Pretty Ricky and Plies

The rap-pop four piece formed in Miami, Florida, US in 1997 and made a point to transfer the bright and freestyle nature of the city into their music. Though their sound reflected the teen-pop qualities of acts like the Jackson 5 and Boyz II Men their style was anything, but innocent. They layered these saccharine sound nuggets with night club sleaze beckoning the obscene, but undeniably hilarious styles of Funkadelic and 70s era James Brown.

The group consists of brothers Spectacular and Baby Blue as well as members Corey Blue “Slick ‘Em” and Pleasure P; however, the group underwent several line up changes starting at the turn of the decade. One of the group’s founding members Milk B left in 2000 and Pleasure P was replaced by Mowet in 2007. Other replacement members included Ambition/4play, J. Long, and Lingerie. These members joined in the late 2000’s; however, they all departed from the group within a few years. Pleasure P pursued a solo career in 2007 and hit success with his 2009 album “The Introduction of Marcus Cooper”; however, he returned to Pretty Ricky in 2014.

Although the group formed in 1997, they did not put out their studio debut “Bluestars” until 24 May 2005. The album was released through Atlantic records and debuted on the US Charts at No. 16. Their 2nd studio album “Late Night Special” surpassed the success the group achieved with their first album, taking the coveted No.1 spot on the US Charts and striking gold status. Their sophomore release featured the 3 singles “On the Hotline”, “Love Like Honey”, and “Push It Baby”, the latter featuring Sean Paul.

Their 3rd self-titled album did considerably worse in sales as did its predecessors; however it did make it into the Billboard 200. This was their 1st album without Pleasure P; however, he returned to issue the group’s 4th studio debut “Bluestars 2”, which saw release in 2014.

Prior to becoming a rapper, Washington had a fair amount of success playing football at Miami University from 1995 to 1997. He played wide receiver for the team before transferring to the University of Central Florida, eventually dropping out to focus on his music.

Washington’s stepbrother Ronnell Lawrence Lavatte, also known as Big Gates, established the independent record label Big Gates Records at the tail end of the 1990s. Initially reluctant to rap, Washington lay down a verse on the track “Tell Dem Krackers Dat” and the two traveled to Miami to promote the single, which led to Plies signing with Slip-n-Slide Records in 2004.

In 2007 came the rapper’s debut album “The Real Testament” which was led by the debut single “Shawty” featuring T-Pain and peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album later spawned the Akon featured single “Hypnotized” and was certified Gold selling over 500,000 copies. Due to the album's success Washington secured guest slots on singles and albums by artists including DJ Khaled and Fat Joe.

A year later in 2008 Washington released his second offering “Definition of Real” led by the single “Bust It Baby Pt. 2” featuring Ne-Yo and “Please Excuse My Hands” featuring Jamie Foxx and The-Dream. The same year brought his third album “Da REAList” and guest spots on Ludacris’s single “Nasty Girl” and Khaled’s “Out Here Grindin’”.

Washington has subsequently release the albums “Goon Affiliated” in 2010 and “Purple Heart” in 2014, as well as the 2014 mixtape “Da Last Real Nigga Left”.