S. Samuel
Grammy-winning rapper T.I.'s Grand Hustle protégé and close friend Young Dro is catching some bad press with reports claiming he owes back taxes dating back four years ago.
Details of Dro’s financial crunch hit the Internet early Monday (October 15).
Name: Young Dro Claim to Fame: Did that awesome “Shoulder Lean” song with T.I. back in 2006. Accusation: Failed to pay $45,139.99 in taxes to the state of Georgia back in 2007 … according to official docs filed with the GA Dept. of Revenue. And It Gets Worse: Dro JUST had his bad a** Maserati repo’d 4 months ago after allegedly defaulting on the payments. D*mn shame. Did We Call Dro’s Rep for Comment? You bet your a** we did … no response. (TMZ)
Dro last made headlines back in 2009 while putting together his delayed P.O.L.O. (Players Only Live Twice) sophomore album.
“When I walked in the office, couldn’t nobody look me in the eye,” Dro said in an interview. “They was looking down. You had Jim Jonsin beats, some of the best production I ever had on there. When I saw it I was like, ‘Oh my God. OMG.’ But then I said, ‘I’m gonna patch it up.’ The album got leaked, so we going back in the studio. We gonna get [Don] Cannon beats, we gonna get DJ Toomp beats, we gonna sew the album up and act like it ain’t never bled. No leak.” (MTV)
Around summer 2009, the Atlanta-bred emcee hinted at plans to take on an acting career.
“Young Dro, you already know man,” Dro said in a video. “In the studio man, putting finishing touches on sh*t. Stay in tune, dealing with all my fans to let ’em know P.O.L.O. on the way and don’t even get it twisted. Players Only Live Once. Check in with your partner man, it’s gon’ be real big, you know what I’m saying? Got hot tracks on there, we coming to LA to shoot videos and all that man, holla at my peoples over there, Travis Barker. Sh*t like that going on, trying to go to MGM and do sh*t like that, do movies. I mean, so tune in every week, it’s your boy Young Dro, P.O.L.O. the album, you gotta know to get that man. You gotta know your boy gonna be on fire like a motherf*cker shorty. And tell all them haters out there, keep on hatin’ man. You either gonna die from it or live to it.” (Dro Speaks)
The rapper’s claim to fame came around 2006 when he dropped his Best Thang Smokin’ debut.
By early 2006, Young Dro was signed to T.I.’s imprint, Grand Hustle Entertainment. Backed by the self-proclaimed “King of the South” T.I. and major label Atlantic Records, Young Dro hit the ground running with the popular single “Shoulder Lean” in summer 2006. It had heavy rotation on BET and MTV2, and its cellular phone ringtone sold over 500,000 units. The hit single is featured on his major-label debut, Best Thang Smokin’, released in late August the same year. (All Music)
Check out some past Young Dro footage below:
