Chalie Boy
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Chalie Boy |
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Charles Williams, better known by his stage name Chalie Boy. He is a Southern rapper and singer from Central Texas who made his major-label debut in 2009 with the breakout hit single "I Look Good".[1]
Early life
Born in the vicinity of Calvert, TX[2] (the hometown of his father) and Hearne, TX (the hometown of his mother), two small cities in Robertson County, Charles began singing in his church choir at the age of three. He was heavily influenced by artists that fused hip-hop and R&B, like UGK, Run-D.M.C., Nate Dogg, Screwed Up Click legend, Big Moe, Scarface, Luther Vandross, Gerald Levert and Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five, as well as blues legends Bobby "Blue" Bland, B.B. King, and Johnny Taylor.
Music career
2000-2004: The Freestyle Kingz / Chalie Boy & Tite
In 2000, Charles made his rapping debut, being featured on a mixtape for Texas underground group known as the Freestyle Kingz, performing under DJ Bull's independent record label Dirty 3rd Records. From this point on, Charles Williams performed under the name Chalie Boy.
The members of the Freestyle Kingz included Tite, Da Ryno, Big Redd, Big Ake, Lil' Sho, Sir Coop and Bubba Luv. The group became very popular in the Texas underground scene, including a few other southern states. The group would go on to release around 30 underground titles, including the group's only studio album in 2002 titled Off Tha Chain. The album featured production by platinum producers Carnival Beats. This album sold over 40,000 copies independently, and featured the single Candy (featuring Slim Thug). Other popular songs from the album included 20's, Uh Oh and A King.
The public quickly took notice of two members in particular, Chalie Boy & Tite. The duo always remained and were recognized as members of the Freestyle Kingz, but they also releases 4 projects together under the same label. The duo became so popular, that it even seemed like at some point, the duo would release an album. For a number of months, fans heard and saw promotion of an upcoming release titled Long Time Comin featuring Chalie Boy & Tite, but the title was never released.
Despite the success and popularity of the group, members of the label began to different reasons The only members left that remain with the label today are Da Ryno and Chalie Boy. The group name is still occasionally referenced in the recordings of the two members. But officially, the Freestyle Kingz is no longer an official group.
2004-2008: The Versatyle Child
By 2004, Chalie was ready to break out on his own and released his first solo mixtape titled Makin’ My Way, which sold over 20,000 copies. A year later, a collection of original tracks and mixtape records were released as Chalie Boy’s Greatest Hits. The series was so successful that it spawned three more volumes over the next four years that have become equally popular.
In 2005, Austin, TX. DJ, Rapid Ric, took notice of Chalie and invited him into a group Rapid Ric put together known as The Whut It Dew Family, a name based on Rapid Ric's popular mixtape series Whut It Dew. The group also consisted of members Magno, Mr. Blakes, Black Mike, Gerald G, and fellow Dirty 3rd Records label mate, Da Ryno. Rapid Ric featured the group in different variations through his mixtape releases.
In 2006, DJ Rapid Ric and Chalie Boy worked together to release The Versatyle Child, which included his first regional hit, Bumpa Grill. This mixtape became so popular that it began to expose Chalie to an even wider audience because of Rapid Ric's popularity and success as a club and mixtape DJ. Despite the group of The Whut It Dew Family losing members, the two continued to work together, including a follow-up release titled The Return of The Versatyle Child.
During the years of 2007 and 2008, Chalie Boy began to release even more underground releases, while recording material for his debut solo studio album titled Makin' My Way 2.
2009-Present: The Record Deal
In January of 2009, Dirty 3rd Records released Chalie Boy's newest single titled I Look Good. This single became a big hit in the clubs and radio and was first popular on the Houston radio station KBXX and the Dallas stations KBFB and KKDA before getting nationwide airplay.
In June of 2009, the label filmed a music video for I Look Good and later debuted it on [www.chalieboytv.com ChalieBoyTV], Chalie Boy's official YouTube page.
In September of 2009, Chalie Boy signed with Battery/Jive Records, a division of Sony Music. The I Look Good music video was premiered on BET's [106_%26_Park|106 & Park] video countdown and debuted on the countdown at the number 10 position, and reaching as high as the Number 4 position. A few remixes began to surface on the Internet by numerous artists. An official remix was released to radio and iTunes, which featured southern rappers Slim Thug, Juvenile, and Bun B.
In December of 2009, Chalie Boy released a street album titled I'm Here, hosted by DJ Mr. Rogers which has received over 20,000 plays on [DatPiff.com].
Discography
Major Albums
- TBA (2010)
Singles
- Bumpa Grill (2007)
- Pullin’ Up (Remix) (Featuring Magno) (2008)
- I Look Good (2009)
Street Albums
- I’m Here (2009)
Group Albums
- Off Tha Chain (w/ The Freestyle Kingz) (2002)
Mixtapes
- Best of Chalie Boy & Tite (2002)
- A Gentleman & A Gangsta (w/ Tite) (2002)
- Underground Hitz (w/ Tite) (2003)
- Still Standin’ (w/ Tite) (2003)
- Makin’ My Way (2004)
- It’s Not A Game (w/ Big Ake & Big Redd) (2004)
- Greatest Hits (2005)
- The Versatyle Child (2006)
- Greatest Hits 2 (2006)
- CHALIEMIXES (2007)
- The Return of The Versatyle Child (2008)
- Greatest Hits 3 (2008)
- Chalie Boy & Friends (2009)
- Catch Me @ The Relays 2K9 (2009)
- @D3CHALIEBOY (2009)
- Chalie Boy & Friends 2 (2009)
- Greatest Hits 4: The Rapid Ric Files (2009)