Curren$y: The Jet Life from New Orleans

The Jet Life from New Orleans

Shante Scott Franklin was born on April 4, 1981, in New Orleans, Louisiana. As Curren$y — always with the dollar sign — he became one of the most prolific and respected rappers in Southern hip-hop, a man who releases music the way New Orleans produces musicians: constantly, effortlessly, and with a quality that makes the quantity seem impossible.

Curren$y came up through the New Orleans rap ecosystem. He signed with Master P's No Limit Records first, joined the 504 Boyz, then moved to Cash Money Records and Lil Wayne's Young Money Entertainment. He was embedded in the two biggest labels in New Orleans hip-hop history. But the major label world didn't fit. Curren$y was too laid-back, too stoner-philosophical, too committed to his own artistic vision to be molded into something marketable.

Jet Life

In 2009, Curren$y went independent and never looked back. He released a torrent of music — mixtapes, albums, EPs, collaborations — at a pace that would exhaust most artists. The Pilot Talk series with producer Ski Beatz established his sound: smooth, weed-hazed, jazz-inflected beats with Curren$y's conversational flow gliding on top. He founded Jet Life Recordings in 2011 and signed to Warner Bros. briefly, but his heart was always in independence.

His collaborations with The Alchemist, Harry Fraud, and dozens of other producers created a catalog so deep that his fans argue about the best entry point the way jazz fans argue about Miles Davis albums. His 2015 single "Bottom of the Bottle" with Lil Wayne and August Alsina was his only Billboard Hot 100 entry, and he couldn't have cared less.

Consistency as Art

Curren$y proved that you don't need a number-one hit to build a career. You need consistency, quality, and a fanbase that trusts you. He releases multiple projects a year, tours constantly, and maintains a devoted following that knows exactly what they're getting: New Orleans cool, masterful flow, and production that sounds like riding through the city at midnight with the windows down.