Petey Pablo

Southern rapper Petey Pablo rose swiftly through the ranks of hip-hop during the first years of the new millennium after launching his career in 2001 with the North Carolina anthem "Raise Up." The muscular hype track propelled his opening album, Diary of a Sinner: 1st Entry, into the Top Ten while earning a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Album. Follow-up single "Freek-a-Leek," the explicit highlight from 2004's Still Writing in My Diary: 2nd Entry, sustained his commercial momentum until gun-related legal troubles halted his recording activity for several years. Although mixtapes continued to surface, his next official studio album, Keep on Goin', did not arrive until 2018.

Born Moses Barrett III in Greenville, North Carolina, he relocated to New York once he decided to pursue a rap career in earnest. There he cultivated relationships with Busta Rhymes, Mystikal, and Black Rob; his first appearance on record came via a remix of the latter's "Whoa!," which drew notice from Timbaland among others. An A&R executive from Jive Records overheard Pablo freestyling alongside Black Rob at a New York club and promptly offered him a deal. The label placed him on Mystikal's Let's Get Ready, and Missy Elliott soon connected him with Timbaland, who had been interested in the rapper ever since the "Whoa!" remix. Jive facilitated the pairing, resulting in the breakout single "Raise Up."

Late-summer 2001 airplay for "Raise Up" began in the South and quickly expanded. Heavy MTV rotation followed, and the track climbed the Billboard charts, ultimately reaching number 25 on the pop listing and number nine on the R&B chart while remaining in the rankings for months. Those results paved the way for Diary of a Sinner: 1st Entry, which included three productions from Timbaland plus beats by Prophecy, Chucky Madness, Abnormal, and Pablo himself. The gold-certified project received a Best Rap Album Grammy nomination and positioned Pablo among the overnight successes of the early-2000s Dirty South wave.

Jive finally released the long-delayed sophomore album, Still Writing in My Diary: 2nd Entry, three years later. Its lead single, Lil Jon-produced "Freek-a-Leek," became another major hit, earning platinum certification and marking his highest chart placement to that point by entering the Top Ten. At the peak of his visibility, however, the aforementioned gun charge led to incarceration and an extended career pause. While serving time he issued the 2012 mixtape Carolina #1. Following his early-2014 release he maintained a low profile until issuing the official return album Keep on Goin' in 2018, then followed with the single "19 Summers" at the start of 2019.