Beanie Sigel

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This article refers to the rapper "Beanie Sigel". For the gangster, see Bugsy Siegel.

Beanie Sigel
Background information
Birth name	Dwight Grant
Born	March 6, 1974
Origin	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Genre(s)	Hip Hop
Years active	1998–present
Label(s)	Roc-A-Fella Records Criminal Background Records State Property Records Def Jam Recordings

Dwight Grant (born on March 6, 1974) better known as Beanie Sigel is an American Muslim^[1] rapper from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, signed to Damon Dash and Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella Records in 1998. Beanie founded the group and label State Property as well as the clothing company.

Beanie Sigel's name derives from the street in Philadelphia where he was raised, Sigel Street. It is also a play on the name of the famous gangster, Bugsy Siegel.

Contents 1 Early career 2 Feud 3 Career since the split of Roc-A-Fella Records 4 Legal Trouble 5 Shooting 6 Discography 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Early career

Sigel's debut LP, The Truth, was released February 28, 2000 on Roc-A-Fella Records. The album went gold with hits like "The Truth" and "Remember The Days" featuring Eve. His second album The Reason was released in mid-2001. The Reason was lighter material compared to his debut album^{[citation needed]} and introduced the world to his own rap group State Property, a band of Philly rappers signed to Rocafella Records.

[edit] Feud

Around 2001, Beanie Sigel was involved in an incident that stemmed from Jadakiss claiming rappers from Sigel's home city of Philadelphia got their style & flow from Jada. Sigel took offense to this, and they sent several tracks back and forth. Eventually Styles P (also from D-Block) and Jay-Z got involved. Sigel even called out DMX (from the Ruff Ryders crew, to whom Jadakiss was affiliated), but received no response.^{[citation needed]} Eventually Beanie Sigel, Jadakiss, and Styles P squashed their beef and performed together on Sheek Louch's album After Taxes on the song "Kiss Your Ass Goodbye".

The incident continued even after Russell Simmons, owner at the time of Def Jam (the label which Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella was under and Ruff Ryders was affiliated with through DMX) forced the two to declare a brief truce. Jay-Z apologized to Jadakiss and bowed out.^{[citation needed]} Disses finally stopped flying after Sigel released a diss track over Jada's "Put Ya Hands Up" beat, recalling when the D-Block wore shiny suits in a Bad Boy video, among other things.

[edit] Career since the split of Roc-A-Fella Records

While he was in jail, it is said that none of the State Property members except for Oschino came to visit him. He told Dame to pass the word on that State Property was no longer in effect, until after he was released. When the split between Roc-A-Fella owners occurred, Dame made it clear that Beanie's intentions were to move State Property to his new Dame Dash Music Group.

However, only 4 out of the other 6 members chose to move to the record label. Oschino and Omillio wanted to stay on Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam records with Jay-Z. When questioned, they claimed they were signed by Jay and never needed State Property or Beanie Sigel to make them popular. When he was released from jail, Sigel had a few choice words for his friends, claiming "I still love them like brothers... I just don't know if we can make music again."

It was thought that Sigel had chosen to sign with Dame; however, this is unclear, as he was present at Jay-Z's I Declare War concert in 2005. He recently stated his next Def Jam release would be a mixtape, which would fulfill his contract with them. He is currently working on his new album, The Solution.

It appears Beans has chosen to side with Jay-Z after all, as he recently stated that he would never work with Dame Dash again [1], and several members of Roc-a-Fella appeared at his birthday party. [2]. He has confirmed that he is still a member of Roc-a-Fella via a radio interview. [3]

Beans has recently confirmed that The Solution would be released on Roc-a-Fella Records.

[edit] Legal Trouble

In September, 2005, a jury acquitted him of charges that he nearly shot to death a man on a crowded city street two years prior. In August, Sigel left federal prison after serving nearly a year on a federal weapons charge that stemmed from a 2002 traffic stop in Philadelphia.

Sigel also has fallen behind in child-support payments. He was briefly jailed in November until he paid $27,000 in child support and $2,000 in fines, but seems to be paying off his debts.

With the case behind him, Sigel now plans to "make music, make movies and work on his clothing line," said his attorney, Fortunato N. Perri Jr. The case was the last in a series of criminal charges against Sigel, who has a long arrest record dating back to his days growing up in South Philadelphia.

On Tuesday, January 10, 2006, Sigel was convicted of assault for a fight in 2003. He agreed with the prosecutor's version of events, and was convicted of misdemeanor simple assault. He was immediately sentenced to two years probation plus $180 in court costs.

The charges stem from an argument between Sigel and a man who said the rapper punched him in both eyes, breaking his left eye socket, during a January 2003 argument outside a Chinese restaurant.

In Oct. 2005, his step-father, Sam Derry was murdered.

[edit] Shooting

On May 25, 2006 shortly after 8:00 am, Sigel was shot twice in the upper right arm during a robbery attempt. He was hospitalized and is said to be in good condition.^[2] According to Philly.com, sources at the Philadelphia Police are skeptical of the details of the shooting because no shell casings, or witnesses to the shooting have been located.

[edit] Discography

• The Truth - 2/29/2000
• The Reason - 6/26/2001
• The B. Coming - 3/29/2005
• The Solution - 2007

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Roc-A-Fella Records website
• Dash Music Group website
• MTV News
• Beanie Sigel
• Official The Playpen Myspace