Atlanta rapper 2 Chainz has been on the scene for over a decade and has managed to gain quite a name for himself over the years. Around the early 2010s, the rapper (real name Taucheed Epps) was one of the hottest new rappers out of the South and gained a lot of followers through his various features.
2 Chainz began his career as part of the Atlanta hip-hop duo Playaz Circle. As part of the duo alongside Earl “Dolla Boy” Conyers, he acquired moderate success, with the team even signing to Ludacris’ Disturbing Tha Peace label. However, one of their breakthrough singles that put 2 Chainz on the map was ‘Duffle Bag Boy’ featuring Lil Wayne.
The track with Wayne peaked at number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100. However, 2 Chainz’s working relationship with Lil Wayne had strange origins. In an interview on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon ahead of the release of CollegeGrove 2, Epps spoke about when he first met his collaborator, disclosing, “Uh…Wayne wanted cannabis.”
Epps then revealed to Fallon that he was Lil Wayne’s weed connect in Atlanta before they collaborated. According to the New Orleans lyricist, Epps appeared to be a “laid-back guy” who graduated from college and hooped. However, they later had a studio session together once Wayne realised he was one of the Playaz Circle MCs.
“The moment he said he rapped and the moment I heard it, we got to the studio, and I did this hook for the song, ‘Duffle Bag Boy.’ And the rest is history! I mean, once we linked up, we were friends from there!”
The two became such good friends over the years that Wayne served as best man at 2 Chainz’s wedding in 2018. Since then, the two have released two collaborative albums, CollegGrove and Welcome 2 CollegGrove.
Lil Wayne and 2 Chainz are two of the South’s most prominent artists, and their friendship has led to a lot of great music. The two collaborated on the 2012 track ‘Yuck!’ which featured on 2 Chainz’s album Based On A T.R.U. Story as well as songs like ‘Days and Days’ from Lil Wayne’s 2013 project, I Am Not a Human Being II.
You can hear the pair speak on their friendship in the video below.
