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Wanna Be a Baller

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"Wanna Be a Baller"
Single by Lil' Troy featuring Fat Pat, Yungstar, Lil' Will, Big T and H.A.W.K.
from the album Sittin' Fat Down South
Released1998 (1998)
GenreHip hop
Length5:55 (album version)
  • 3:39 (radio edit)
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Bruce "Grim" Rhodes
Lil' Troy singles chronology
"Small Time"
(1998) 		"Wanna Be a Baller"
(1998) 		"Where's the Love"
(1999)

"Wanna Be a Baller" is a single by American hip-hop artist Lil' Troy featuring Fat Pat, Yungstar, Lil' Will, Big T and H.A.W.K. It was released in 1998 as the second single from his debut major label studio album Sittin' Fat Down South. The song peaked at number 70 on the Billboard Hot 100 music chart.

Lil' Troy wrote but did not perform in the song.[1][2]

The track features a chord pattern reminiscent of "Little Red Corvette" by Prince.[3]

Legacy

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This song has had a tragic legacy as almost everyone featured on this song has died at a relative early age.[4] Fat Pat was murdered February 3, 1998, almost one year prior to the song's release. (Fat Pat's verse originally appeared on the Mass 187 song "So Real So Tight" on the Krooked City album in 1997;[5] his posthumous 2001 greatest hits album featured the song as the 9th track under the slightly altered title "Wanna Be A Balla"[6].) On May 1, 2006, Big Hawk, who filled in for his brother Fat Pat for the video shoot, was also murdered. Lil' Troy's cousin Lil' Will died in a car accident in February 2016. Big T, who contributed vocals for the song's hook, died May 8, 2018, of a suspected heart attack.[7]

Yungstar, a Houston-area mixtape legend, and Lil Troy are the only survivors, with Yungstar still active performing and featuring on other artist's songs while Lil Troy became a truck driver, forming Birklett Trucking Company.[8]

The song is featured on the soundtrack of NBA 2K19, which was curated by rapper Travis Scott.[9]

Charts

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Peak positions

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Chart (1999) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[10] 70
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks[10] 40
U.S. Billboard Hot Rap Singles[10] 31
U.S. Billboard Rhythmic Top 40[10] 8
U.S. Billboard Top 40 Tracks[10] 36

References

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  1. ^ "Shot Caller: An Interview with "Wanna Be A Baller's" Lil Troy". Passion of the Weiss. June 24, 2015. Retrieved August 2, 2016.
  2. ^ BMI Work #5530613: Wanna Be a Baller
  3. ^ "Shot Caller: An Interview with "Wanna Be A Baller's" Lil Troy". Passion of the Weiss. June 24, 2015. Retrieved May 8, 2017.
  4. ^ Garrick, David (2018-05-09). "Tragic Legacy of Wanna Be a Baller". Houston Press. Retrieved 2018-05-10.
  5. ^ "Wanna Be a Baller - Lil' Troy". WhoSampled. Retrieved August 18, 2024.
  6. ^ "Fat Pats - Greatest Hits | Releases | Discogs". Discogs. Retrieved August 17, 2024.
  7. ^ "Big T, Texas Rapper Known For 'Wanna Be a Baller,' Dies at 52". Associated Press. 2018-05-09. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  8. ^ "Houston rapper Lil' Troy survives 18-wheeler fire on I-10: 'I thank God'". ABC13 News. 8 December 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
  9. ^ Groux, Christopher (15 August 2018). "'NBA 2K19' SOUNDTRACK RELEASED ON SPOTIFY WITH TRACKLIST MIXED BY TRAVIS SCOTT". Newsweek. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  10. ^ a b c d e Lil Troy allmusic
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