Webbie was born Webster Gradney, Jr. in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on September 6, 1985. The nick name Webbie or Lil Webbie came from his first name, Webster.
Raised in a ghetto of Baton Rouge, when it had the second highest murder rate in the country, Webbie had an unstable childhood. When Webbie was only 8 years old, his mother, Jocelyn Gradney, died of cancer. Webbie spent his early teenage years living with his father, but Webbie's father was not home a lot due to his job as a plant operator. Because of this, Webbie spent a lot of time at his grandmother's house with his cousins who influenced his life greatly.
When Webbie was 12 years old, one of his cousins got him into rapping. Webbie had been into rapping since the age of 5, but had never became serious about it until now. Webbie and his cousin hit it off with their rhymes, so they formed a rap group. Before long, it became apparent that Webbie had more rapping skills than his cousin, and the group broke up.
One evening in the fall of 2001, when Webbie was 15 years old, a friend of one of the founders of Trill Entertainment brought Webbie by Trill Studio to show off his stuff. They let him freestyle to a track they were working on, and webbie hit it off. He rapped about his mom, and everyone in the studio was blown away with how much passion he had in his raps. Pimp C of UGK was extremely impressed with Webbie's skills, and knew that young Webbie would grow up to be famous.
Soon after, Webbie made his debut on the album Ghetto Stories with fellow Baton Rouge rapper, Lil Boosie. This album was independantly released without much promotion, and sold over 15,000 copies, mainly to Baton Rouge residents.
Along with Lil Boosie, webbie went on to release albums such as Gangsta Musik as well as the 2004 radio hits Bad Bitch and Gimme Dat. His success led to a deal with Asylum / Warner which gave him the opportunity to release on a major label. His newest album, Savage Life, dropped July 5th, 2005, and had guest performances by Trina, Bun B, B.G., Big Head, and Mannie Fresh.
Keep your eyes peeled for future releases by Webbie and Lil Boosie, these boys are gonna blow up.
