Gangsta Pat

Stax lineage

Patrick Alexander Hall was born on November 17, 1973, in Memphis and came up in Whitehaven. His father, Willie “Too Big” Hall, was a Stax Records house drummer who played with the Bar-Kays, Booker T. & the MG's and Isaac Hayes' band, giving the younger Hall an early grounding in the city's soul tradition.

Teenage debut

Writing, producing and playing the instruments on his own early records, he debuted in 1990 with the single “I'm Tha Gangsta” backed with “Shootin' On Narcs” on Miami's On Top Records. The label followed with the album “#1 Suspect,” recorded at Memphis studios and featuring MC Rod on the title track. Atlantic reissued the album in 1991, and it has been described as the first Memphis rap record pressed by a major label, making him one of the earliest local rappers to move from an indie to a major at the start of the gangsta rap era.

Independent run

“All About Comin' Up” arrived on Wrap/Ichiban in November 1992. He stayed prolific through the decade with “Sex, Money, & Murder” (1994), “Deadly Verses” (1995), “Homicidal Lifestyle” and “The Story of My Life” (both 1997), “Tear Yo Club Down” (1999), “Show Ya Grill” (2000) and “Return of the #1 Suspect” (2001), later adding “Da Dro” (2004) and the EP “Live from Blackhaven” (2013). His tapes traveled well beyond Memphis, reportedly selling for $25 to $30 in Mississippi and Arkansas.

Influence

Local radio figures have called him one of the first artists to break Memphis rap out of the city, and his early success encouraged other young Memphians to pursue rap. His dark, self-produced 1990s catalog is now grouped with the horrorcore and phonk lineage traced back to the Memphis underground.