This past week Memphis rapper Pooh Shiesty's debut album, "Shiesty Season,"was officially certified platinum. However, Shiesty was forced to celebrate the achievementfrom behind bars, as hisongoing legal troubles in Florida have put his meteorichip-hop career on hold and in jeopardy.
Even before releasing "Shiesty Season" in early 2021, Shiesty — whose given name is Lontrell Williams Jr. — hadbeen caught up in a series of major federal investigations in the Sunshine State, which have seen him jailed since last summer on firearms charges.
Williams will find out his fate during a sentencing hearing set for early April.In the meantime, here’s a look back at Shiesty'slife, career and legal travails.
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November 1999: A second-generation Memphis rapper is born
Pooh Shiesty is born Lontrell Williams Jr. on Nov. 8, 1999, and raised around South Memphis' Cane Creek Apartments. A second-generation rapper, his father founded the Bluff City label Mob Ties Records and rapped under the name Mob Boss, steeping him in the family business from a young age.
"He could rap, but he had his own label too," Shiesty told The Commercial Appeal in 2021. "I was exposed to it, but he was doing his own thing. I was still real young then. There was stuff I didn't know or understand. That was before I jumped in the streets or whatever."
October 2018: Early days with the Choppa Gang
After a couple years living with his mother in Texas, Shiesty returns to the Mid-South and begins focusing on his own musical career.
He gets his start with a group of friends known as Choppa Gang. "Me and Choppa Gang, before we were rappers we was just moving around — y'know? We did everything else but make songs. And then we started to do that too," Shiesty said.
As part of the Choppa Gang collective — which also included Big30, Choppa T and K Shiesty — Pooh Shiesty first gains notice with the track "Breaking News," released in late 2018.
The video below contains content some may find offensive.
April 2020: Gucci Mane offers Pooh Shiesty record deal
In spring 2020, fate intervenes for Shiesty in the form of Grammy-nominated, platinum-certified rapper Gucci Mane. That April, Gucci messages Shiesty on Instagram, and in short order offers him a record deal, specifically a chance to be part of his The New 1017 label venture with Atlantic Records.
Shiesty’s subsequent solo singles earn him critical notice. Chosen by Spotify's "Rap Caviar" as one of the "10 Artists to Watch in 2021," Shiesty quickly hits Billboard's Hot 100 and Emerging Artist charts, and makes Rolling Stone's "Breakthrough 25" rankings.
October 2020: Pooh Shiesty arrested in Florida
Pooh Shiesty’s legal troubles begin in fall 2020 in Florida. According to a criminal complaint by Miami-Dade FBI Detective Elio Garcia, Shiesty, aka Williams, along with Jayden Darosa and Bobby Brown, goto the Landon Hotel in Bay Harbor Islands, Florida, in October to purchase "high-end athletic sneakers" and marijuana. Williams arrivesin a McLaren he rented from one of the victims and wants to negotiate the car's rental as well, but during the transaction, he and Brown shoot the men — one in the hip and the other in the butt, according to the court documents. Garcia says surveillance footage captured the shooting and after law enforcement speaks with the victims they identify one of the culprits as “Pooh Shiesty.”
While leaving the scene, a Louis Vuitton bag — which has $40,912 in cash — falls out of the McLaren, according to the complaint.Williams had posted guns and $100 bills on Instagram days before the robbery. Law enforcement uses the rapper's social media account and finds the same bills in the Louis Vuitton bag are also in his posts, the court document said. Williams is charged and released on bond in Miami-Dade state court.
January 2021: 'Shiesty Season' released
At just 21, Pooh Shiesty releases his first mixtape in early 2021. Featuring hits like "Back in Blood" and "Twerksum," "Shiesty Season" marksan auspicious debut on a number of levels. "I got big features, big producers on here and I got my main producers I been rocking with," Shiesty says. "My tape is well overdue, it's well anticipated. It's about time."
Shiesty sees his record hit the Billboard charts, selling the equivalent of 62,000 copies and placing at No. 4 in its first week of release. A month later the album recharts, hitting a new peak at No. 3. The album proves to be one of the year's big releases, finishing at No. 37 on the Billboard 200 for 2021.
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March 2021: Pooh Shiesty's brother TeeDa P dies
In March, Pooh Shiesty publicly mourns the passing of his brother, fellow hip-hop artist TeeDa P. Born Tarrance Henderson, TeeDa P, died on Feb. 28 after a battle with brain cancer. TeeDa P had been gaining notice since releasing a series of singles in 2019. His album, "Halftime," came out in early 2021.
Some of Shiesty’s fellow rappers, including Memphis-connected superstar Drake, reach out to him in support. "I just want to send you my condolences, man," Drake notes in a message. "You know, and just let you know that, like, the cycle of life is unfair... It just hits us so hard. Money can't change that, you know? Something I just went through, too, with one of my friends."
Drake also praises Shiesty for his new success. "Just know that's something everybody got to witness and I'm sure they're all just proud of you, the most love for you in their hearts and that's something I want you to know," Drake adds. "In a tough times like this, realize what you've been able to accomplish in this short time and what you have in front of you. I'm wishing you strength in these times, man."
June 2021: Pooh Shiesty arrested again in Florida
In early June 2021, Pooh Shiesty is arrested in Miami following a May 30 shooting at King of Diamonds nightclub where a security guard was shot. The rapper is booked on a felony charge of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. Authorities also place a “federal detainer” on him in connection with the October 2020 Landon Hotel incident.
July 2021: Pooh Shiesty put in federal custody
Pooh Shiesty is placed in federal custody, facing a list of charges connected to the alleged October 2020 robbery and shooting of two men outside the Landon Hotel in Miami-Dade County, Florida.
Williams makes his first court appearance after the FBI indicts him and two other men on charges of discharging a firearm during a violent crime, conspiracy and robbery under a law regulating commerce.
October 2021: Pooh Shiesty agrees to plead guilty
Days before he is set to go to trial, Williams agrees to plead guilty in connection with his Florida armed-robbery case.
Williams and a co-defendant appeared at a hearing in late October in U.S. District Court in Miami and stated that they “both wish to change their plea from not guilty to guilty," according to Florida Southern District Court documents. The hearing lasts only 5 minutes, according to documents.
Williams — who will turn 22 in a matter of weeks — had faced a possible maximum sentence of life in prison if he had been convicted of using a firearm "in furtherance of another federal crime of violence," the most serious of the charges against him in a four-count federal indictment.
December 2021: Year-end honors for Pooh Shiesty
As 2021 ends, Pooh Shiesty's breakthrough yearincludes nominations for Best New Artist at the 2021 BET Awards, multiple nominations at the 2021 BET Hip-Hop Awards (Best New Hip-Hop Artist, Song of the Year, Best Collaboration), a spot on XXL’s 2021 Freshman Class Issue and recognition as “Rookie Of The Year” by Spotify’s RapCaviar.
Jan. 4, 2022: Pooh Shiesty formally pleads guilty
As 2022 starts, Williams formally pleads guilty to a firearms conspiracy charge in federal court in Miami. Williams chose to accept the conviction on the charge of conspiracy to possess a firearm in furtherance of violent and drug-trafficking crimes. Prosecutors in turn dropped the other three counts in his updated indictment.
Magistrate Judge Lauren Fleischer Louis accepts the plea as part of a deal with federal authorities. But the judge also "cautioned that the jointly recommended sentence of 97 months outlined in the non-binding deal was not guaranteed at Williams future sentencing hearing before Chief Judge K. Michael Moore."
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Jan. 12, 2022: Pooh Shiesty's bond request denied
In January, a motion by Williams to be granted bond and released pending his sentencing in a federal firearms case is denied.
Williams' attorneys had filed the motion in U.S. District Court of Southern Florida arguing Williams, "maintains a well-known reputation as a rap music artist and looks forward to seeking treatment and atoning for his crimes so that he may continue the development of his career."
The motion also said Williams "does not pose a danger to the community and to date, has been compliant and demonstrated respect for the rule of law highlighting his willingness to abide by any bond conditions the Court may impose. The examples above clearly demonstrate a change in Defendant's circ*mstance supporting his instant request for release on bond."
Less than 24 hours after the filing, Magistrate Judge Lauren Fleischer Louis denies the motion, meaning Williams will remain in a Florida federal prison until his sentencing.
Jan. 27, 2022: Pooh Shiesty's sentencing date set
A sentencing hearing in Pooh Shiesty’s federal firearms case is finally set for April in Florida. He will appear at 2 p.m. April 7 before District Judge K. Michael Moore at the United States Courthouse in Miami where the rapper — who will have been jailed for more than 10 months by then — will find out how much longer he will have to remain behind bars.
February 2022: 'Shiesty Season' goes platinum
The video below contains content some may find offensive.
Pooh Shiesty's label Atlantic Records announces that his debut mixtape, "Shiesty Season," has officially gone platinum, marking a million in overall sales. This is the rapper's fourth platinum certification, following the three times platinum single“Back In Blood” (featuring Lil Durk), as well as “Monday to Sunday” (featuring Lil Baby and BIG30) and “Neighbors” (featuring BIG30), both of which have alsoachieved platinum status. Overall, "Shiesty Season" has been streamed more than 1.5 billion times.
