He collected numerous RIAA accolades, including a platinum certification for 2001’s Thugs Are Us, and hit the Top Ten of the Billboard R&B/hip-hop albums chart with seven consecutive releases through 2009’s Finally Famous: Born a Thug, Still a Thug. Thug or not, Trick Daddy became a national superstar. No one questioned his talent, but his image - a trademark omnipresent grimace, bald head, prickly whiskers, forearm tattoos, and gold grill - hardly matched that of other mainstream rappers. When Trick Daddy finally broke into the mainstream with the appropriately titled “I’m a Thug,” it came as somewhat of a surprise. In particular, he became known for “Nann Nigga” and “Shut Up,” club anthems characterized by rousing beats and rowdy lyrics. Before his breakthrough, he scored a few regional hits.
One of the most thuggish rappers embraced by the mainstream, Trick Daddy broke out of the South in 2001 with “I’m a Thug” and established himself as an unlikely national superstar.
