Young Dro
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article or section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please help improve this article or replace this tag with a more specific message. This article has been tagged since July 2006. (help, talk) |
| Young Dro | ||
|---|---|---|
 The cover of Young Dro's debut album, Best Thang Smokin
|
||
| Background information | ||
| Birth name | D'Juan Hart | |
| Born | 1979 | |
| Origin | Bankhead, Georgia | |
| Genre(s) | Rap | |
| Occupation(s) | Rapper | |
| Years active | 2005 - present | |
| Label(s) | Grand Hustle/Atlantic Records | |
| Associated acts |
T.I., P$C | |
| Website | young-dro.com | |
Young Dro (born D'Juan Hart in Atlanta, Georgia in 1979) is an American rapper signed to T.I.'s label, Grand Hustle.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
Born in the Bankhead Court housing project. Young Dro grew up the second oldest of his mother’s five boys and somewhere amongst the middle seven of his father’s 12 children. Due to poverty, Dro had to live in a variety of housing complexes.
[edit] Tragedy
At the age of 16, he was shot in the stomach and the back and required almost a year to recover. Dro says of the incident “I had to wear a bag for like a year...I was traumatized from that. I couldn’t laugh. I couldn’t walk or nothing” [1]. He spent his late teens and early 20s in and out of jail. He began rapping in the 9th grade. T.I. has been a long-time supporter of Dro. "I had been trying to sign Dro since like '97, before I was even trying to get a deal for myself. Anyone with ears can hear he got talent." he said.[2].
[edit] Rise to fame
It was during these many moves in his teen years that he befriended the now Grand Hustle/Atlantic recording artist T.I.; neither of the two took music seriously at the time. Young Dro never considered a career in music until another one of his friends, Chris “Daddy Mack” Smith, scored platinum success as one half of early 90s duo Kris Kross.
To make his dream a reality, he first met pioneering southern rapper Raheem the Dream in the late 90s, who at the time had Pastor Troy and D4L front man Fabo signed to his local label. By the end of 2002, Young Dro's independent single “Yes Sir” and regional hit album "I Got That Dro" became fairly successful.
Around the same time, T.I. was preparing for his debut album I'm Serious. While he was promoting the album during a radio interview, Young Dro called the station and asked to talk to the fellow rapper. “I was like, ‘That sounds like my homeboy,’” Dro recalls, “he was like, ‘You the one who sings “Yes Man”? Man, meet me at the Bounce...We went up there and performed.”
That reuniting of two longtime friends evolved into Young Dro signing with Grand Hustle, T.I.'s record label and his major label debut, "Best Thang Smokin'." Among the tracks featured on the album, "Shoulder Lean" was chosen to be the lead single. Through the summer of 2006, the track gained momentum through out the South, and then nationally, as it was well-received among the hip-hop community. It received a decent amount of airplay on BET, and managed to climb to #3 spot in the U.S. Rap chart. On the 27th July 2006, Young Dro reached the #1 spot on both the Billboard Urban Monitor chart as well as the R&B Urban Mainstream chart. Simultanouesly, the video hit #1 during the previous week's "106 & Park" countdown on BET, in addition to securing the top spot on MTV2 where it's currently in "ELITE 8". Amazingly on top of that, Warner Music Group announced that the ringtone for Dro's single 'Shoulder Lean' had sold over 500,000 units.
Prior to Dro's "Best Thang Smokin'", he had worked with DJ Burn One of Atlanta, Georgia to produce the mixtape Future Legends Vol. 2, "I've Still Got That Dro", which was released in February of 2006. The album contained "over 18 exclusive new songs and freestyles, along with a collection of songs that could previously only be found on official Grand Hustle mixtapes, as well as a few tracks off his extremely rare first album "I Got That Dro"." [3] Though many of the songs never made it on the air, the mixtape featured previews of "Shoulder Lean" and "Rubberband Banks". Also included were many original songs featuring artists such as T.I., Alfamega, Mike Jones, and Big Kuntry King. Honorable mentions from the album were "I Ain't Lame", "Cartoon", "Dressed 2 Impress", "Blame it on the Dro", and "Ol Skool".
Dro will release his currently untitled sophomore album in late 2007. The first single is entitled "3 Young Niggaz", featuring Young Jeezy & Sean Paul of The YoungBloodz.
He is also featured in the It's Okay (One Blood) remix. Featuring 20 other rap stars.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
| Album cover | Album information |
|---|---|
 |
Best Thang Smokin'
|
 |
Young and the Restless
|
[edit] Singles
| Year | Song | U.S. Hot 100 | U.S. R&B | U.S. Rap | UK singles | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | "Shoulder Lean" (Feat. T.I.) | #10 | #1 | #1 | - | Best Thang Smokin' |
| 2006 | "Rubberband Banks" | #102 | #44 | #23 | - | Best Thang Smokin' |
| 2006 | "My Girl" | TBR | TBR | TBR | TBR | Best Thang Smokin' |
[edit] Videography
- 2005: Do Ya Thing (feat. P$C)
- 2006: Shoulder Lean (feat. T.I.)
- 2006: What You Know (T.I.)
- 2006: Front Back (T.I.)
- 2006: Why You Wanna (T.I.)
- 2006: Rubberband Banks
- 2006: Top Back (Remix) (T.I. feat. Young Dro, Young Jeezy, Big Kuntry, & B.G.)
- 2006: We Fly High (Remix) (Jim Jones feat. T.I., Young Dro, Diddy, Baby, & Juelz Santana)
[edit] Awards and nominations
| Award | Category | Year | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| BET Hip Hop Awards | Element Award: Best Hip Hop Dance Of The Year (Shoulder Lean) | 2006 | Nominated |
| BET Hip Hop Awards | Best Collabo (Shoulder Lean with T.I.) | 2006 | Nominated |
| BET Hip Hop Awards | Bet Mobile Hot Ring Award (Shoulder Lean with T.I.) | 2006 | WON |
| The Ozone Awards | Patiently Waiting Award (Georgia) | 2006 | WON |
