Songoftheday 6/8/23 - Have you ever seen crocodile seats in the truck, turn around and sit it down and let 'em bite your butt...

 

 

"Still Fly" - Big Tymers

from the album Hood Rich (2002)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #11 (one week)

Weeks in the Top-40: 17

 

Today's song comes from the duo Big Tymers, made up of the head of Cash Money Records, Bryan Christopher Williams, who originally rapped under the monikers "Baby" or "The Birdman", and producer for the label Byron "Mannie Fresh" Thomas. Mannie Fresh had been instrumental on the success of the label, and even appeared on a couple hits himself. Rapper Juvenile's top-20 crossover hit "Back That Azz Up" from 1998 gave Mannie a featured credit, and a year later both he and Baby were featured on rapper B.G.'s single "Bling Bling", which also made the Hot 100 top-40. But before that, in 1997, the pair released their first album together, How You Luv That?, which went to #25 on Billboard magazine's R&B Albums chart, and popped on to the all-genre Billboard 200 sales tally for a week at #168. A sequel, How You Luv That? Vol. 2 arrived a year later, and did a little better at #17/#105 respectively. 

Their big break as a duo, however, came after the exposure from the Juvenile and B.G. hits, with their third disc I Got That Work. Two songs from the record, "Get Your Roll On" and "#1 Stunna", placed on Billboard's R&B Singles chart both peaking at #24, as well as both "bubbling under" the "pop" Hot 100 at #101/#105. The latter featured uncredited cameos from Juvenile and soon-to-be-star Lil' Wayne, and was also seen in the movie Original Kings Of Comedy. The album spent a week at #3 on the Billboard 200, and topped the R&B Albums list, going on to sell over a million copies.

With their fortunes turned around, the Big Tymers returned with their fourth disc Hood Rich in the spring of 2002. The lead single from the record was "Still Fly", written by the pair, who interpolated the melody to the theme song to the mid-1960's TV sitcom Gilligan's Island. The lyrics from the pair are all what is now the overdone trope of "luxury porn", spouting off as many high-end brand names that they can boast that they own. The chorus shifts gears to say they have no job and they can't pay their rent, so I'm not sure if its meant to be comical or just irresponsible. Nevertheless, surely with the money Cash Money Records was taking in, Baby and Mannie Fresh can definitely afford those things and the rent, so I guess they're doing an out-of-body experience. But on the positive side, they leave all the gunplay and violence at home (probably knowing this is their shot for mainstream success), and the jovial interplay between the pair's verses is refreshing amongst what else was out there. The song also appeared on the soundtrack to the movie xXx: A New Breed Of Secret Agent starring Vin Diesel, but the video eschews any film tie-in to capture the duo's natural humor..

"Still Fly" came a notch from making the top ten on Billboard's Hot 100 in July of 2002, while peaking at #4 on their R&B Singles chart and #3 on the Rap Songs list. On the radio, the single stopped at #4 on the dance-soul oriented Rhythmic format. The Hood Rich album released in April of that year, topped the Billboard 200 sales tally for a week, as well as the R&B Albums list, going on to sell over a million copies. The xXx soundtrack also made the top 10 on the Billboard 200, peaking at #9 and selling over a half-million copies on its own.

A second single from the record, "Oh Yeah!", featured Tazee as well as Boo & Gotti (the latter of which was also on the R. Kelly top-40 pop hit "Fiesta"). The single climbed to #23 on Billboard's R&B chart, and nearly made the top-40 on the Hot 100, peaking at #46. As for the xXx soundtrack, two more songs reached the R&B singles chart, with "Connected For Life" by Mack 10 featuring Ice Cube, WC, and Butch Cassidy going to #57, and "Are We Cuttin'" by Pastor Troy hitting #47, and also making the Hot 100 at #96.

A year later, Big Tymers returned with their fifth and so far final album under the group name, Big Money Heavyweight. Three songs from the album were minor R&B hit, with the second, "Gangsta Girl" featuring R. Kelly, doing the best of them, rising to #38 on the R&B singles chart and #85 on the Hot 100. "No Love (Beautiful Life)", featuring Jazze Pha, ended up being their final R&B singles chart hit at #95. The Big Money Heavyweight album crested at #21 on the Billboard 200, and #6 on the R&B Albums list, going on to sell over a half million copies. 

Mannie Fresh released his own album on the Cash Money label, The Mind Of Mannie Fresh, in 2004, and the single from the set, "Real Big", becoming a top-40 R&B hit at #33 and popping on the Hot 100 at #79. The album went to #47 on the Billboard 200, and #16 on the R&B Albums list. After leaving the label, he released a second album, Return Of The Ballin', which got little notice. However, he's been featured on a string of R&B hits, with one, 2006's "That Girl" with Frankie J, almost making the pop top-40 at #43.

 

Meanwhile, Williams released a solo album under the "Baby" name, Birdman. He would go on to put out six more studio albums (three of them collaboration sets), and he will be back to this series.

 

In 2018, Birdman and Mannie Fresh reunited for a one-off single from a film about Cash Money Records, "Designer Caskets". 

(4/10)

Up tomorrow: Country band from Alberta has a touch of insomnia.