HOT DOLLAR

Born Leon Gray, Island Def Jam’s 27 Year Old newest MC, Hot Dollar, is poised to redefine mass appeal. Raised by the code of both the West Coast G and the Southern D-Boy, he calls both Compton and Mississippi home although he was actually born in Chicago, IL. At the age of three he and his older brother, fellow California rapper Guerilla Black, moved to Hattiesburg, MS. When he was eight, they relocated to Compton where he attended Davis & Whaley Middle Schools, as well as Compton High School where he later dropped out; however, between the ages of 14 and 20, he moved back and forth between Compton and Hattiesburg. The incessant moving reflected the ups and downs from his early life, entering in and out of homeless shelters and juvenile detention facilities. “When I was 20 and moved back to L.A. I realized that gangbangin’, pushing drugs, and hustling were a curse,” he says. “I had a daughter. She influenced me to rap because I realize it’s not just me I gotta take care of, now I gotta be about her.”

Armed with a new direction and his brother’s encouragement, he then started to lay pen to paper and hit the rap game hard. First he collaborated with his brother Guerilla Black on his Virgin Record album project, Guerilla City, writing on 4 songs including “What We Gonna Do” featuring, Nate Dogg and co-executive produced the soundtrack to the Ubisoft video game, 187-Ride or Die though Dollar Figga Music. Next, he focused on branding himself as Hot Dollar, breaking through with recording the street albums Rags to Riches and The Crackhead Mixtape. The two mixtapes set the stage for his record breaking anthemic single release “Streetz on Lock.” The single was the West Coast’s biggest record released by an unsigned artist. The record helped to spurn sales of over 25,000 units of the The Crackhead Mixtape. Hot Dollar has worked with artists such as Tyrese, Jermaine Dupri, Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg, Mario Winans, Jazze Pha, Rick Ross, Gucci Mane, Glasses Malone, Kurupt from the Dogg Pound, Trey Songz, Pit Bull, Sean Kingston, Colby Odonis, DJ Felli Fel, Beenie Man, and Jagged Edge, to name a few.

With an overwhelming popularity and demand, several major labels began to court him and offer him recording deals. That’s when his disc found its way to Jermaine Dupri’s hands through close friend, manager and video director, Pop Gates. “Trying to decide the right label was not hard for me…I have always respected Jermaine Dupri as a hitmaker and executive in the industry as well as his professionalism and ability to recognize stars. After sitting down with him I knew that I would get the personal attention that I needed and that he understood not only my hustle but the Dolla Figga hustle and family movement.” Early 2006 Hot Dollar and Dolla Figga Entertainment entered into a venture to record and distribute records with SoSoDef/Island Urban Music. He became the first artist signed by Jermaine Dupri on the newly spun off Island Urban Music Group.

Armed with production from some of the hottest producers in the game (DJ Toomp, Shawty Redd, Lou Balz, Scoop DeVille, Raw Dog, Kane, JR, Dow Jones, Diverse) Hot Dollar is anticipating his debut album release My Dream, A Day In The Life which features the hit single “Streetz On Lock” and new single “Upside Down” featuring Que.

www.myspace.com/hotdollar