Hurricane Chris

Having taken up rapping at age nine, Hurricane Chris from Shreveport, LA first reached a national audience in 2007 through the infectious single “A Bay Bay.” Local notice had already come his way via the independent tracks “Ya Hear Me” and “Yep,” plus assorted mixtape spots, when he witnessed clubgoers greeting Shreveport legend DJ Hollyhood Bay Bay with the repeated chant “Hey Bay Bay!” Hollyhood stood at the forefront of the city’s ratchet movement—its answer to crunk or hyphy—and Chris had entered that circle by affiliating with the Lava House promotion crew and label, headquartered in the storied Cedar Grove neighborhood. While Lava House issued the hit singles “Ratchet” and its remix with Lil’ Boosie, Chris reworked the chant he had heard into the catchphrase “A Bay Bay,” the Shreveport equivalent of “fo sho.” The phrase became a Lava House single that drew the interest of Atlanta’s Mr. Collipark, who helped the now 18-year-old Hurricane Chris land a J Records contract in 2007; his debut album, 51/50 Ratchet, arrived before the year ended.