Eric Newman (born July 4, 1977), better known by his stage name Stagga Lee, is an American

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

and DJ from

Yonkers, New York Yonkers () is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. Developed along the Hudson River, it is the third most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City and Buffalo. The population of Yonkers was 211,569 as enu ...

. He began his career playing music at local parties and graduated to spinning records behind some of the biggest names in music during the early 1990s. His stage name was adopted after hearing the classic 1959 No. 1 hit " Stagger Lee" by

Lloyd Price Lloyd Price (March 9, 1933May 3, 2021) was an American singer-songwriter, record executive and bandleader, known as "Mr. Personality", after his 1959 million-selling hit, "Personality". His first recording, "Lawdy Miss Clawdy", was a hit for Spe ...

Career

He signed to

Artistdirect ARTISTdirect is an American online digital media entertainment company. Overview Founded in 1994, it owns several websites, including artistdirect.com and artistdirectinterviews.com. These websites are a group of affiliate websites offering mul ...

in 2004, and had a minor hit in his debut single, "Roll Wit M.V.P. (We Be Like! The La La Song)," which sampled

Minnie Riperton Minnie Julia Riperton Rudolph (November 8, 1947 – July 12, 1979) was an American singer-songwriter best known for her 1975 single "Lovin' You" and her four octave D3 to F7 coloratura soprano range. She is also widely known for her use o ...

's 1975 hit "

Lovin' You "Lovin' You" is a song recorded by American singer Minnie Riperton from her second studio album, ''Perfect Angel'' (1974). It was written by Riperton and Richard Rudolph, produced by Rudolph and Stevie Wonder, and released as the album's fourth s ...

," and peaked at #13 on the

Rhythmic Top 40 The Rhythmic chart (also called Rhythmic Airplay, and previously named Rhythmic Songs, Rhythmic Top 40 and CHR/Rhythmic) is an airplay chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The chart tracks and measures the airplay of songs played on ...

in 2003. This began after a buzz was created from the video play the song was receiving on

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 A ...

's late night video show "

Uncut Uncut may refer to: * ''Uncut'' (film), a 1997 Canadian docudrama film by John Greyson about censorship * ''Uncut'' (magazine), a monthly British magazine with a focus on music, which began publishing in May 1997 * '' BET: Uncut'', a Black Enter ...

. " Following a 28 city promotional tour, his second single, as a featured artist of the Hip-Hop/Dance collective M.V.P., (which also featured

Robert Clivilles The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

, Vice Verse and Jasmine Ray), " Roc Ya Body (Mic Check 1 2)", which had a similar sound to the dancehall Diwali Riddim instrumental, was released to radio in 2004,and shot to #1 on the top dance format station in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, 103.5 KTU. The exposure from this success allowed him to sign, as part of M.V.P., to

Tommy Mottola Thomas Daniel Mottola (born July 14, 1948) is an American music executive, producer and author. Mottola is currently the Chairman of Mottola Media Group and was previously the Chairman and CEO of Sony Music Entertainment, parent of the Columb ...

Casablanca Records Casablanca Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Republic Records. Under its founder Neil Bogart, Casablanca was most successful during the disco era of the mid to late 1970s. The label currently f ...

. They parted ways with the label the following year. The song was released in the UK in 2005 on

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

, and quickly spread to other markets around Europe including

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

(#11),

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

(#1), and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

(#4). Lee was the opening act on the European leg of the

Nelly Cornell Iral Haynes Jr. (born November 2, 1974), better known by his stage name Nelly, is an American rapper, singer, actor and entrepreneur. He embarked on his music career with the hip hop group St. Lunatics in 1993 and signed to Universal ...

tour from July to August, and the

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. (born October 20, 1971), known professionally as Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg and briefly Snoop Lion), is an American rapper. His fame dates back to 1992 when he featured on Dr. Dre's debut solo single, " ...

tour in September/November, performing at venues such as

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

Manchester Evening News Arena Manchester Arena, currently referred to as the AO Arena for sponsorship reasons, is an indoor arena in Manchester, England, immediately north of the city centre and partly above Manchester Victoria station in air rights space. The arena has the ...

, and

Cardiff City Stadium The Cardiff City Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Dinas Caerdydd) is a stadium in the Leckwith area of Cardiff, Wales. It is the home of Cardiff City Football Club and the Wales national football team. Following expansion of the Ninian Stand in July 2014 ...

. Live television appearances include ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

'' (UK), ''Ballerman Hitz'' (Spain), and ''

Popworld ''Popworld'' is a British television programme that was broadcast on Channel 4 as part of the T4 strand, featuring pop news, trivia, gossip, interviews and music videos, as well as musical performances from contemporary artists. The show began ...

'' (London).

Discography

Studio albums

* 2003: ''Stagga Lee Presents M.V.P. (Most Valuable Playas)'' (MVP featuring Stagga Lee) * 2004: ''Game of Breath'' (unreleased) (Stagga Lee) * 2006: ''Hip Hop, Clubs, Girls & Life Vol. 1'' (MVP featuring Stagga Lee)

Extended plays

* 2005: ''Unreleased'' (unreleased) (MVP featuring Stagga Lee)

Singles

* 2004: " Roc Ya Body (Mic Check 1 2)" (MVP featuring Stagga Lee) * 2004: "Roll wit M.V.P. (We Be Like La La La)" (Stagga Lee featuring Benzino) * 2005: "Yonkers Shout Out" (Unreleased) (Stagga Lee) * 2006: "Bounce, Shake, Move, Stop" (MVP featuring Stagga Lee) * 2006: "What Makes a Great MC" (MVP featuring Stagga Lee) * 2006: "Lost" (MVP featuring Stagga Lee)

References

External links

*
Yahoo! Music

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Stagga 1977 births American male rappers Living people Musicians from Yonkers, New York Rappers from New York (state) 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American male musicians