Troy Lane Birklett (born February 24, 1966),
known professionally as Lil' Troy, is an American rapper and songwriter.
Early life
Birklett was born in
Houston
Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
and grew up there.
Career
Early career
In 1987, Troy Birklett founded Short Stop and joined the group Mass 187 in 1987. Mass 187's song "Gangsta Strut" was featured on local radio. He was arrested in November 1999 and sent to a
federal detention center in
Beaumont, Texas
Beaumont is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Texas, Jefferson County, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area, located in Southeast Texas on the Neches River about east of Houston (city ...
west of
Orange. He was there nine months.
''Wanna Be a Baller'' and later career
In the late 1990s, Lil' Troy featured many of Houston's rappers in his songs. He reached national audiences with his single "
Wanna Be a Baller". The song reached No. 70
on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100, and propelled ''
Sittin' Fat Down South'', his debut album on his Shortstop/Me & Mine Entertainment label, to the Top 25 albums on the
''Billboard'' 200. After the success of the lead single, Lil' Troy was picked up by
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...
, which re-released his debut album in 1999 with national distribution. The debut album was a success; it was certified Platinum by the
RIAA
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 ...
selling 1.9 million copies in the US.
Lil' Troy released a follow up in 2001, titled ''
Back to Ballin''. The album did not have a charting single and did not fare nearly as well as his debut. He released his third album, ''Paperwork'', in 2006.
Lil' Troy later became a
truck driver
A truck driver (commonly referred to as a trucker, teamster or driver in the United States and Canada; a truckie in Australia and New Zealand; an HGV driver in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the European Union, a lorry driver, or driver in ...
, forming Birklett Trucking Company in
Missouri City, Texas
Missouri City is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, within the metropolitan area. The city is mostly in Fort Bend County, with a small portion in Harris County. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 74,259, an increas ...
west of
Pearland.
Discography
Albums
Singles
References
External links
Lil' Troyon YouTube
*
1966 births
Living people
African-American male rappers
21st-century American male rappers
American drug traffickers
Rappers from Houston
Underground rappers
Businesspeople from Texas
Place of birth missing (living people)
Universal Records artists
Gangsta rappers
21st-century American rappers
21st-century American male musicians
21st-century African-American musicians
20th-century African-American musicians
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