Back in 2019, a viral music video came out on YouTube by a promising, young American rapper. That rapper is NLE Choppa.
NLE is a singer, songwriter, and rapper that many consider being the next big thing in rap music. With more than 100 million YouTube views across all his songs since 2019, we can see why such claims are made.
Early Life And Success
Born as Bryson Lashuan Potts on November 1st, 2002, NLE is one of the youngest success stories at the moment. With just 19 years of age, NLE has amassed a fortune that many would take a lifetime.
His roots are of African-American and Jamaican descent. He grew up in Memphis Tennessee and went to Cordova High School. Before rap there was basketball. Like any other young American, NLE loved to shoot hoops and play with his friends.
But his life took a different direction at the age of 14 when he and a friend started freestyling. Many of his school friends and acquaintances knew Bryson was a very good freestyler. And this is the time when Bryson stopped playing ball and started rocking the mic.
Since the age of 15, NLE took freestyling much more seriously and began to focus on his music.
The Start Of His Musical Career
It was his energetic rapping and strange vocals that grabbed the attention of many prominent names when Choppa first came on the scene. And it wasn’t long before Choppa switched from freestyle to rapping. In 2018, with his mother being his manager, Choppa’s first song was uploaded to YouTube.
The song, “No Love Anthem”, was a huge success. But Choppa then appeared under a different name. Back then, he was known as YNR Choppa.
A few months later Choppa put out a mixtape called “No Love the Takeover”. The mixtape and single was enough to get him on a music video with the Shotta Farm collective.
The music video was a cypher-style song and Choppa really stood out from the crowd. The music video was a huge success and he became an internet sensation through the night.
It was a few months until Choppa would really make a name for himself in the mainstream. In January 2019, Choppa released his debut single “Shotta Flow”.
This was going to be the catalyst for his success. The song was a huge hit with over 10 million YouTube views in just under a month. And it wasn’t long before popular tabloids such as Pitchfork would pick up on the young and energetic rapper.
In one of their “Song of the Day” sections, they highlighted the track and praised Choppa for his energetic style. But it wasn’t only his singing that got the tabloids talking. Choppa also had a very energetic dance style, with Pitchfork saying “He hits a new dance move every time the camera cuts back to him”.
The high praise from such a popular tabloid quickly snowballed into something much bigger. In May that year, his song entered the “Billboard Hot 100” at number 96. After a few weeks, the song got to number 36, quickly surpassing many prominent and established rappers in the game.
Establishing the Scene
2019 would be the year that would make Choppa a millionaire. In February he released “Shotta Flow 2” and the video got more than 20 million views in just under a month.
After that, Carl Lamarre from Billboard said “His recent dominance has silenced any detractors”. Choppa was going to be the next big thing in rap music.
Major record labels fought for his signature. Many of these record labels offered the energetic rapper upwards of $3 million just to sign for them. In the end, he went with an independent distribution company as opposed to a major record. UnitedMasters would distribute his songs while he would keep the recordings and publishing.
Companies fought left, right, and center for his signature; each one trying to get a hold of Choppa in any way they can.
WorldStarHipHop managed to convince Choppa to release his new song, “Capo” with them. Later that year, Choppa would collab with other artists and big names in the industry such as Birdman and Juvenile.
In May of 2019, he released a new single, “Blocc Is Hot”. The song was meant as a tribute to his childhood inspiration, Lil Wayne. The song was a huge hit and that got him a spot at the Beale Street Music Festival in Memphis.
One of the organizers of the event said, “Choppap did so much to seize the opportunity on the big stage in his hometown. His career is going to be huge if he gets the Memphis love”.
Later that year, in June, he released yet another song called “Free YoungBoy”. The song is yet another reference but this time to a rapper almost his age. YoungBoy, the pepper that the song references, was arrested after breaching his parole. The music video for the song hit 19 million views on YouTube in the first month.
But why the song is important isn’t because of YoungBoy perse, but because it is the first release from his own label “No Love Entertainment” or NLE for short.
No Love Entertainment and the Future
After forming the record label, he quickly released another song called “Camelot”. Camelot was the second song that would peak in the top 40 of a Billboard Hot 100 in the US.
He followed up with a mini-album called “Cottonwood”. Both “Shotta Flow” and “Side” would feature in the EP as well as a couple of other songs in collaboration with Meek Mill.
After Cottonwood and NLE, the new big project was his debut studio album called “Top Shotta”. In March of 2020, the lead single “Walk Em Down” debuted, while the next single, “Shotta Flow 5” a few months later in June. In August, his dream of collaborating with Lil Wayne became a reality with “Shotta Flow 6”, the sixth sequel to “Shotta Flow”. Although, the song isn’t up yet.
NLE Choppa Net Worth
After signing with an independent distributor and opening his own label, NLE Choppa’s net worth sits at $3 million. A lot of the money comes from his music while he also earns revenue from his brand name. He also sells merch on his website. But as it stands, NLE Choppa has achieved so much at the age of 18.