Criminal Manne

A Billboard-charting MC who spent the '90s selling mixtapes out of his trunk, solo artist Criminal Manne is also a member of <a href="spotify:artist:3Q7aZkEMwmH5jfIJdVKEsM">the Project Playaz</a> and hails from Memphis, Tennessee. With <a href="spotify:artist:3Q7aZkEMwmH5jfIJdVKEsM">the Project Playaz</a>, Manne hit in 1998 with the track "Buck & Naked" which led to a deal with the strong indie label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Relativity+Records%22">Relativity Records</a>. After the group's single "Buck with Me" became the first video aired on the BET television network's influential show Rap City, the group signed a deal with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Rap-A-Lot+Records%22">Rap-A-Lot Records</a> but began to dissolve around 2002. That same year, Manne went solo with the album Play Time's Over, then 2003 saw him drop Neighborhood Dope Manne, a <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Rap-A-Lot%22">Rap-A-Lot</a> album that featured <a href="spotify:artist:4Q5sPmM8j4SpMqL4UA1DtS">Lil Flip</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:5hDwYJ7KaXEQV2XBeijKNt">La Chat</a> along with the legendary <a href="spotify:artist:7iUhmKPNkkPPS6FCQxqtNq">8Ball & MJG</a>. Street Ways followed in 2005 and climbed to 97 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, while 2006 saw the collaborative album Atlanta 2 Memphis drop with <a href="spotify:artist:3D04N2X2w6vUGeyG94FBaY">Pastor Troy</a> along for the ride. 2007 mixtape daNeighborhood Dopeman arrived hosted by the starmaker <a href="spotify:artist:5oNgAs7j5XcBMzWv3HAnHG">DJ Drama</a>. The Takeover mixtape with <a href="spotify:artist:4sdwGT5t9Ws5vIosKccjIn">Frayser Boy</a> landed a year later with the official album Got Work in 2009, then a series of mixtapes with DJ 5150, <a href="spotify:artist:45h71dCVZaNAqP3YwQH6ER">DJ Scream</a>, and Traps N Trunks brought the MC to 2014, a year he cut the Arm & Hammer LP, along with his <a href="spotify:artist:0t5qZrvVCo9YIUT87SQrTn">OJ Da Juiceman</a> collaboration Kings of the Trap. In 2016, he landed back on the charts thanks to a guest appearance on <a href="spotify:artist:3HiuzBlSW7pGDXlSFMhO2g">Young Dolph</a>'s album King of Memphis. ~ David Jeffries, Rovi