2004. As Webbie's solo tracks "Gimme Dat" (featuring Bun B of UGK) and "Bad Bitch" were frequently featured in mixtapes, Trill began a deal to sign Webbie to the Warner Bros. Records subsidiary label Atlantic Records. He was signed there, and his major-label debut Savage Life was released in 2005¹, debuting at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.⁵ In 2007, he wrote and performed on the track "Wipe Me Down" by rapper Foxx and began work on his follow-up album Savage Life 2 which was released February 26, 2008.⁶ It debuted at number four on the Billboard Hot 100, selling 72,000 copies its debut week.⁷ Singles from Savage Life 2 include "Independent" featuring Lil' Boosie and Lil Phat and "I Miss You" featuring [LeToya Luckett].

Personal life

On September 14, 2008, Gradney was arrested in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, after he led police on a high-speed chase following their attempt to pull him over for a traffic violation. Gradney crashed into another vehicle and was booked at the Forrest County Regional Jail on charges of one count of felony eluding, one count of driving under the influence, and one misdemeanor count of possession of marijuana.⁸

Discography

Albums

Year	Title	Chart positions910
		U.S.	U.S. R&B	U.S. Rap
2005	Savage Life	8	4	4
2008	Savage Life 2	4	1	1

Collaboration

Year	Title	Chart positions
		U.S.	U.S. R&B	U.S. Rap	U.S. Heatseekers
2003	Ghetto Stories (with Lil Boosie)	—	56	—	—
2004	Gangsta Musik (with Lil Boosie)	—	35	14	11
2007	Trill Entertainment Presents: Survival of the Fittest (with Lil Boosie, Foxx, Webbie & Trill Fam)11	14	3	2

Singles

Solo

Year	Title	Chart positions12				RIAA certification	Album
		U.S.	U.S. R&B	U.S. Rap	U.S. Pop
2005	"Give Me That" (featuring Bun B)	29	8	4	72	Gold	Savage Life
	"Bad Bitch [Remix]" (featuring Trina)	120	48	-	-	-
	"How U Ridin'"	-	9113	-	-	-
2007	"Independent" (featuring Lil Phat & Lil Boosie)	9	5	1	27	-	Savage Life 2

Other charted songs

Year	Title	Chart positions	Album
		U.S. R&B
2005	"What Is It"	10914	Savage Life
	"Like That"	6812
2007	"I Miss You" (featuring LeToya)	6412	Savage Life 2

Featured Songs

Year	Song	U.S. Hot 100	U.S. R&B	U.S. Rap	Album
2007	"Wipe Me Down [Remix]" (Foxx featuring Lil Boosie & Webbie)	38	8	4	Trill Entertainment Presents: Survival of the Fittest
2009	"Bizzy Body " (Paul Wall featuring Webbie & Mouse)	67	8	13	Fast Life
2009	"Ugh Ugh Ugh " (Juicy J featuring Webbie & Project Pat)				Hustle Till I Die

Mixtapes

• The Savage Mixtape Vol. 1
  • Released: April 19, 2006
  • Label: Trill Entertainment

• Gangsta Grillz #14 (With DJ Drama)

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} Jeffries, David (2005). "Webbie - Biography". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:apftxqesldhe~T1. Retrieved on 2008-04-19. 
2. ^ "Trill Fam - Survival of the Fittest". Asylum Records. 2007. http://www.asylumrecords.com/new/bio.php?bio=30. Retrieved on 2008-04-19. 
3. ^ ^{a b c} "Webbie - Biography". Yahoo! Music. Atlantic Records. 2005. http://music.yahoo.com/ar-17973444-bio--Webbie. Retrieved on 2008-04-19. 
4. ^ "Webbie - Full Biography". MTV. http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/webbie/artist.jhtml#bio. Retrieved on 2008-04-19. 
5. ^ Whitmire, Margo (2005-07-13). "R. Kelly "Reloads" at No. 1". Billboard. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/search/google/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000978160. Retrieved on 2008-04-19. 
6. ^ Crosley, Hillary (2008-01-07). "Webbie's Next "Life" Due In Late February". Billboard. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003693408. Retrieved on 2008-04-19. 
7. ^ Harris, Chris (2008-03-05). "Janet Jackson Teaches Jack Johnson Discipline, Claims Sixth #1 Debut". MTV News. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1582799/20080305/jackson_janet.jhtml. Retrieved on 2008-04-19. 
8. ^ Webbie Arrested In Mississippi After A High Speed Chase BallerStatus.com
9. ^ "Gangsta Musik > Charts & Awards". allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:wjfyxqealdhe~T30. Retrieved on 2008-12-07. 
10. ^ "Webbie - Billboard Albums". Allmusic. 2008. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:apftxqesldhe~T5. Retrieved on 2008-04-19. 
11. ^ ""Survival of the Fittest" - Charts & Awards". Allmusic. 2007. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:3pfixzl5ld6e~T3. Retrieved on 2008-04-19. 
12. ^ ^{a b c} "Webbie - Billboard Singles". Allmusic. 2008. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:apftxqesldhe~T51. Retrieved on 2008-04-19. 
13. ^ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/chart_display.jsp?cfi=367&cfgn=Singles&cfn=Hot+R%26amp%3BB%2FHip-Hop+Songs&ci=3063061&cdi=8502357&cid=12%2F17%2F2005
14. ^ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/chart_display.jsp?cfi=345&cfgn=Singles&cfn=Bubbling+Under+R%26amp%3BB%2FHip-Hop+Singles&ci=3063817&cdi=8529842&cid=01%2F21%2F2006

External links

• Official website
• Trill Ent.
• Webbie at MySpace
• Profile at Rolling Stone
• [1] at "Twitter"

v • d • e Webbie Albums Savage Life · Savage Life 2 Singles "Give Me That" · "Bad Bitch" · "Independent"  · "I Miss You" Featured singles "Wipe Me Down" Related articles Trill Entertainment