Lawrence Franks, Jr. (born January 1, 1989), better known by his
stage name Huey, is an American rapper from St. Louis, Missouri signed
to Jive Records. Huey is best known for his 2006 debut single, "Pop,
Lock & Drop It".
Franks was born and raised in Kinloch, Missouri. He moved to Walnut
Park neighborhood of St. Louis when he was five and returned to St.
Louis County as a teenager. In an interview, he remembered his community
as having "a lot of drugs going on and, of course, a little
bit of violence" and said that his experiences growing up in
a tough area inspired his rap lyrics.[1] At age 15, Franks began
creating hip hop beats.[2] His older brother referred Franks to producer
Angela Richardson, who was creating a rap group. Franks began performing
as Huey, and his songs "Oh" and "Pop, Lock & Drop
It" became local favorites among DJs and promoters. Huey was
featured on a series of mixtapes, one of which, Unsigned Hype, sold
out of its run of 8,000 copies and was noticed by producer TJ Chapman,
who introduced the rapper to Vice President of A&R at Jive Records,
Mickey "MeMpHiTz" Wright, in 2006.[3]
[edit] Notebook Paper
Huey's debut album for the label, Notebook Paper, was released in
mid-2007, described by Allmusic as sounding like a mixture of Nelly,
Chingy, and Ludacris.[3][4] The album reached #26 on the Billboard
200 chart and #10 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.[5] Nelly's
refusal to work with Huey on his debut album prompted 2 diss tracks "Down,
Down, Baby" featuring Tha Camp Boyz and "Back at Cha'".[6]
[edit] Redemption
Huey's second album, Redemption, released on September 14, 2010
after many delays. The first official single from the album was "Smile
and Wave", which features Dorrough and was released on June
15, 2010. In "Smile and Wave", Huey criticizes his critics.[1]
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
Year Title Chart positions
US US
R&B US
Rap
2007 Notebook Paper
* Debut album
* Released: June 19, 2007
* Label: Hitz Committee/Jive Records
26 10 4
2010 Redemption
* Second album
* Released: September 14, 2010
* Label: Que Records/EMI Records
— — —
[edit] Singles
Year Single US US R&B US Rap Album
2006 "Pop, Lock & Drop It" 6 6 2 Notebook Paper
2007 "When I Hustle" (featuring Lloyd)