Choppa - Biography
By Eric Brightwell
Looking a bit like Nelly and sounding something like Juvenile, charismatic New Orleans bounce rapper Choppa was able to gain the highest degree of national exposure of any bounce artist. After achieving regional stardom with Take Fo’ Records, a jump to Master P’s New No Limit afforded him broader exposure but with their collapse, he fell back into relative obscurity.
Choppa was born Darwin Turner on November 20, 1980. Unlike most New Orleans rappers, who generally hail from the city’s many projects and working class neighborhoods, Chopp grew up in a close-knit family on west bank in suburban Marrero. He began rapping as Choppa Style alongside Stunt Deezy, AK Jay, Lil Youngsta and Lil Tony as part of the Marrero bounce act, Bulletproof Soldjaboys. In 1995, Lil Youngsta and Choppa Style left the group and the remaining three carried on as Donkey Boyz. Choppa, always as interested in athletics as music, assumed that his future was in sports until, after a disagreement with his high school football coach, he decided to focus primarily on rapping, now as Choppa, performing at clubs in and around New Orleans with DJ Ron.
At nineteen, Choppa got a big break when he guested on Wild Wayne’s popular Nine O’Clock Props radio show on Q93, leading to regular appearances. In 2000, he made his recording debut at Take Fo’ Records on the DJ Jubilee-produced compilation, Party @ the Luau with his song “Ya Boy, Choppa!” His debut album, Choppa Style (2001-Take Fo’ Records) followed and was a significant regional hit, mainly on the strength of the then ubiquitous title track. In his book Triksta - Life and Death and New Orleans Rap, famed English music journalist Nik Cohn alleges that at least some of the lyrics on the record were ghostwritten by Bigg Ramp and Lil Tee although, as (from a strictly lyrical standpoint) a fairly standard bounce record, most of the songs center on simple ward shout outs and shouted dance instructions, making the need for ghostwriters somewhat suspect. At any rate, it wasn’t the lyrics but Choppa’s charisma and Take Fo’s singature gutter bounce production that led to the album selling enormously well in Louisiana but peaking only at #99 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.
By the time of Choppa’s Take Fo’ debut, most of rival label No Limit’s talent had bailed, reducing the roster to Master P and his immediate family. After fixing his magpie eye on Choppa, P’s label entered a joint venture with Take Fo’ and rereleased the album in 2002 followed by a re-recorded version of the single “Choppa Style,” now featuring Master P in a verse notable for its (probably inadvertent) arrhythmic, non-rhyming, nearly free verse structure. Choppa’s re-recorded “Choppa Style” reached #49 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks, #94 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was played in heavy rotation on BET’s late night program UNCUT (one of the few national outlets for independent rap).
In March 2003, No Limit released Choppa’s sophomore release, Straight from the N.O., which contained the re-recorded “Choppa Style.” Musically, it was more varied than its predecessor, featuring production from former Beats By the Pound member Ke’Noe, Don Juan, Master P, Donald XL Robertson, Sinista, and the aforementioned journalist Nik Cohn who was at the time attempting to launch a nationally successful bounce artist. It was also more uneven, although generally to a high standard. It was a modest success, peaking at #54 on the Billboard 200 and #17 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. It proved not to be enough, however, to keep Master P’s label alive and he once again closed shop, only to be sued by Take Fo’ for breach of contract which was settled out of court. Meanwhile, Choppa started Street Balla Records.
Choppa’s next appearance on record was the song “Throwed” where he joined Mike Jones and 5th Ward Weebie appeared on the 2004 Swisha House mix tape The Day Hell Broke Loose 2 - AKA Major without a Major Deal. In November, Choppa returned to film as a DJ in Da Block Party, in which he appeared alongside other New Orleans notables like 5th Ward Weebie and Kane & Abel. Choppa also signed a five album deal with boxer Roy Jones Jr’s Florida-based Body Head Entertainment and joined the label’s group, Body Head Bangerz. “Hot Piece” was the first single off his next album, Da Real Choppa was released in September, 2005. The title reflected the presence of a rapper calling himself “Chopper” on Puff Daddy’s Making the Band television program. The resulting album was strong, more cohesive and featured appearances by all three non-incarcerated Hot Boys as well as former No Limit rapper Magic and Roy Jones Jr himself. It was followed in 2006 by Comin’ Back Home (Body Head Entertainment), which saw Choppa revisiting his usual themes, contributing to a sense of familiarity compounded frustratingly by the inclusion of more than a handful of songs from the predecessor. In 2008, a two year silence was broken by Choppa’s “Woaa” which also marked his return to Take Fo’. A full-length, tentatively titled Unfinished Business is scheduled to follow.
