About Me
WATCH THE VIDEO FOR "TWO THOUSAND FOUR FOUR SIX" (2003)
Not much can be said about 20-person Midwest rap collective The 446 that hasnt been said about other acts capable of fielding two complete baseball teams along with a pair of past-their-prime batting coaches. As a whole they enjoy walks in the rain, sandwiches, and, depending on the season, tend to be wealthy beyond belief. Their individual stories vary widely, from a disillusioned bounty hunter doomed to plod the earth until the end of his days to a young boys heart torn asunder by a pair of star-crossed dump trucks, and others who werent so lucky. The following is only what is known to be fact.
The group was formed in 1999 in a lake. Founding members include Steve Sleeve, Brain Stanger, Jaxxxon Chrysler and MC High Life. When it became apparent that the four would not be able to handle the job of defining a new genre of rap on their own while maintaining the lifestyle to which they had become accustomed, additional members joined, mostly under their own free will: Torreaga (T.O.R.E.), C-Geezy, Dr. J, the Lo Zone, Shuguervo, MD Scribble, Sawp, Natron, Ol Fuss N Feathers, Matt Rodbard, Djork, Lil Ipod, TK, TamRon, Samuel Grant and others. Pop singer Calloway, from the 1980s, has also collaborated with the group.
Like sands through the hourglass, the days passed and The 446 completed their debut album, Welcome To the Fourth Coast, in mid-2003. The album, a long-overdue tribute to the Fourth Coast (Great Lakes area) itself*, featured many of the well-loved singles and inside jokes the group had pounded into the earth since its inception. Standout tracks include 2,446, Rasterize, Reminiscin and also Stunt 2 Much, the song that ignited their hot-blooded and all-too-public war of words with Ohio frat-rapper Doc Grip. (The two camps have since commiserated and are rumored to be collaborating on a new energy drink.)
Naysayers said nay and though the debut album was a critical darling, it remained a commercial flop; nevertheless, the Fourth Coast standard-bearers pressed on and delivered the tour-de-force double album Pirates of the Fourth Coast in late 2004. Featuring an even-more-extended lineup and reportedly recorded on an ocean liner for tax reasons, Pirates delves still further into modern Midwestern mythology on songs such as My What is Like Whoa, G-13 and Hennessey, Megamayne and the controversial Drinking Gas, which advocates the practice of drinking gas.
That album dominated the Billboard charts and continues to hold the number one position, where it debuted last November. 2005 finds the group fairly well-fed and performing at shows alongside UK chavcore rap collective Goldie Lookin Chain and Adult Swims MC Chris, as well as Chicago mainstays Mt. St. Helens and the Ghost. Work on a Jaxxxon Chrysler-fronted album, tentatively titled The Vainglorious LP, has commenced and several members are in talks for an upcoming reality show on the O network.
Despite well-publicized claims to the contrary, The 446 are indeed human and can be killed by conventional means. This has not yet been attempted.
*The Third Coast is the Gulf of Mexico because Southern rappers called it first.
