Soulja Slim

Magnolia beginnings

James Adarryl Tapp Jr. was born in New Orleans on September 9, 1977, and was raised in the Magnolia Projects. He left Cohen Senior High School in the 11th grade. Around 1993 he began recording as Magnolia Slim with producer DJ KLC, whose Parkway Pumpin’ operation was part of the city’s independent bounce and rap scene.

Early releases

His first release, the cassette EP “Soulja ’Fa’ Lyfe,” came out on Hype Enough Records in 1994 and is reported to have sold 90,000 copies independently. The track “Kickin It For Them Hoes” received local radio play. A second EP, “Dark Side,” followed in 1995. During the mid-1990s he was convicted of armed robbery and served time in state prison.

No Limit Records

Now recording as Soulja Slim, he signed with Master P’s No Limit Records, where KLC was working as part of the in-house team Beats By the Pound. “Give It 2 ’Em Raw” was released in May 1998, debuted at No. 13 on the Billboard 200 and sold 82,000 copies in its first week, with the singles “From What I Was Told” and “Street Life.” He also appeared on Master P’s “MP da Last Don.” A second No Limit album, “The Streets Made Me,” was released in July 2001. XXL reported that both No Limit albums came out while he was incarcerated.

Cut Throat Comitty and “Slow Motion”

In 2002 he launched his own label, Cut Throat Comitty Records, and released “Years Later,” which Koch Records reissued in expanded form as “Years Later... A Few Months After” in 2003. He recorded “Slow Motion” with Juvenile. Soulja Slim was shot and killed outside his mother’s home in the Gentilly neighborhood of New Orleans on November 26, 2003, at age 26; the case was never resolved in court. Released as a single in 2004, “Slow Motion” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in August of that year, the first chart-topper for both artists.