Sammie Marquez Benson (born April 8, 1990), professionally known as Blac Youngsta, is an American rapper from

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

. He is signed to

Yo Gotti Mario Sentell Giden Mims (born May 19, 1981), known professionally as Yo Gotti, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record executive. In 1996, Gotti released his debut album ''Youngsta's On a Come Up'' under the alias Lil Yo. He went on to re ...

's label Collective Music Group (CMG) and

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...

. After a series of mixtapes upon being signed, his 2017 single "Hip Hopper" and 2018 single "Booty", became the most successful, with the latter peaking at number 73 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Both songs appear on his debut studio album ''223'' (2019), which peaked at number 42 on the ''Billboard'' 200.

Early life

Sammie Marquez Benson was born on April 8, 1990, and raised in McMillan Street, a poor area in

South Memphis, Tennessee South Memphis, one of the oldest portions of Memphis, Tennessee, is a community stretching from Midtown and Downtown to the Mississippi state line. In its early days, it was primarily an agrarian community. South Memphis has many well-known neighb ...

. Benson and his younger brothers were raised by their grandparents. Despite both of his grandparents having jobs, they earned very little and struggled to put food on the table. Benson's grandfather managed to get him a job at a local grocery store when he was just 7 years old, however, he was fired when the manager caught him placing fake orders to the store in order to take the food home for him and his brothers. After losing his job at the store, Benson began selling drugs and served numerous sentences in prison for drug and gun charges. In 2012, after serving a year in prison, Benson began hosting local block parties which made him locally popular in

South Memphis South Memphis, one of the oldest portions of Memphis, Tennessee, is a community stretching from Midtown and Downtown to the Mississippi state line. In its early days, it was primarily an agrarian community. South Memphis has many well-known neig ...

. Shortly after, he began pursuing a career in music, releasing his debut mixtape ''Fast Bricks'' in 2012.

Career

2012–2016: Early career and signing to CMG

Taking the stage name ''Blac Youngsta'', Benson began taking a career in music more seriously in 2012, releasing three mixtapes as part of his ''Fast Bricks'' series, from 2012 to 2014. His breakout song "Heavy" was released in 2015, and gained the attention of

, who appeared on the song's remix and signed Blac Youngsta to his Collective Music Group label. Blac Youngsta's first mixtape as a member of CMG, ''I Swear To God'', was released on September 24, 2015, and featured guest appearances from Yo Gotti and

Boosie Badazz Torence Ivy Hatch (born November 14, 1982), better known by his stage name Boosie BadAzz or simply Boosie (formerly Lil Boosie), is an American rapper. Hatch began rapping in the 1990s as a member of the hip hop collective Concentration Camp, e ...

. In March 2016, Blac Youngsta released a mixtape titled ''Young & Reckless'', followed by ''Fuck Everybody'', released in September 2016, with features from

Young Thug Jeffery Lamar Williams (born August 16, 1991), known professionally as Young Thug, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He is considered to be an influential figure of his generation, with his music impacting the modern sound of hip ...

Quavo Quavious Keyate Marshall (born April 2, 1991), known professionally as Quavo (), is an American rapper, singer, and actor. He is best known as the co-founder and former frontman of hip hop group Migos. Quavo is the uncle of late fellow Migos m ...

Jacquees Rodriquez Jacquees Broadnax (born April 15, 1994), better known as Jacquees (pronounced jah-kwees), is an American singer, songwriter, and rapper from Decatur, Georgia. In 2015, he signed a recording and management contract with Cash Money Reco ...

and

YFN Lucci Rayshawn Lamar Bennett (born February 16, 1991), known professionally as YFN Lucci, is an American rapper and singer from Atlanta, Georgia. In 2014, he signed a record deal with Think It's A Game Entertainment and released his debut mixtape, ''Wi ...

2017–2019: Epic Records and major label debut

In February 2017, Blac Youngsta released ''Illuminati'', his fourth mixtape as a member of CMG, with guest appearances from

Kodak Black Bill Kahan Kapri (born Dieuson Octave; June 11, 1997), better known by his stage name Kodak Black, is an American rapper. He gained initial recognition with his single "No Flockin", released in 2014. His debut album, ''Painting Pictures'' (20 ...

Lil Yachty Miles Parks McCollum (born August 23, 1997), known professionally as Lil Boat, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and producer. He first gained recognition on the internet in 2015 for his singles "One Night" and "Minnesota" (featuring ...

and

Slim Jxmmi Rae Sremmurd ( ; "Drummers Ear" spelled backwards) is an American hip hop duo originating from Tupelo, Mississippi, formed by two brothers, Slim Jxmmi and Swae Lee. In 2013, they signed a record deal with Mike Will Made It's EarDrummers imp ...

. After Blac Youngsta turned himself in for his involvement in a shooting targeted towards

's longtime rival,

Young Dolph Adolph Robert Thornton Jr. (July 27, 1985 – November 17, 2021), better known by his stage name Young Dolph, was an American rapper. In 2016, he released his debut studio album, '' King of Memphis'', which peaked at number 49 on the ''Billboar ...

, a "Free Blac Youngsta" grassroots movement was started, with fellow rapper

releasing a song of the same name on May 17, 2017. After his release, Blac Youngsta established his own label imprint under CMG, Heavy Camp, and released a mixtape titled, ''I'm Innocent,'' in June 2017, with guest appearances from Slim Jxmmi and

Ty Dolla Sign Tyrone William Griffin Jr. (born April 13, 1982), known professionally as Ty Dolla Sign (stylized as Ty Dolla $ign or Ty$), is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He first gained major recognition in 2010 for his feature on Ameri ...

. In December 2017, Blac Youngsta signed his first major label deal with

. In February 2018, Youngsta released his debut studio album, ''223,'' through Epic, with guest appearances from Lil Yachty, Travis Scott and

French Montana Karim Kharbouch (Arabic: æɾiːm χɑɾbuːʃ born November 9, 1984), better known by his stage name French Montana, is a Moroccan-American rapper. Born and raised in Morocco, he emigrated to the United States with his family when he was 13. ...

. The album charted on the

Billboard 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of art ...

, peaking at number 42. The album also spawned the successful single "Booty", which charted on the

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

, peaking at number 73 and was certified Gold by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA). In August 2018, Blac Youngsta released a sequel to his 2016 mixtape, ''Fuck Everybody,'' with ''Fuck Everybody 2'', featuring a sole guest appearance from

Lil Pump Gazzy Garcia (born August 17, 2000), better known professionally as Lil Pump, is an American rapper. He is one of the most prominent artists of the SoundCloud rap scene and is known for his minimalist music and hyperactive public persona. Li ...

, which also charted on the Billboard 200, peaking at number 63. In May 2019, Blac Youngsta released his EP, ''Cut Up''. In August 2019, Blac Youngsta announced via Twitter that his second studio album will be called ''Church on Sunday.'' In October 2019, Blac Youngsta also announced an international tour of the same name, starting in November 2019. ''Church on Sunday'' was released at the end of the same month.

2020–present: More charting singles

In January 2020, he was featured on Moneybagg Yo's song "1 2 3", which would later be released as a single in April 2020 and chart on the

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

chart, earning him his second charting single on that chart.

Heavy Camp

Heavy Camp is a record label imprint under Yo Gotti's Collective Music Group (CMG) founded by Blac Youngsta in 2017. The current president of the label is Julien Anderson.

Current artists

* * Lil Migo

Personal life

Legal issues

On January 8, 2016, Police were called to a

Wells Fargo Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California; operational headquarters in Manhattan; and managerial offices throughout the United States and intern ...

branch in downtown

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

after Blac Youngsta withdrew $200,000 from his bank account in order to purchase a car. Workers allegedly believed Blac Youngsta was robbing the bank after he was seen leaving the bank with the money. Youngsta and his associates were released at the scene. Youngsta later accused the police and staff at the bank of racial profiling, claiming he was arrested for being "young and black". On May 16, 2017, Blac Youngsta surrendered himself to police on charges related to a shooting involving fellow Memphis rapper

, in which Youngsta and his associates are alleged to have fired over 100 rounds into Young Dolph's SUV. Blac Youngsta had maintained that he was innocent before turning himself in. He was released on bond the same day, charged with six counts of discharging a weapon into an occupied dwelling or moving vehicle and felony conspiracy. In May 2019, the charges were dropped.

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Mixtapes

Extended plays

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Notes

Awards and nominations

ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Music Awards

, - , rowspan="1" style="text-align:center;", 2019 , style="text-align:left;", "Booty" , rowspan="1" style="text-align:center;", Award Winning R&B/Hip Hop Songs , , -

Tours

Headlining

*''I Swear to God Tour'' (2015) *''Young & Reckless Tour'' (2016) *''I'm Innocent Tour'' (2017) *''Pull Up Tour'' (2018) *''Church on Sunday International Tour'' (2019)

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 1990 births Living people African-American male rappers 21st-century African-American male singers Epic Records artists Rappers from Memphis, Tennessee Singers from Memphis, Tennessee Southern hip hop musicians 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American singers 21st-century American male singers