Dem Franchize Boyz was an American hip hop group from

Atlanta 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 ...

, signed to

E1 Music MNRK Music Group (pronounced "monarch", formerly known as Koch Records and eOne Music) is a New York City-based independent record label and music management company. It was formed in 2009 from the music assets of Koch Entertainment, which had ...

. The group had four members: Parlae (born Maurice Gleaton), Pimpin' (Jamal Willingham), Jizzal Man (Bernard Leverette), and Buddie (Gerald Tiller). They were best known for their hit singles "

I Think They Like Me "I Think They Like Me" is a song by American hip hop group Dem Franchize Boyz. It was released in August 2005 as a single from their self-titled debut album ''Dem Franchize Boyz''. The song's chorus is sampled from their debut single " White Tee". ...

" and "

Lean wit It, Rock wit It "Lean wit It, Rock wit It" is a song by Atlanta rap group Dem Franchize Boyz from their album '' On Top of Our Game''. The recording features Peanut and Charlay and was produced by Classic Buck$ aka Buck and Maurice "Parlae" Gleaton. The song peak ...

History

The origin of the group dates back to when all four members were high school and college school mates, making music for fun while furthering their education. In regards to the group name, Parlae stated that "We are a franchise, a business. We're homeboys, but we're business partners too. We all do different things and have different roles. That's how we got the name." One day while pursuing their business degrees in North Carolina, the four recorded a song in a dorm room that would become their future debut and hit single "White Tee," before moving back to Atlanta. The group signed to

Universal Records Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch–American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

in 2004 after performing unsigned. Universal released the group's self-titled debut album in September of that year with hit single "White Tee", which

BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los ...

featured for some time. In 2005, record producer

Jermaine Dupri Jermaine Dupri Mauldin (born September 23, 1972) is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, record executive, entrepreneur, and DJ. Early life Jermaine Dupri Mauldin was born on September 23, 1972, the son of Tina (Mosley) and Michael ...

signed Dem Franchize Boyz to his label

So So Def So So Def Recordings is an American record label based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, and owned by producer Jermaine Dupri, specializing in Southern hip hop, R&B and bass music. So So Def has managed artists such as Bow Wow, Kris Kross, T ...

after transferring it from Arista Records to

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), Tom Newman. It ...

. Dem Franchize Boyz' remix of their earlier track "Oh I Think They Like Me" was retitled simply "

" and featured Dupri, Bow Wow, and

Da Brat Shawntae Harris-Dupart (born April 14, 1974), better known by her stage name Da Brat, is an American rapper. Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, she began her career in 1992, the year she signed with So So Def Records. Her debut album '' Fun ...

and topped the ''Billboard'' R&B chart. In regards to the contract signing, Parlae stated:

We knew JD--we met JD through... a car show in Dallas. You know... we had a song "White Tee"? When JD got on the "White Tee" remix it got real popular, so we ended up doing a show with him...in Dallas at the car show there. That was our first time meeting JD, and it was like, it was real responsive, real crazy, so JD was like, "I wanna do something else wit y'all." So we had a song "Oh I Think Dey Like Me," ndJD said let's do an official remix, put it on his Young, Fly & Flashy album, and then a song turned into a contract.

So So Def released ''

On Top of Our Game ''On Top of Our Game'' is the second studio album by Atlanta-based rap group Dem Franchize Boyz, released on February 7, 2006. Track listing Other versions There is a deluxe version of the album with a bonus DVD, and there is also another ver ...

'' in 2006, and single "

" followed. "Lean wit It" was among several "

snap music Snap music (also known as ringtone rap or snap rap) is a subgenre of hip hop music derived from crunk that originated in southern United States in the 2000s, in Bankhead, West Atlanta, United States.Vibe Jun 2006, "Oh Snap!" It achieved ma ...

" singles popular in early 2006, such as "

Laffy Taffy Laffy Taffy is an American brand of taffy candies produced by the Ferrara Candy Company, a subsidiary of Ferrero. The candies are small (about ), individually wrapped taffy rectangles available in a variety of colors and artificial fruit f ...

" by

D4L D4L (an acronym of Down For Life) was an American hip hop group formed in 2003, composed of Atlanta-based rappers Fabo, Mook-B, Stoney, and Shawty Lo. They are best known for their 2005 hit single " Laffy Taffy", which peaked at number one o ...

and "

Play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

" by

David Banner Lavell William Crump (born April 11, 1974), better known by his stage name David Banner, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Born in Brookhaven, Mississippi, Banner's family moved to Jackson, Mississippi, where he was raised. Ba ...

. Parlae (Maurice Gleaton) was arrested on June 13, 2006, after police raided a studio and found drugs, weapons, and money. All charges were later dropped. He was also arrested as the prime suspect in the murder of Kenneth Kemp that same year. The case was dismissed on a technicality. Another member, Pimpin' (Jamall Willingham), was also arrested for a DUI in October 2007. Dem Franchize Boyz collaborated with Korn to produce a mash-up of "

" and "

Coming Undone "Coming Undone" is a song written and recorded by American band Korn and The Matrix for Korn's seventh studio album, '' See You on the Other Side''. It was released as the album's second single in February 2006. Chart performance The song reach ...

" called " Coming Undone wit It". They are also featured in Monica's single " Everytime tha Beat Drop". They released their third album, '' Our World, Our Way'' on Koch Records on September 30, 2008. Gerald "Buddie" Tiller (born Gerald Hernandez Tiller October 26, 1982) died of cancer on August 25, 2019, at age 36.

Discography

;Studio albums * ''

Dem Franchize Boyz Dem Franchize Boyz was an American hip hop group from Atlanta, signed to E1 Music. The group had four members: Parlae (born Maurice Gleaton), Pimpin' (Jamal Willingham), Jizzal Man (Bernard Leverette), and Buddie (Gerald Tiller). They were best ...

'' (2004) * ''

'' (2006) * '' Our World, Our Way'' (2008) ;Mixtapes * ''Voltron'' (2011)

References

External links

* {{Authority control Rappers from Atlanta Southern hip hop groups Snap music African-American musical groups Musical groups from Georgia (U.S. state) Musical quartets So So Def Recordings artists Universal Records artists Musical groups established in 2004 Musical groups disestablished in 2009