Anthony H. Forté (born March 2, 1968), better known by his

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

Rappin' 4-Tay, is an American rapper from San Francisco, California.

Early life

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.

Music career

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. 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' ''Don't Fight the Feelin is the second studio album by American rapper Rappin' 4-Tay from San Francisco, California. It was released on July 26, 1994 via Chrysalis Records and Rag Top Records. Recording session took place at Graffiti Tunez in We ...

'', 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, and number one in New Zealand ). 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 Tupac Amaru Shakur ( ; born Lesane Parish Crooks, June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known as 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper. He is widely considered one of the most influential rappers of all time. Shakur is among the b ...

's '' All Eyez on Me'' album on the track "

Only God Can Judge Me ''Only God Can Judge Me'' is the eighth studio album by American hip hop recording artist Master P, released on October 26, 1999, by No Limit Records, Priority Records and EMI. It was produced by Carlos Stephens, XL, Ke'Noe, Sons Of Funk, Jermai ...

" in 1996 and Master P's ''West Coast Bad Boyz II'' compilation in 1997. 4-Tay was also an original member of

Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gov ...

supergroup Supergroup or super group may refer to: * Supergroup (music), a music group formed by artists who are already notable or respected in their fields * Supergroup (physics), a generalization of groups, used in the study of supersymmetry * 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' Big or BIG may refer to: * Big, of great size or degree Film and television * ''Big'' (film), a 1988 fantasy-comedy film starring Tom Hanks * ''Big!'', a Discovery Channel television show * ''Richard Hammond's Big'', a television show presente ...

. 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, 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.

"Playaz Club" Controversy

In 2014 4-Tay was embroiled in controversy, after putting Drake on blast for stealing the lyrics and flow of his 1994 song "Playaz Club" for the Toronto rapper's collaboration "Who Do You Love?" with YG. The artists settled out of court with 4-Tay being promised $100k and future credits for the song. It was later revealed that Drake never actually paid 4-Tay $100k, although he did eventually receive 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.

Discography

Studio albums

*''Rappin' 4-Tay Is Back'' (1991) *''

'' (1994) #174 ''Billboard'' 200; #52 R&B/Hip-Hop *''

Off Parole ''Off Parole'' is the third studio album by American rapper Rappin' 4-Tay, released March 19, 1996 on Chrysalis Records. The album features production by The Enhancer, G-Man Stan, Lil' Fly, Mike Dean, Rappin' 4-Tay and Too Short. It peaked at ...

'' (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) *''Dlk Enterprise Presents Rappin 4-Tay "Dlk Collabs", Vol. 5'' (2022)

Collaboration albums

*'' 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)

Charted singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rappin 4-Tay 1968 births Living people 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century American rappers African-American Christians African-American male rappers Chrysalis Records artists Gangsta rappers G-funk artists Hip hop musicians from San Francisco Rappers from the San Francisco Bay Area Twin musicians American twins Virgin Records artists West Coast hip hop musicians 21st-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American people