Young Buck

Young Buck
Background information
Born	March 15, 1981 (1981-03-15) (age 29) Nashville, Tennessee, United States
Genres	Hip hop
Occupations	Rapper, CEO, Actor
Years active	1999–present
Labels	G-Unit Records, Cashville, Real Talk
Associated acts	G-Unit, Young Jeezy, Spider Loc, T.I.
Website	www.young-buck.com

David Darnell Brown(born March 15, 1981^[1]), better known by his stage name Young Buck, is an American rapper who is signed to G-Unit Records and Cashville Records. Buck is a former member of the New York City-based hip hop group G-Unit.

Biography

Early life

Prior to rapping, David Brown was selling narcotics.^[2] Around the age of twelve, Brown began to rap, followed by recording in a studio around age fourteen. Shortly thereafter, he was given an opportunity to perform to Brian "Baby" Williams, co-founder of Cash Money Records. Williams was impressed and signed Brown to Cash Money. Brown then dropped out of high school to tour with the label for four years.^[2]

After several years on and off of Cash Money Records, Brown and fellow rapper Juvenile decided to leave the label for good in 2000^[3] and went to UTP Records, where he stayed until 2003.^[4]

His deal with UTP later led to a meeting with New York rapper 50 Cent who later signed Buck to G-Unit Records, under Interscope Records.^[2]

G-Unit

50 Cent gave Young Buck a feature on his commercially successful debut album Get Rich or Die Tryin' on the track "Blood Hound". After this, he appeared on G-Unit's debut album, Beg for Mercy, which certified 2x Platinum.^[5][6] Young Buck then released his debut album, Straight Outta Cashville, in 2004, with its follow-up, Buck the World being released in 2007.

On April 7, 2008 in an interview with Miss Jones on New York's Hot 97, 50 Cent stated that Young Buck was no longer a member of the group G-Unit but was still signed to G-Unit Records.^[7]

Solo career

After Young Buck was dismissed from the group, he began to slander the name "G-Unit" in numerous different ways. He released numerous tracks attacking not only the group, but their associates and, more specifically, group leader 50 Cent. 50 Cent and G-Unit also responded with many tracks, including one particular instance in which 50 Cent released a phone call he had recorded with Young Buck, which featured the Tennessee native weeping and apologizing for numerous things.^[8] After this happened, Young Buck responded, stating that the call was a fake, that happened one year prior to its release, and claimed that only police record phone calls.^[9]

After a lengthy battle between Young Buck and his former G-Unit comrades, the feud seemed to settle down, with Young Buck stating that he owed one more album for G-Unit Records which would be released in 2009, then titled The Rehab.^[10] In other interviews, he's stated that he doesn't have a problem with 50 Cent or G-Unit anymore, but is currently doing his "own thing". He also stated that although he's still signed to G-Unit Records, he's trying to get out of the contract, and he's no longer signed to Interscope.^[11][12]

He is currently signed to his own label Cashville Records, and signed with Real Talk Ent. in 2010.

Unpaid taxes

On August 2, 2010, Brown's home was entered by U.S. Federal Agents who seized any valuable assets from the rapper due to years of unpaid taxes. The action was taken in response to Brown owing $300,000 in taxes, despite his lawyers' efforts to protect his assets.^[13] In regards to the incident, Brown was quoted as saying:

Bankruptcy filing

Brown filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy protection on August 5, 2010, shortly after the IRS raid on his home.^[14] His bankruptcy lawyer later told The City Paper that he was planning to sue Curtis Jackson (50 Cent) and other parties over the record contract dispute.^[15]

Cashville Records

In 2006, Young Buck began preparation on creating a record label named "G-Unit South". After Interscope was not to be the distributing label, he could not use the "G-Unit" name, which is when he decided upon using the name "Cashville".^[16]

After numerous artists were signed, including Outlawz and C-Bo, a deal was secured with RED Distribution.^[17] In 2009, after he was dismissed from the G-Unit group, Young Buck began putting more effort into his label stating that even without a major label deal, he will still be relevant in the music industry.^[11]

Albums

Debut album

After being with G-Unit for a little over a year, Young Buck released his debut album, Straight Outta Cashville, a portmanteau reflecting the name of Young Buck's home city, Nashville, Tennessee.

Straight Outta Cashville has been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America^[18] with over 1.1 million sales in the U.S.^[19] and 2.3 million Worldwide.^[20][21]

Second album

Young Buck's second album, Buck the World was released worldwide on March 27, 2007.

Buck the World debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and No. 1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, with sales of 141,083 in the first week.^[22]

Third album

Young Buck's third album, The Rehab, is set to be released on September 7, 2010.

The album's release was promised since early 2008, but was repeatedly pushed back due to Young Buck's problems with G-Unit and 50 Cent.^[23] At one point, Buck made an exaggerated claim when he said that The Rehab will sell a million copies in its first week to buy himself out of his contract with G-Unit Records.^[24] In 2010, Young Buck called The Rehab a "street album," and said that he plans on releasing another album after he releases this album, which will contain all the tracks with features on them.^[25]

Controversy

VIBE Awards incident

On November 15, 2004, Jimmy James Johnson approached Dr. Dre at the VIBE Awards and reportedly asked for an autograph before Dr. Dre was about to go on stage. After Dr. Dre declined, Johnson punched him in the back of the head before running towards the nearest exit. A brawl ensued with several uniformed police officers attempting to break up the fight. Chairs were thrown, and it was alleged that Young Buck stabbed Johnson in the chest with a knife.^[26] After video evidence was uncovered from the awards ceremony, the Santa Monica Police Department issued an arrest warrant for him.^[27] In a preliminary hearing, it was ruled that there was enough evidence to proceed with a jury trial. However, in December 2005, a deal was reportedly struck that would see Young Buck avoid trial.^[28]

The Game

After The Game was kicked out of G-Unit for being disloyal, Young Buck as well as new West Coast G-Unit act rapper Spider Loc who had signed to G-Unit Records in September 2004, called him to task for dissing the group and label. The Game then released a track entitled "240 Bars" which insulted both Spider Loc and Young Buck. Young Buck then released a track called "The Real Bitch Boy", which featured Spider Loc and used a beat from The Game's track, "Where I'm from". In the song, Young Buck talks about how he didn't even know The Game when he mentions The Game's name on "Poppin' Them Thangs". Also, Young Buck talks about The Game being a male stripper and also how 50 Cent helped The Game to be successful with his album The Documentary.

The feud has continued to escalate, with there being an exchange of many tracks. In February 2007, The Game and Young Buck got into a non-physical altercation at a club, during the NBA All-Star Weekend in Las Vegas. The last time that they were seen together was when The Game was part of G-Unit.^[29]

After being dismissed from G-Unit, Young Buck appeared on a remix to The Game's song Game's Pain,^[30] as well as appearing in the music video to the song My Life, which featured another former rival, Lil Wayne.^[31] A mixtape by The Game and Young Buck was also confirmed,^[32] though as of 2009, it has not materialized.

Lil Wayne

Young Buck released a song featuring Tony Yayo called "Off Parole" which insulted Lil Wayne. Young Buck said that Lil Wayne could not be angry, because Young Buck spoke the truth. Young Buck also said "You think you got a problem with Juve and B.G.; you'll have a true problem with me", referring to the Cash Money-Juvenile/B.G feud.^[33][34]

One of the reasons 50 Cent stated he was dismissing Young Buck was what he called "inconsistent behavior" which included appearing on stage with Lil Wayne, then seemingly dissing him on records with G-Unit.^[9] After he was dismissed, Young Buck appeared in the music video "mylife" by The Game, which also featured Lil Wayne.^[31]

DJ Khaled

During an interview on Rap City, DJ Khaled was asked to choose three classics out of a total of eight albums. He chose every album except Get Rich or Die Tryin'. DJ Khaled stated:

I'm all about unity, but if you're not down with unity, I can't help you with that.^[35]

In response, Young Buck released a track entitled "Personal (Unity)" towards DJ Khaled and Terror Squad. In the song, Young Buck refers to many people on DJ Khaled's second album, We the Best.

During a "TRL" show which 50 Cent was hosting on September 12, 2007 Young Buck repeatedly mocked DJ Khaled by repeatedly shouting "50 we the best. Listennn!" in reference to DJ Khaled’s behaviour, which he exhibited on the same show previously.^[36]

Two days later on the same show, 50 Cent was offered the choice of listening to one of his rivals say something about him in a clip from Rap City. He had the choice of Fat Joe, DJ Khaled, Ja Rule, and The Game, and chose Khaled's clip, in which Khaled said he didn't consider Get Rich or Die Tryin' a classic.

Young Buck later addressed the issue on the mixtape G-Unit Radio Part 25-Sabrina's Baby Boy. He insults DJ Khaled on multiple tracks.^[37]

50 Cent

After numerous rumors of a "beef" within G-Unit, 50 Cent officially dismissed Young Buck from the group, in 2008. He later assured that he was still signed with the label.^[7] Numerous slander songs then arose on the internet from both camps, with Young Buck appearing in a music video of former rival The Game.^[38][39]

50 Cent then leaked a taped phone conversation between himself and Young Buck, which showed one of the true reasons for the falling out; 50 Cent was owed money by the Southern rapper. Young Buck later stated the conversation took place over a year before the leak.^[40] The two camps have since released a multitude of songs against each other, with the feud settling down by 2009, with Young Buck stating he's been working on his latest album, which to still be released under the G-Unit label.^[10]

Discography

• Straight Outta Cashville (2004)
• Buck the World (2007)
• The Rehab (2010)
• The Ca$h Cow (TBA)

References

External links

• Official website
• Young Buck at Allmusic