Troop 41 is an American hip hop ensemble from

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the List of North Carolina county seats, seat of Wake County, North Carolina, Wake County in the United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most ...

formed in 2005. The group consists of three members: T-Breezy, Lil Lee and Lil Inferno.

Career

Their 2010 single " Do the John Wall" was originally released by KAIRIZMIC Music, whose artist management and marketing pushed the song to chart as a top 100 digital single on iTunes and in ''Billboard'' magazine, eventually peaking at number 76 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. "Do the John Wall" was later re-released on

Universal Republic Republic Records is a New York City–based American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). It was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially an ...

after successfully garnering the group a major recording contract due to charting on iTunes and ''Billboard'' magazine, and receiving over ten million views on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

.Menconi, David (2010)
Local rap group gets record deal
", ''

News & Observer ''The News & Observer'' is an American regional daily newspaper that serves the greater Triangle area based in Raleigh, North Carolina. The paper is the largest in circulation in the state (second is the '' Charlotte Observer''). The paper has be ...

'', December 19, 2010, retrieved 2011-07-12 The song was produced by Darius "DeeMoney Beatz" Lassiter, with Sigh Griffin as executive producer. The song is based on a Kentucky-based dance, and inspired by seeing

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player

John Wall Johnathan Hildred Wall Jr. (born September 6, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A Raleigh, North Carolina native, Wall was chosen with the List of firs ...

performing the dance. The group were described by ''

SPIN Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

'' as "a would-be Southern

Pharcyde The Pharcyde (currently known as The Far Side) is an American alternative hip hop group, formed in 1989, from South Central Los Angeles. The original four members of the group are Imani (Emandu Wilcox), Slimkid3 (Trevant Hardson), Bootie Brown ...

."Songs You Must Hear Now!
, ''

'', August 2010, p. 52, retrieved 2011-07-12 The name Troop 41 was derived from their ages at the time; by adding together their respective ages, they got the number 41. Troop 41 was featured on rapper Young Scrap's song "Text Me" in 2010.

Members

*Tristian Brown (T-Breezy),Trust, Gary (2010)
Weekly Chart Notes: P!nk, 'Glee' Cast, Rick Ross
, ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'', December 16, 2010, retrieved 2011-07-12 who graduated from

Southeast Raleigh Magnet High School Southeast Raleigh Magnet High School is a magnet high school in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. It opened in 1997 as a magnet school with a focus on math, science, and technology. The current magnet theme is University Connections, which ...

*Lelynd Darkes (Lil Lee), who graduated from

Needham B. Broughton High School Needham B. Broughton High School, commonly known as Broughton High School, is one of thirty-two high schools in the Wake County Public School System. It is located at 723 St. Mary's Street, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Broughton w ...

*Dakare Wilder (Lil Inferno), who graduated from

William G. Enloe High School William G. Enloe High School, also known as Enloe Magnet High School or Enloe High School, is a public magnet high school offering Gifted & Talented and International Baccalaureate programs located in eastern Raleigh, North Carolina, United Stat ...

All three members graduated from

John W. Ligon Middle School John W. Ligon GT Magnet Middle School, formerly John W. Ligon Junior-Senior High School, is a Public school (government funded), public magnet school, magnet middle school in the Wake County Public School System located in the Chavis Heights neigh ...

in Raleigh, North Carolina. There, they took a freestyle poetry class taught by Lester Francis. In the class, there were often arguments about whether or not rap was considered poetry. Francis believed that it was and allowed them to write rap in his class. There, they got the inspiration to become professional rappers. In 2011, after their single "Do the John Wall" was released, they went back to Ligon to give a private performance for the student body.

Discography

"Do the John Wall"

"Do the John Wall" is a hip-hop dance song by Troop 41. This song is based on the

John Wall Dance The John Wall Dance is a dance performed by flexing the arms and twisting the wrist. American basketball player John Wall first performed the eponymous dance during his introduction at Big Blue Madness at the University of Kentucky in October 2009. ...

, which came from

Kentucky Wildcats The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic squads of the University of Kentucky (UK), a founding member of the Southeastern Conference. The Kentucky Wildcats is the student body of the University of Kentucky. 30,473 ...

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast D ...

player

. It was released onto

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

according to reports on May 26, 2010. The remix of this song features Young Money rapper Lil Chuckee. It reached No. 76 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 during the week of January 11, 2011.

References

{{Authority control American hip hop groups Musical groups from Raleigh, North Carolina