Chingy is the stage name of Howard Bailey, Jr. He was born on March 9, 1980 in St. Louis, Missouri. Chingy grew up in the historic Walnut Park section of St. Louis, a neighborhood known for it’s gangs and drugs. The middle child with two older brothers and two younger sisters, Chingy became a music fan at an early age citing Run-DMC and Ice Cube as his early rap heroes. Following in the footsteps of his heroes, Chingy began writing lyrics at age nine and was recording raps at age ten. He originally considered the stage names H. Thugzy and H Thugs, before settling on Chingy, a slang term for money. With the quick release of the party rap track "Right Thurr," Chingy became an overnight sensation. The track gained immediate popularity in the clubs, especially throughout the South, and quickly infiltrated urban radio in the midst of summer while simultaneously climbing to the upper reaches of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at number four. On July 15, 2003, he released his debut album Jackpot. Fronted by the smash single "Right Thurr", this album also spawned two other top 3 hits, "Holidae In" featuring Ludacris & Snoop Dogg, and "One Call Away" featuring J-Weav. Chingy has since released four more albums.
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