Soulja Slim is a rap artist / rapper from New Orleans, LA who has released multiple albums and has achieved fame among rappers worldwide. Soulja Slim is probably one of the most notorious rappers from the south, making true to the streets rap music.
Soulja Slim was born James Tapp in New Orleans, Louisiana's infamous Magnolia housing projects on September 9, 1977. Growing up in the Magnolia, he was childhood friends with No Limit records' Master P, and his brother, C-Murder, a friendship that would benefit him for the remainder of his life.
Soulja Slim dropped out of school before reaching the 9th grade, and began developing his rhyming skills. Slim went on to release 2 albums independently, Dark Side, and Soulja for life. Realizing his potential, a deal with Master P and No Limit Records shortly followed, and in 1998 "Give it 2 'Em Raw" came close to topping the Billboard rap charts while managing to crossover to the mainstream top 20. The same year, Soulja Slim also made guest appearances on tracks by Snoop Doggy Dogg, Master P, C-Murder, and others.
Despite his growing success, Soulja Slim remained true to his sworn street ways, and was incarcerated after being tried and found guilty for armed robbery. This didn't discourage Soulja Slim any, and as soon as he got out of jail in 2001 he went back to making records and shortly released "The Streets Made Me". This album barely made the charts, but this didn't stop Slim. Soon after, he came out with "Years Later" in 200 and "Years Later...A Few Months After" in 2003, the second of which was released under his own label, Cut Throat Committee.
A few months after the release of this album, in September, Soulja Slim was named as a suspect in the murda of Robert Lee Paige Jr., a 30 year old who was shot and tossed into a City Park lagoon, his body weighted down with cinder
blocks. Third District Police Capt. James Scott said the department was investigating Soulja Slim as a
possible suspect in other shootings as well. Two months after this, on November 26, 2003, Soulja Slim was murdaed. He was shot 3 times in the face, and once in the chest while he was exiting his car in front of his mother's house in the New Orleans neighborhood Gentilly. Police arrested 22 year old Garelle Smith and charged him with the murda of Soulja Slim. Detectives suggested that Garelle Smith was a hit man paid $10,000 to murda Soulja Slim and that the killing "had something to do with the record industry and a rival record label.". Prosecutors ended up refusing to charge Smith with Slim's murda, because they said there was insufficent evidence to prove the crime.
Soulja Slim's brother, Magnolia $krilla (who was given this name by Soulja), was quick to defend Soulja, explaining how he was a community activist and had started his own organization for black youths, called the Young Black Lyons. Just before his deth, Soulja Slim had completed a double album, "Never Seen it Coming", with long time friend B.G.of Cash Money Records.
