Plies: Stuck Off The Realness

Recently, I stumbled across a few different mixtapes from a new rapper out of Fort Meyers, Florida, who goes by the rhyming moniker of Plies. From a technical standpoint, he is one of the worst rappers to emerge from the cauldron of southern street pharmacists and deep fried d-boys. However, he conveys such a fierce energy and will to win on the microphone that I can't help but enjoy several of his songs. Think of Young Jeezy's lived-to-tell-the story credibility & lyrical simplicity mixed with David Banner's pure intensity. For a strong sample of his typical subject matter, go to datpiff.com and download 30 Days, The Truth Hurts, or 100% Real Nigga. While his rawness is still evident, plenty of determination and grit shine through. In particular, Bond Money stands out. With an atypical bouncy track, Plies spends much of the song warning enemies that he has the money to bail himself out of jail, calling everyone "fuck niggas", and falling on and off beat. He also displays 50 Cent's penchant for ending records with half a minute of superfluous shit talking. His freestyle over Lil' Wayne's "Go DJ" track, creatively named "Got My AK" is another display of Plies' raw emotion and fiery delivery. A fair warning: if someone rhyming niggas with triggas and sometimes forgetting to rhyme at all bothers you, Plies is not for you. If you want to hear the battle cry of a man who simply sounds terrified of being stuck in the poverty of Fort Meyers for the rest of his life, by all means, check out his music. Important ears have begun to perk up as well. Akon, T.I., Nitti, Pitbull, Mr. Collipark, Pretty Ricky, T-Pain, and Slip-N-Slide labelmates Trick Daddy and Trina have all either sought him out for cameos or put their own twist on his records. Meanwhile, powerful southern DJs such as DJ Drama, Greg Street, and DJ Scream have all lined up to host his latest mixtapes. Plies looked like he had the path to stardom all lined up, when his Akon collaboration "I Wanna Fuck You" began to burn up the airwaves down south and looked poised to cross over to mainstream radio. Mysteriously, a new version with Snoop Dogg appeared a few weeks later and Plies was soon forgotten. In a recent interview with Allhiphop, Plies revealed that record industry politics kept him off the version of the song that rose to the top of Billboard's Hot 100 and propelled Akon to double platinum status and Snoop to over 800,000 records sold. Industry naysayers also scuttled Plies' plan to pull an 8Ball and release a triple CD for his debut album. While 8Ball was an established member of the southern rap elite and wanted to allow new rappers to shine when he decided to release a triple CD, it is a much more audacious move for a newcomer to attempt. There was also a second attempt at cultivating a lead single for Plies, the Nitti produced banger "Got 'Em Hatin". For whatever reason (lack of promotion, perhaps?), the song never took off outside of Florida and Plies was in the hole with Slip-N-Slide for 2 high profile cameos. It seems now that luck has finally shined down on Plies with his latest attempt to break through, as the collab "Shawty" with T-Pain has begun to pick up steam. Over a Drumma Boy track that sounds like The Runners mixed with Just Blaze, Plies professes his love for his shorty in between T-Pain's crooning about beating people up for his girl. While this isn't the best showcase for Plies' talents, one can only hope this will be his springboard into the mainstream. Any debut rapper who has the guts to go places with his music and is audacious enough to attempt a triple CD debut album (quickly crushed by Slip-N-Slide, who told him not to bother because it would only count as one album off his contract, essentially reducing him to giving them 2 albums for free) is all right in my book.


Download worthy Plies tracks besides the ones mentioned:

Chopper Zone
100% Real Nigga
A Nigga Realer Than Plies
I Just Want The Paper
Know Somethin'