Shop Boyz

The Shop Boyz branded their style "hood rock" in an attempt to stand apart from Atlanta's dominant crunk sound, yet their breakthrough track "Party Like a Rockstar" revealed an easy fit within that world through its pounding bass-and-drum foundation, pop-friendly hooks, and sharp guitar accents. Raised on the streets of Bankhead in western Atlanta, cousins Meany (Demetrius Hardin) and Fat (Richard Stevens) joined their lifelong friend Sheed (Rasheed Hightower) in pursuing music while holding daytime jobs repairing automobiles to finance studio time. Their path cleared after connecting with local beatmaker Richard "Fire" Harris, who supplied instrumentals at no cost, and OnDeck Records founder Brian "Bingo" Ward, who granted access to his recording facilities. Over the next three years the trio issued a string of underground albums and mixtapes before cutting "Party Like a Rockstar" in January 2007, instantly recognizing its hit potential. The song quickly became one of Atlanta's standout successes of the year, leading Universal Republic to secure national distribution rights and sign the group to a major-label deal. Following its official digital release in May, "Party Like a Rockstar" climbed from position 52 to number two on the pop charts. Despite shaky familiarity with rock history that drew repeated interview questions, the momentum carried through to their full-length debut, Rockstar Mentality (2007). The mixtape Forever Shop arrived in 2009, and in 2015 the tracks "Born to Be Bad" and "Dream On" launched a run of download-only digital singles.