Playaz Circle

by Cyril CordorAttempting to balance club-friendly, Southern crunk with more conceptual lyrics, Atlanta-based rappers Tity Boi and Dolla Boy first teamed up as Playaz Circle (aka the Duffle Bag Boys) in 1997 in adjacent city College Park, GA. Having been friends since high school, the two eagerly began recording street releases and mixtapes. Not soon afterward, another aspiring MC and local radio disc jockey, Ludacris, moved into their same College Park housing complex and started collaborating with Playaz Circle. Each of their respective crews were trying to break into the industry, but Playaz Circle's career halted when Dolla Boy was sentenced to prison, and Tity Boi wound up getting shot. Meanwhile, Ludacris had blown up, becoming one of the South's highest-selling rap artists. Ludacris invited Tity Boi, and later Dolla Boy, to join his newly formed Disturbing tha Peace collective and DTP record label. Tity Boi and Dolla Boy recorded "Play Pen to the State Pen" for DTP's first outing, Golden Grain (2002). DTP executives were not very eager to release any of the duo's music through its Def Jam partnership at first; and so, the two continued to release straight-to-street albums and mixtapes, handing material to Atlanta DJs to play in clubs. Patiently waiting for their already finished album to be released, Playaz Circle made noise with their Top Five Hip-Hop/R&B single "Duffle Bag Boy," featuring Lil Wayne on the hook, in summer 2007. The song's growing popularity helped break down major-label red tape for the two, making it the lead single for DTP's third LP, Strength in Numbers (2008), as well as their debut album, Supply and Demand (2007).