Beanie Sigel

Dwight Equan Grant (born March 6, 1974), better known by his stage name Beanie Sigel, is an American rapper from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

He first became known for his association with Jay-Z, as a flagship artist for his now-defunct label imprint, Roc-A-Fella Records.

Grant's debut studio album, The Truth (2000) was released through the label and met with critical and commercial success, peaking at number five on the Billboard 200.

Roc-A-Fella Records released Beanie Sigel's debut album, The Truth on February 29, 2000, to critical and commercial success.

Grant's second and third studio albums, The Reason (2001) and The B. Coming (2005) found similar success; the latter peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 and spawned the single "Feel It in the Air".

Along with his solo career, Grant was the de facto leader of the Philadelphia-based collective State Property, whom were also signed to Roc-A-Fella and debuted in 2002 with a namesake film in which Grant starred.

The group released two well-received studio albums.

Grant has also been known for his numerous legal issues and publicized court trials since 2002.

To date, he has been arrested at least six times serving roughly four years in federal or state prison.

In 2002, Sigel and much of the Roc-A-Fella roster starred in State Property.

Its release coincided with the creation and promotion of State Property, a group of Philadelphia artists signed to Roc-A-Fella, who were organized by Sigel and Freeway.

Its members included Peedi Crakk, the Young Gunz (Neef Buck & Young Chris), Oschino and Omillio Sparks.

Their first collaboration was for the movie's soundtrack, an eponymous release that featured the original "Roc the Mic" by Sigel and Freeway.

2003's The Chain Gang Vol. 2 followed, featuring the single "Can't Stop, Won't Stop" by the Young Gunz.

The record was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group.

In 2005, before serving a one-year prison sentence stemming from an earlier arrest, Sigel shot multiple videos, directed by Joe Briscella, and finished his third album The B. Coming.

During this time, Sigel's label head at Roc-A-Fella, Jay-Z, became president of its parent label, Def Jam, which caused former business partners Damon Dash and Kareem "Biggs" Burke to leave and form the Dame Dash Music Group.

Dame Dash Music Group and Def Jam released Sigel's The B. Coming rather than Roc-A-Fella, but it still contained production from a slew of Roc/Jay Z-affiliated producers including Chad West, The Neptunes, Just Blaze, Boola, and Buckwild.

Sigel recruited cross–label MC talent for his album as well, including Cam'ron and Jay-Z.

Sigel's record produced a hit track, "Feel It in the Air", and sold 131,000 copies in its first week.

Advertising his friendship with the incarcerated Sigel, Dash publicly claimed that he was leaving the Roc-A-Fella roster to join him.

Sigel's group, State Property was thrown into turmoil, but eventually chose to remain at Roc-A-Fella—apparently against Sigel's wishes.

On his release, Sigel questioned the loyalty of his group and said that he was signing with Dame and Biggs due to a stronger relationship with the pair than with Jay-Z:

"I've never been around Jay on an off day. It ain't like I made a choice of running with Dame and Biggs or 'Dame and Biggs held me down through my whole trial.' It's not that. I would be a sucker if I said I [signed with the Damon Dash Music Group] because they did that for me. It's love. You see how we chillin' now, this ain't about no business."

Soon after, he clarified his comments, saying he simply did not want to be involved in the conflict, and elected to re-open talks with Roc-A-Fella instead of moving to Dame Dash Music Group.

In 2006, Sigel re-signed with Roc-A-Fella Records and started recording for his fourth studio album The Solution.

After a brief hiatus, Grant returned to Roc-A-Fella in 2007 and released his fourth studio album, The Solution in December of that year to positive reviews despite a commercial decline.

On October 29, 2007, Sigel released the first single from The Solution titled "All The Above" which featured R. Kelly.

It debuted on the U.S. R&B charts at number 83.

On May 22, 2007, Sigel released The Solution which debuted on the Billboard charts at number 37.

As his final project with the label, he released his fifth and sixth albums, The Broad Street Bully (2009) and This Time (2012) independently, both of which saw regional success and continued positive reception.

In 2009, Sigel released his first independent album The Broad Street Bully after his contracts with Roc-A-Fella Records and Def Jam Records had expired.

In 2010, Sigel announced that he was working on his sixth studio album titled The Closure which was to be released on Universal Republic and G-Unit Records.

However, on May 31, 2011, Sigel cancelled the album and retired from the music industry for two weeks, before deciding to return and work on the album again, re-titling it The Classic.

In 2011, Sigel signed with 50 Cent's subsidiary label G-Unit Philly and renewed his 2009 contract with G-Unit Records.

On July 13, 2011, Sigel released his first single from the album titled "B-Boy Stance".

On March 30, 2012, Sigel told Statik Selektah on Shade 45 that he would be working on a collaborative album with his longtime close friend, the Southern rap veteran Scarface; the album was to be called Mac and Brad.

Scarface tweeted the announcement at the same time via mobile.

On that same day, while distribution deals with E1, The Orchard, and Asylum were on the table, Sigel also decided to sign a distribution deal with EMI after one of his mutual friends garnered the interest of Chris Schwartz.

Under Schwartz's guidance, Sigel released a new mixtape, followed by his studio album This Time.