Plies

Algernod Lanier Washington (born July 1, 1976), better known by his stage name Plies, is an American rapper.

In the late 1990s, Plies and his stepbrother Ronnell Lawrence Lavatte, also known as Big Gates, established an independent record label, Big Gates Records.

Although Plies initially refused to rap, after a demonstration for one of his artists, Big Gates decided to keep Plies' verse on the track "Tell Dem Krackers Dat".

Big Gates and Plies promoted the single and traveled many times to Miami, which eventually led to a deal for Plies on Slip-n-Slide Records.

He attended Miami University and under the name Nod Washington was wide receiver on its football team from 1995 to 1997, then transferred to the University of Central Florida and dropped out.

As a freshman in 1995, Washington had 9 receptions for 69 yards.

Born in Fort Myers, Florida, Plies was a wide receiver on the Miami Redskins football team of Miami University in Ohio in 1996 and 1997 before beginning his musical career.

In 1996, his sophomore year, Washington had 25 receptions for 262 yards and 2 touchdowns.

The next season, Washington had 5 receptions for 43 yards.

After signing to Slip-n-Slide in 2004, Plies released several mixtapes.

After dropping out of college, he was signed to Slip-n-Slide Records, he released four studio albums from 2007 until 2010.

Plies debuted in 2007 with The Real Testament with successful singles "Shawty" (featuring T-Pain) and "Hypnotized" (featuring Akon).

The Real Testament was released in August 2007.

His debut single "Shawty" featuring T-Pain topped the Billboard Hot Rap Tracks chart and peaked at number 9 on the Hot 100.

"Hypnotized", the second single, featured Akon, and peaked at number 3 on the Rap chart and 14 on the Hot 100.

The third single was "I Am the Club".

Plies made guest performances on DJ Khaled's "I'm So Hood", also featuring T-Pain, Trick Daddy and Rick Ross in 2007, which peaked at #19 on the Hot 100 and is included on Khaled second studio album We the Best, and Fat Joe's single "Ain't Sayin' Nothin'" from The Elephant in the Room in early 2008.

Plies also released two albums in 2008, Definition of Real and Da REAList, and later released Goon Affiliated in 2010.

Plies was born Algernod Lanier Washington in Fort Myers, Florida, and grew up in the East Dunbar area of Fort Myers.

While at Fort Myers Senior High School, he played receiver and defensive back in its football team, was crowned Homecoming King, was the valedictorian of his high school class, and was named the "Best Dressed" student of his class.

On February 29, 2008, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified the album Gold for having sold over 500,000 units; five days later the RIAA did the same for singles "Shawty" and "Hypnotized".

Definition of Real, his second album, was released in June 2008, 10 months after releasing his first album.

The lead single was "Bust It Baby Pt. 2" featuring Ne-Yo, which peaked at number 2 on both the Hot Rap Tracks and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks charts and number 7 on the Hot 100.

The album debuted at number 2 on the Billboard 200, selling over 214,000 copies its first week.

The next single was "Please Excuse My Hands", featuring Jamie Foxx and The-Dream.

RIAA certified Gold "Bust It Baby" on September 17 and Definition of Real October 14.

That same year Plies released his third album, Da REAList, in December 2008, six months after the release of his second album.

The first single off this album is "Put It on Ya", featuring Chris J. The album debuted at number 14 on the Billboard 200 with 114,000 copies sold in its first week.

The second single is "Want It, Need It", featuring Ashanti, and the third is "Plenty Money".

He did a guest performance on Ludacris' single "Nasty Girl" from Ludacris' album Theater of the Mind.

He also appeared on DJ Khaled's song "Out Here Grindin', also featuring Akon, Ross, Young Jeezy, Lil Boosie, Ace Hood and Trick Daddy, from Khaled's third album We Global, which peaked at #38 on the Hot 100.

In a November 2008 interview with Plies, and according to Slip-n-Slide Records, the rapper announced he completed a fourth album which he planned to release February 16, 2009, but stated the exact date depended on the success of his third album.

The album, Goon Affiliated, ended up being released on June 8, 2010.

The album's first two singles are "Becky" and "She Got It Made" featuring Bei Maejor.

The album debuted at #5 on the Billboard 200, much more successful than his previous album.

He continued to make guest appearances on Usher's "Hey Daddy (Daddy's Home)" (that version not making Usher's sixth studio album Raymond vs. Raymond), Gucci Mane's "Wasted", from The State vs. Radric Davis and Young Jeezy's "Lose My Mind", from Jeezy's fourth album Thug Motivation 103: Hustlerz Ambition, all of which made the top 40 of the Hot 100.

In 2010, Plies released a mixtape titled You Need People Like Me on September 3, which included a song titled "Boosie" dedicated to the incarcerated rapper Lil Boosie.

On November 18, he released another mixtape titled You Need People Like Me Pt. 2.

On December 23, 2010, he released another mixtape titled No Chaser.

In 2011, Plies released a mixtape titled I Fuck With The DJ on March 15 and a mixtape titled Aristotle on September 1.