CJ is a drill rapper from Staten Island
who blew up last year with the hit song Whoopty.
But since going viral, many question his street cred
and accuse him of being fake and an industry plant.
Let’s get into the career and come up of CJ: The Wanna be Blood Behind Whoopty.
CJ first got the world’s attention with his hit song Whoopty,
which dropped July 30th, 2020, and peaked #10 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The track instantly blew up thanks to the hard-hitting beat and viral music video,
which showed CJ and his homies, posted on the block-rocking red rags
and shouting the catch phrase Whoopty – a blood greeting call.
The beat to Whoopty featured a sample from the Indian song Sanam Re.
This same sample was famously used in the beat for Exposin Me by Memo 600 and King Von,
which was also remixed by drill rappers like FBG Duck, Rooga, and 22Gz.
So, the song became an instant hit
because of the familiar beat, generic bars, and catchy hook.
But not long after it popped off, people began taking a closer look at CJ
to find out if he was really Whoopty or just claiming for the clout.
CJ grew up in Staten Island and comes from a Puerto Rican family.
He started rapping as a hobby when he was 9 but took it more seriously at 14
when he started dropping tracks on SoundCloud and YouTube.
He had a few tracks on SoundCloud before blowing up with Whoopty,
including a song with the OG fake blood 6ix9ine called Pop.
But none of these tracks made much of an impact online or even in New York City.
He self-released the track Whoopty in July 2020, using a beat he found on YouTube,
and became an overnight success.
He later signed to Warner Records and Cruz Control Entertainment.
But here is where the accusations of CJ being an industry plant first started.
The CEO of Cruz Control Entertainment James Cruz is also CJ’s uncle.
CJ said multiple labels reached out to him, but Warner offered the “best situation”,
proabably because he had family members in high positions at the company.
His uncle James Cruz is a music mogul who has deep connections in the industry.
He worked for Reebok in the ’90s, before making the transition into music
and working for Bad Boy.
Cruz go to close to Puffy and ended up running his entire organization.
He worked with Combs Enterprises for almost 10 years
before leaving to start his own Latin-focused music marketing firm.
So, CJ seemed like the perfect project for his uncle James,
who was looking for the next big Latin star to take over New York.
At first, CJ had a more melodic, autotune-heavy approach to rapping
but this aint attract much attention.
CJ just wanted the clout and he wasn’t tryna spend the next decade
grinding in the music industry to make a name for himself.
So, he took notes from 6ix9ine’s playbook and started making aggressive drill tracks
flaunting his alleged gang ties.
To his credit, it worked
and Whoopty was one of the biggest songs in New York in the summer of 2020.
The track went viral on TikTok too, which boosted its popularity.
Plus, it got a major push on radio and other outlets,
thanks to the ties from his uncle James.
So overnight
CJ went from an unknown rapper to one of the biggest up-and-coming stars in New York.
But all the attention also brought questions from fans about who this new rapper was,
as well the gang he was from.
He’s clearly claiming blood from the bandanas and the use of the term Whoopty.
But the lyrics to the song are basic and don’t say what borough or what set he’s from.
This is when rumors went around that CJ aint really who he claimed to be
and was just another clout chasing rapper using gangs to blow up in the music industry.
Whoopty is not a phrase that CJ made up.
It’s a common word used in the Bronx by the Blood Hound Brims.
CJ crossed the line when he did an interview with Genius where he claimed credit for the word Whoopty.
He said that it was a term he invented and used with his homies.
He even went as far as filing a trademark for the phrase
so no one else could use it for commercial purposes.
This upset the Bloodhound Brims who had been using the word for years
and wanted proper credit for creating it.
Bloodhound Brims founder, LA Brim, even called in from prison,
calling out CJ for taking the term and not giving proper credit.
La Brim was sentenced to 30 years in prison back in 2019
in connection to his leadership of the Blood Hound Brims.
Even though he’s locked up, he’s still tapped in with what’s going on in the streets
and had to set the record straight about who really started Whoopty.
He gave CJ props for making a hot song
but accused him of stealing the word Whoopty from the Blood Hound Brims
and denies having any affiliation with the rapper.
So first and foremost
CJ made a hot song but the content that he used
is not his content
so his foundation is based off of lies
He's not Whoopty he knows nothing about Whoopty
He just seen a fly splash and he jocked it
He called him out for claiming a set and lifestyle that he and a bunch of other Brim
are serving decades in prison over.
He says the only reason the song was hot in the first place
is cause of the respect they built in New York.
But he’s disrespecting the Brims by saying he created the word.
He makes it clear he aint beefing with CJ or saying he’s gonna do something to him.
But he had to set the record straight about where Whoopty started.
This hurt CJ’s street cred and after that,
more gang members and other New York drill rappers started questioning his affiliations.
G5 Realz, a rapper affiliated with La Brim
also hopped on Live to call out CJ for being a fake blood
with no ties to the Blood Hound Brims and for copywriting the term Whoopty,
even though he never put in any work for the set.
First you make the ******* song Whoopty
then you make the song Pop
that's all out sh*t boy
and you still not tryna pay homage
then you gon copyright our sh*t
you copyright our sh*t
like yo boy, your head not good
The Bloodhound Brims were one of the most violent gangs in New York
before being taken down in a major gang indictment in 2016.
They operated in various locations in New York City,
as well as Westchester, Elmira, and Pennsylvania.
They were accused of trafficking massive amounts of crack, cocaine, and heroin
throughout the state of New York and Pennsylvania.
A lot of Bloodhound Brim leaders was later arrested in a RICO indictment
and charged with crimes that included racketeering, murder, attempted murder,
drug trafficking, and assault.
The Brims started in Los Angeles but later branched out to New York in the early ’90s.
Like most blood sets in NYC, the Brims started in prison at Riker’s Island
and then spread to the streets later on.
There’s multiple Brim sets in New York that makeup what they call the Blood Brim Army.
During the height of their rise, the Brims was behind a lot of wild crimes
that eventually lead to their downfall.
In 2012, La Brim and another blood named Don P
got arrested for a shootout at a chicken spot in the Bronx,
where they allegedly fired at opps with an AK-47.
La Brim was later found guilty of attempted murder for the crime,
which was one of the events that led to his 30-year sentence.
In 2014,
a Brim leader named Kevin Melton
made headlines after kidnapping the father of one of the prosecutors
who was responsible for locking him up for life.
Melton got hit with life in prison for ordering a hit on someone in 2011.
To get revenge, Melton went after one of the prosecutors
who was responsible for convicting him.
He set it all up using cell phone he snuck into jail
and ordered five members to kidnap the prosecutor.
But they ended up going to the wrong address and instead kidnapped her father Frank Janssen.
The gang kidnapped Janssen from his crib in Atlanta
then called his wife and told her they was going to torture and kill her husband
if she ain’t follow their demands.
But, the FBI was able to intercept a call between Melton and the kidnappers
and found Janssen at an apartment complex in Atlanta.
So, the Brims were responsible for a wave of terror not just in New York
but all over the country.
This eventually led to the indictment that took down many high-ranking members of the gang,
including La Brim.
But even with most of they leaders locked up,
the Bloodhound Brims are still well-respected in New York.
So, for La Brim to make a public statement denying CJ’s credibility
was a major blow to the rapper's career.
Plus, it wasn’t just Brim members taking shots at the rapper.
Brooklyn drill rapper 22gz also came out and questioned CJ’s street cred.
In January 2021,
22gz tagged CJ on Instagram saying
@realcj_ givin me 69 vibes & boy from Staten Island,
the safest borough in NYC.”
He also dropped a Whoopty remix called Goofy,
where he took shots at CJ calling him a groupie
who was just jacking the Brooklyn drill sound to make himself more popular.
In interviews 22gz made it clear that it wasn’t real beef
but he had to address the situation
cause CJ aint give respect to the originators of the sound that made him famous.
CJ responded to 22gz with the track Hit Up,
where he don’t just diss the rapper but takes shots at his entire gang, the Gangster Disciples.
On the track he raps
“I catch a blicky
man down in my city”,
referring to 22Gz Blixcky gang.
And in the video, he’s seen throwing up GDK which means Gangsta Disciple Killer,
the gang that 22gz from.
So not only is CJ starting beef with another rapper,
he wants smoke with one of the biggest gangs in America too.
Another popular Brooklyn drill rapper, Bizzy Banks came out and said CJ jacked his bars
and stole his whole flow.
Bizzy posted on his Instagram story
“That n**** CJ need to give me my credit no cap…n**** jacking my lingo and flow
I’m tired of not getting the recognition I deserve. I started this new wave of drill rap.
Let's talk about it”
If you listen to the flow and lyrics on Hit Up,
it sounds similar to Bizzy Bank’s tracks Neo and Don't Start Pt 2.
So instead of earning people's respect, CJ was quickly making enemies.
In September 2021, 22gz did an interview with No Jumper,
where Adam22 reveals that CJ was set to do an interview
but canceled at the last minute.
The reason he canceled was cuase the person in charge of their social media
posted something about the beef between him and CJ.
So, CJ got in his feelings and canceled the whole interview.
We had an interview booked with CJ.
Oh word
And somebody on the social media team they posted up
22gz dissin CJ
they just posted about it
it's notable it's news you know we're paying attention
we're all talking about it in the group chat
so they posted it
CJ interview canceled
This was another L for the Staten Island rapper.
He could have used the interview to tell his side of the story.
But instead, he chose to stay quiet.
CJ never really address the accusations
that he’s false claiming and stealing other rappers’ style and flow.
He also aint dropped another single that brings the same kind of buzz that Whoopty did.
He dropped an EP in early 2021 called Loyalty Over Royalty
which was executive produced by French Montana.
But none of the other songs made the same impact as Whoopty.
Unless CJ can switch up his whole style
and come back with a banger that puts him on the charts,
he’ll probably just be a one hit wonder.
Just like 6ix9ine, part of his appeal was his gang ties.
But once the truth was exposed,
fans just moved on to the rappers who really live what they rap.