There may have been a day when they were big pimpin' and spendin' cheese, but from Bow
Wow to Chingy, these rappers are so far off the chain, they're barely visible.
Bow Wow
In 2017, Bow Wow was caught lying about his lavish lifestyle, when he posted a pic of
a private jet and two Mercedes, with the caption: "Travel day.
NYC press run for Growing Up Hip Hop.
Let's go.
I promise to bring y'all the hottest show EVER."
The problem?
It was a stock photo.
He was later photographed on a commercial plane with all of us regular folks.
But just weeks later, Bow Wow was caught allegedly faking fame and fortune again.
This time, it was a video of him running down a street, being pursued by "fans," with the
caption: "On tour and I'm still getting chased."
Twitter users claimed Bow Wow paid people to chase him.
Ja Rule
There was a time in the 2000s when Ja Rule's music was inescapable.
But he's since fallen off the radar, last releasing an album in 2012.
He was slapped with a 2-year prison sentence in 2011 after pleading guilty to three counts
of tax evasion.
He also agreed to pay the government $1.1 million in back taxes, as reported by Billboard.
In an attempt to revive his career, Ja Rule collaborated on the ill-fated Fyre Festival
in April 2017.
But instead of welcoming millennials to a weekend of ballin' in the Bahamas — for
nearly $13,000 for a four-ticket pass — the event disintegrated into chaos.
Ticket holders likened the experience to the The Hunger Games and refugee camps.
In a message to fans Ja Rule said he was "heartbroken" about how the event turned out.
He and festival co-founder Billy McFarland were then slapped with a $100 million class-action
suit in May 2017, so it may be time to either crank out another album, or twerk something
else out.
Chingy
In the early 2000s, Chingy was changing the scene with his fresh lyrics and catchy hooks.
His debut album, Jackpot, went triple platinum, but a high-profile feud with label-mate Ludacris
and Disturbing Tha Peace records was the beginning of the end.
In recent years, Chingy has been trying to keep his name afloat.
He told HotNewHipHop in July 2017, "I'm performing on the road and working on a new project called
Dead Rose…
I was put here to make music and paint my vision through art of speech.
So that's what I do."
Charli Baltimore
Charli Baltimore was one of the few female rappers who set the charts on fire in the
late '90s and early 2000s, often seen alongside Ja Rule and Ashanti.
As of 2013, Jet magazine reported that she had released a mixtape called Hard2Kill, which
apparently was also hard to listen to because it failed to make a splash.
She told the mag, "I write all of my music.
I've always considered myself a better writer than rapper...Poetry segued into writing rhymes.
Writing is actual therapy for me."
Mystikal
Mystikal was well on his way to being one of the most recognized rappers of our time
in the late '90s and early 2000s.
According to Billboard, his fourth album, Let's Get Ready, sold 2.2 million copies.
But Mystikal's steamy career came to a grinding halt in 2004 when he was sentenced to six
years in prison for sexual battery.
In 2012, he faced another 81 days in jail for violating his probation with a misdemeanor
domestic battery charge.
He told Billboard, of his second trip behind bars, "Disappointed isn't the word for it—ashamed."
Fast forward to 2017, and Mystikal is once again facing legal trouble, this time charged
with first-degree rape.
According to TMZ, the rapper turned himself into Louisiana authorities after a woman claimed
she was assaulted by him at a casino in 2016.
Chamillionaire
Chamillionaire dropped huge hits during the ringtone era, but today he's put music aside
to become a venture capitalist.
In 2015, big-name businessman Mark Suster announced Chamillionaire would be joining
investment firm Upfront Ventures.
The financially savvy rapper reportedly owns a tour bus company, launched a modeling business,
and is invested in a car dealership.
Suster said, "Chamillionaire has a way more refined sense of what customer behavior is
like than most ivy league graduates with nice Powerpoint slides that I meet."
Chamillionaire was spotted courtside at the NBA finals in 2017, proving he's doing just
fine without his rap career.
Da Brat
According to CNN, in 2008, Da Brat was sentenced to three years in prison for attacking a woman
in an Atlanta night club.
The "Funkdafied" star didn't produce any music while incarcerated, but she did pen a book
loosely based on her life.
Da Brat joined Dish Nation in 2016, and talked about the fresh opportunity with Vibe, saying,
"Like 20 years ago people would say 'you should do radio, you should do radio, have you ever
thought about doing radio?'
I always said no, but it just came natural every time I went on…
I just didn't think that I would be doing it later down the line."
But then Da Brat revealed she might have a "unique" perspective on her current place
in the music biz, saying, "There are a lot of artists that fell off, and no one cares
about where they are, or what they're doing so I am blessed in a major way.
God is great!"
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