NEW YORK, NY. (Top40 Charts/ Atlantic Records) - Big Gates/Slip-N-Slide/Atlantic recording artist
Plies has made an explosive chart debut with his debut album, "THE REAL TESTAMENT." The collection - which features the blockbuster hit single, "Shawty (Feat. T-Pain)" - entered the Billboard 200 at No 2.
Hailed as "one of the realest you will ever know," Plies has already established a phenomenal underground and street presence on the strength of his infamous mixtapes and live show. For his major label debut, the MC relays tales of street struggle, making money, and ghetto queens - what he refers to as "reality music." "When people get this CD, they gon' live by it," proclaims Plies. The Ft. Myers, Florida-bred rapper recently heralded the release of "THE REAL TESTAMENT" with a whirlwind promo tour of Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas, visiting 10 cities (including Ft. Myers, Orlando, Tampa, Miami, Jacksonville, Savannah, Charlotte, and Columbia) in just four days.
"Shawty (Feat. T-Pain)" is without doubt one of the summer's biggest hip-hop smashes, now ranking at No 1 with-a-bullet at Urban radio outlets nationwide, exceeding 10,000 spins. The single is also currently No 2 on Billboard's "Hot Rap Tracks" chart, as well as No 5 on the "Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs" tally. A true crossover hit, "Shawty" is also ascending Billboard's "Hot 100," coming in as the week's biggest "Airplay Gainer" to land at No 12.
The ringtone for "Shawty" is proving equally popular, coming in this week as the No 1 Ringback tone on T-Mobile's "Top 25," while climbing to No 3 on Billboard's "Hot RingMasters" chart.
Furthermore, the "Shawty" companion video is a sensation, hitting No 1 on BET after scoring top 10 play on both "106 & Park" and "Rap City." Last week, Plies celebrated the release of "THE REAL TESTAMENT" with a pair of visits to "106 & Park," including an explosive live performance alongside T-Pain.
Plies and "Shawty" are also blowing up across the MTV spectrum, scoring "Big 10" rotation at MTV, "Elite 8" at MTV2, "Cum Laude" at mtvU, and "Sizzlin" at MTV Jams. Plies was also among MTV's recent crop of "Discover & Download" artists. As if that weren't enough, the "Shawty" clip made its Music Choice debut in the No 1 spot, entering the channel's rotation as the week's most "demanded" music video.
With "Shawty" blazing through the summer, Plies is already set to unveil his second single. "Hypnotized (Feat. Akon)" is slated to impact at multi-format radio outlets in mid-September.
Online, Plies is blowing up at MySpace, where he is currently ranked as the No 6 artist overall, as well as No 4 on the "Top Hip-Hop Major Artist" list. His page - located at www.myspace.com/plies - is among the site's most popular, with assorted tracks logging over 12 million streams thus far. Also, a devoted channel recently launched at YouTube, with a variety of videos and exclusive content available at www.youtube.com/PliesWorld.
Plies will be featured in a wide variety of national publications, including the covers of the August issue of Ozone magazine and the September/October issue of Down Magazine. In addition, "Shawty" was just named the year's "Best Rap/R&B Collaboration" at the 2nd Annual Ozone Magazine Awards, held earlier this week at 2007 TJ's DJ's Tastemaker DJ/Music Conference in Miami. Plies received further Ozone nominations for "Mixtape Monster Award" and "Most Slept-On Artist."
