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Rappin' 4-Tay

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Rappin' 4-Tay
Birth nameAnthony H. Forté[1]
Also known as4-Tay
Born (1968-03-02) March 2, 1968 (age 56)
OriginSan Francisco, California, U.S.
Genres
Occupations
  • Rapper
  • songwriter
  • record producer
Years active1988–present
Labels
Formerly ofT.W.D.Y.

Anthony H. Forté (born March 2, 1968), better known by his stage name Rappin' 4-Tay, is an American rapper from San Francisco, California.[2]

Early life

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Anthony Forte was born March 2, 1968, and grew up in San Francisco's Fillmore District. He has a twin sister. He has a son as well as three daughters.[3]

Music career

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Right after high school, 4-Tay made his debut on the Too Short album Life Is...Too Short. He was later convicted on drug charges and served ten months in prison.[4] Upon his release from prison he released his debut album Rappin' 4-Tay Is Back in 1991, and followed up in 1994 with Don't Fight the Feelin', which included the hits "Playaz Club" (which sampled the song "Private Number" by William Bell and Judy Clay and hit number 36 on the Billboard Hot 100), the "Dank Season" featuring Seff Tha Gaffla, and "I'll Be Around" (which hit number 39 on the US Hot 100, number 59 in Australia,[5] and number one in New Zealand[6] ).

In 1995, two Rappin' 4-Tay songs—"Problems" and "A Message for Your Mind"—were featured on the Dangerous Minds soundtrack. "A Message For Your Mind" sampled "I Want You Back" by The Jackson 5.

Rappin' 4-Tay's mainstream success has been scarce since then, but he was featured on 2Pac's All Eyez on Me album on the track "Only God Can Judge Me" in 1996 and Master P's West Coast Bad Boyz II compilation in 1997. 4-Tay was also an original member of Bay Area supergroup T.W.D.Y. in 1999.

In 2003 Rappin' 4-Tay released the album Gangsta Gumbo with the single "Burning, Burning", followed up by the album That's What You Thought in 2007. In 2010 He was featured on R&B Artist E. Broussard's song titled Big Game Droppin'.[7]

He was featured on the song "My Alphabets" on fellow Bay Area rap veteran Mac Dre's 2004 album The Genie of the Lamp. Dec 06 2011 Rappin' 4-Tay, E-40 and Playalitical collaborated on a song entitled "Bounce It Like a Bad Check" which was featured on the Political Playboy Music album released by Playalitical. In 2012 Rappin' 4-Tay collaborated on the song "Picture a Nigga" with Lil' Gang$ta,[8] as well as helping with his debut album.

In 2013, he headlined the main stage of Seattle Hempfest with artists Ditch, Tony Tag, Brian Meyers and more.

In May 2014, he appeared with E Bone415 in a music video about Alcatraz Island.[9]

"Playaz Club" controversy

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In 2014, 4-Tay spoke out against Drake for using lyrics from 4-Tay's 1994 song "Playaz Club" in the collaboration "Who Do You Love?" with YG.[10] The artists settled out of court with 4-Tay being promised $100,000[11][12] and future credits for the song. However, it was later revealed that Drake had not actually paid 4-Tay the $100,000.[13]

4-Tay eventually received royalties for his contributions to "Who Do You Love?". In 2018, the royalties to both the YG single and "Playaz Club" were auctioned on Royalty Exchange and at one time had bids of upward of $38,250 with the seller reportedly being 4-Tay.[13]

Discography

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Studio albums

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  • Rappin' 4-Tay Is Back (1991)
  • Don't Fight the Feelin' (1994) #174 Billboard 200; #52 R&B/Hip-Hop
  • Off Parole (1996) #38 Billboard 200; #10 R&B/Hip-Hop
  • 4 tha Hard Way (1997)
  • Bigga Than Da Game (1998)
  • Introduction to Mackin' (1999)
  • Gangsta Gumbo (2003)
  • That's What You Thought (2007)
  • The World Is a Ghetto (2008)
  • Still Standing, Vol. 1 (2011)
  • Strictly Enforced (2011)
  • Where Is the Love? (2011)

Collaboration albums

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  • Derty Werk with T.W.D.Y. (1999)
  • Ghetto Visa with Squirrel (2007)
  • Ghetto Visa, Vol. 2 with Squirrel (2010)
  • Exported Game with Big Willie & Spike2ms (2011)

Mixtapes

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  • Dlk Enterprise Presents Rappin' 4-Tay – Dlk Collabs Vol. 5 (2022)

Charted singles

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Title Release Peak chart positions Album
US
 US
R&B/HH
 AUS
[14] 		FRA
[15] 		NZ
[15] 		UK
[16]
"Playaz Club" 1994 36 54 — — — 63 Don't Fight the Feelin'
"I'll Be Around"
(featuring The Spinners) 		1995 39 37 59 44 1 30
"Ain't No Playa (Playaz Shit)" 1996 73 55 — — — — Off Parole

Soundtrack appearances

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Title

 Release Other artist(s) Soundtrack
"Problems" 1996 Dangerous Minds
"A Message for Your Mind"
"Where I'm From (Don't Fight the Clean Mix II)" Passion, Too Short, Soul Depot Bulletproof
"Holla" 2000 Celly Cel, 2-Ton Held Up
"Win or Lose" Baller Blockin'

Guest appearances

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Title

 Release Other artist(s) Album
"Don't Fight the Feelin'" 1988 Too Short Life Is...Too Short
"Did You Get the Dank" 1993 JT The Bigga Figga Playaz N the Game
"You Do Your Thang" 1994 West Coast Bad Boyz, Vol. 1
"Root of All Evil" 1995 JT The Bigga Figga, San Quinn Dwellin' in tha Labb
"Only God Can Judge Me" 1996 2Pac All Eyez on Me
"Don't Fight the Remix" Passion, Too Short, Soul Depot Baller's Lady
"Up's and Down's" 1997 West Coast Bad Boyz II
"Playa Paraphernalia" Ant Banks, J-Dubb Big Thangs
"Urban Rapsody" Rick James Urban Rapsody
"World Famous" A Lighter Shade of Brown A Lighter Shade of Brown
"360°" 1998 Eightball, Spice 1, E-40, Otis & Shug Lost
"It's Goin' Down" (Remix) Celly Cel, E-40, B-Legit, Mack 10 The G Filez
"Dogghouse" 2000 Tha Eastsidaz, Twinz Tha Eastsidaz
"Candi Coated" Latino Velvet, Candi Velvet City
"Das OK" 2002 Spice 1 Spiceberg Slim
"Get High with Me" 2003 Frost, Shorty B Somethin' 4 the Riderz

Videography

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Music videos

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Title

 Release Other artist(s) Album
"Where I'm From (Don't Fight the Clean Mix II)" 1996 Passion, Too Short, Soul Depot Baller's Lady & Bulletproof OST
"Dogghouse" 2000 Tha Eastsidaz, Twinz Tha Eastsidaz

References

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  1. ^ California Births, 1905–1995, Anthony H. Forté
  2. ^ On Stage, Tahoe (October 13, 2016). "Rappin' Forte arrested again in San Francisco". tahoeonstage.com. Archived from the original on May 29, 2023. Retrieved May 20, 2024.
  3. ^ "LiL 4 TaY OF B.I.G | Listen and Stream Free Music, Albums, New Releases, Photos, Videos". Myspace.
  4. ^ allmusic ((( Rappin' 4-Tay > Biography )))
  5. ^ "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles Chart – Week Ending 15 Oct 1995". Imgur.com (original document published by ARIA). Retrieved July 6, 2017. N.B. The HP column displays the highest peak reached.
  6. ^ "Rappin' 4-Tay feat. The Spinners - I'll Be Around (Song)". charts.nz. Retrieved October 13, 2013.
  7. ^ https://musicbrainz.org/release/aa3aabc1-1220-45cc-8e9a-821a4689ae9d Big Game Droppin' E. Broussard (feat. Rappin' 4-Tay
  8. ^ Picture A Nigga (ft Rappin' 4-Tay)
  9. ^ "THE ROCK Rappin 4 Tay & E Bone415". May 30, 2014 – via YouTube.
  10. ^ Baker, Soren (2 January 2014). "Rappin' 4-Tay Blasts Drake Over Verse On YG's "Who Do You Love"". HipHopDX. Cheri Media Group. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  11. ^ Gordon, Jeremy (16 July 2014). "Drake Pays $100,000 to Rappin' 4-Tay for Ripping Off "Playaz Club" Lyrics on YG's "Who Do You Love"". Pitchfork. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  12. ^ "DRAKE 'Playaz Club' Beef Settled PAYS $100K FOR BORROWED LYRICS". TMZ. 16 July 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  13. ^ a b Voynovskaya, Nastia (30 November 2018). "Drake Never Paid Rappin' 4-Tay For Stolen Lyrics, Manager Says". KQED. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  14. ^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 230.
  15. ^ a b "Rappin' 4-Tay feat. The Spinners – I'll Be Around". lescharts.com (in French). Retrieved September 9, 2022.
  16. ^ "Rappin' 4-Tay | full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 9, 2022.
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