Shamele Mackie or popularly known as Papoose is a famous American rapper and songwriter who is known worldwide for the song “Alphabetical Slaughter” which he released with DJ Kayslay.
Early life
Papoose was born on March 05, 1978 in Brooklyn, New York. He was born in the Bedford-Stuyvesant area. He belongs to a liberal descent and prides in it. There are literally little to no information regarding his early life because he didn’t want the media to pick apart his past life.
Career
Papoose started his career in the year 1998 when he first appeared on the “Roots of Evil” album by Kool G Rap. While he gained some recognition from that, it was later in the year 1999 that he released his very first single titled “Alphabetical Slaughter.” It went viral and became one of the first stepping stone for his career.
He priorly signed with the Jive Records for a very hefty deal but later cut ties with them and started working independently for some time because he wasn’t getting any record deal. He continued releasing free mixtapes during that time to keep his fans engaged and to not lose his name in the crowd because of the sudden absence. He finally bagged another deal with a record company and was then set to explore and set off on a new venture.
Following that, he struggled a lot with finding a label to release his songs and mixtapes. After trying for quite a few months, he gave up the search and simply started releasing his very own mixtapes independently.
He finally presented one of these free mixtapes to the popular DJ Kayslay in one of his radio shows in Hot 97 in New York. The DJ was very much impressed with the first released single and ended up inviting him on his on-air show. Papoose was later signed to his record label, Streetsweepers Entertainment Label. This was one of those moments in his career that he relishes. He kept recording and releasing a number of mixtapes at a very high rate right from 2004 till 2006.
He kept releasing a number of mixtapes at a prolific rate but later ended up getting signed to the Jiva Records on August 24, 2006, for a whopping amount of $1.5 million. Although the debut album was all set to be released on the same record Papoose and DJ Kayslay later revealed that they have decided to drop out of the contract because of reasons. Papoose later revealed on 21 Gun Salute that even though he didn’t release “The Nacirema Dream” under Jive Records, he was able to keep the $1.5 million.
Papoose later gained a lot of recognition after he featured in the song remix of “Touch It” by the famous singer Busta Rhymes. After breaking the contract with Jive records, he was signed under Flipmode for a couple of years following that. He kept releasing mixtapes following that and the most popular one being “Most Hated Alive” which was released on December 04, 2012.
His debut album, “The Nacirema Dream” was later scheduled to be released on March 05, 2013. Papoose later released On Top of my game as a promotional strategy for his debut album, and it definitely gained a lot of attention and popularity. While the single was released on December 11, 2012, the music video was later released on February 01, 2013. He finally released his debut album on March 26, 2013, after pushing back the release date by three weeks. The album was very well perceived by every other music critic and debuted at #97 on the Billboard music charts.
Two months after the release of his debut album, Papoose performed the album’s third single “Get at Me” along with Ron Browz. A few controversies ensued between Kendrick Lamar and Papoose around the track “Control,” and the artists kept dissing the other.
It was also rumored that Lamar supposedly threw shots at Papoose at the BET Awards. Papoose later revealed that he is set to release yet another diss track. Following all the drama, he finally released his next mixtape, Blackballed and even started working on his second studio album. In 2014, he finally released collaboration with Swissivory and C-Tru yet and titled it as “How We Roll.” He finally released his second studio album “You Can’t Stop Destiny” finally in 2015.
Following a very controversial take on his personal and dating life, the rapper was offered a spot in the cast of the TV show Love and Hip Hop: New York by the VH1 channel. While the show offered them a good deal, Papoose and Remy Ma decided to be part of the 2015 cast and not the 2014 cast.
Personal Life
Papoose has been very settled and a one woman man since a long time. The rapper started dating the famous female rappers and his cousin, Remy Ma. Since Remy was tied with a number of controversies regarding the imprisonment, the couple finally married each other in the courtroom itself in 2008. Papoose was restricted from the prison for the next six months after their marriage.
Papoose also has a daughter named Dejanie Mackie.
As of 2017, Papoose has an estimated net worth of $200,000.
Quick Summary
Full Name: Shamele Mackie
Date of Birth: March 05, 1978
Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York
Age: 39 years
Profession: Singer, Songwriter, Rapper
Height: 1.80 m
Weight: –
Net Worth: $200,000
