Remy Ma, the artist formerly known as Remy Martin, is a female rapper who first emerged on the New York hip-hop scene in 1998 when she was recruited by fellow Bronx rapper Big Pun and Fat Joe to join their crew, The Terror Squad.
Remy Ma, whose real name is Reminisce Mackie, like Pun, lived in the New York borough of The Bronx during the 1990s in the Castle Hill Houses, a housing project in the South Bronx. Big Pun happened to live in the Soundview neighbourhood, a mere five minutes from Castle Hill.
In 1999, Mackie joined the Terror Squad and, by 2001, after being signed to Loud Records, ended up on the remix of M.O.P’s legendary track ‘Ante Up’. Following this, she continued to thrive as part of the Terror Squad, and in 2004, alongside Fat Joe, she topped the charts with their smash hit ‘Lean Back’.
Across 2004 and 2005, Remy Ma worked on her debut solo album, There’s Something About Remy, which was released at the start of 2006. Initially, it seemed as if there was nothing stopping the rapper. However, shortly after her album release in 2006, the rapper found herself having a severe brush with the law after an accident with a firearm led to one of her friends being shot. In 2007 the rapper was sentenced to seven years in prison.
In 2008, Mackie was found guilty of assault, possession of a deadly weapon and attempted coercion by the state of New York as a result of an altercation the rapper had, which resulted in someone being shot twice. Mackie was sentenced to eight years but served six with parole.
Since her release in 2014, the rapper has gone on to achieve great things and even had a platinum hit, ‘All The Way Up’, featuring Fat Joe and French Montana. Below, you can watch a 2010 freestyle the rapper performed from Bedford Hills Correctional Facility in upstate New York.
