Bohagon

Labeling himself a "country, ghetto poet," Bohagon—born Cedric Leonard—caught the attention of crunk figurehead Lil Jon, who viewed the Talbotton native as an up-and-coming Southern rap talent during the closing years of the 1990s. While serving as an A&R executive at Atlanta’s So So Def Records, Lil Jon recruited Bohagon for contributions to a pair of bass-focused projects, placing “Uh Uhh” on So So Def Bass All-Stars, Vol. 2 in 1997 and the regional favorite “Drop Dem Boes” on the subsequent installment in 1998. Shortly after those compilations appeared, Bohagon relocated from his small hometown of Talbotton, GA, to Atlanta, where Lil Jon later added him to the roster of the BME Recordings label. In the middle of the following decade, Bohagon established his own imprint, Georgia Durt, and assumed the role of co-CEO alongside Playboy Tre; the label’s inaugural project, the Georgia Durt compilation, surfaced in August 2005. Around the same period he joined Eminem’s Anger Management 3 tour, performing across more than fifty cities globally, while also assembling material for a solo debut highlighted by the 2006 hit single “Wuz Up,” which Lil Jon produced. Originally targeted for a summer 2006 release, the album Sundays at the Bootlegger was postponed without a new date.