Algernod Lanier Washington (born July 1, 1976), better known by his stage name Plies, is an American rapper. He is the founder of Big Gates Records. Born in Fort Myers, Florida, Washington was a wide receiver on the football team of Miami University in Ohio in 1996 and 1997 before he became a rapper. After dropping out of college, he founded Big Gates with his stepbrother. Signed to Slip-n-Slide Records, from 2007 to 2008 he released three albums. Plies debuted in 2007 with The Real Testament with successful singles "Shawty" and "Hypnotized". Plies also released two albums in 2008, Definition of Real and Da REAList, and later released Goon Affiliated in 2010. Early life Plies was born Algernod Lanier Washington in Fort Myers, Florida and grew up in the East Dunbar area of Fort Myers.[2] While at Fort Myers Senior High School, he played receiver and defensive back in its football team, was crowned Homecoming King, and was named the "Best Dressed" student of his cla**.[3] He attended Miami University and under the name Nod Washington was wide receiver on its football team from 1995 to 1997,[4] then transferred to the University of Central Florida and dropped out.[3] As a freshman in 1995, Washington had nine receptions for 69 yards.[4] In 1996, his sophomore year, Washington had 25 receptions for 262 yards and 2 touchdowns, the second-most receptions of his team for the season.[5] The next season, Washington had five receptions for 43 yards.[4] Career beginnings In the late 1990s, Plies and his stepbrother Ronnell Lawrence Lavatte, also known as Big Gates, established an independent record label, Big Gates Records. Although Plies initially refused to rap, after a demonstration for one of his artists, Big Gates decided to keep Plies' verse on the track "Tell Dem Krackers Dat". Big Gates and Plies promoted the single and traveled many times to Miami, which eventually led to a deal for Plies on Slip-n-Slide Records.[2] Plies's girlfriend Brandy Lacole Lyons gave birth to a son, Nijier Lanier Washington, at the University Community Hospital in Tampa, Florida on October 20, 2003.[6] After signing to Slip-n-Slide in 2004, Plies released several mixtapes.[3] Music career 2007: The Real Testament The Real Testament was released in August 2007. His debut single "Shawty" featuring T-Pain topped the Billboard Hot Rap Tracks chart and peaked at number nine on the Hot 100. "Hypnotized", the second single, featured Akon, and peaked at number three on the Rap chart and 14 on the Hot 100.[7] The third single was "I Am the Club". On February 29, 2008, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified the album Gold for having sold over 500,000 units; five days later the RIAA did the same for singles "Shawty" and "Hypnotized".[8] Plies made guest performances on DJ Khaled's "I'm So Hood", also featuring T-Pain, Trick Daddy and Rick Ross in 2007, which peaked at #19 on the Hot 100 and is included on Khaled second studio album We the Best, and Fat Joe's single "Ain't Sayin' Nothin'" from The Elephant in the Room in early 2008. 2008: Definition of Real & Da REAList Definition of Real, his second album, was released in June 2008, 10 months after releasing his first album. The lead single was "Bust It Baby Pt. 2" featuring Ne-Yo, which peaked at number two on both the Hot Rap Tracks and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks charts and number seven on the Hot 100.[7] The album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, selling over 214,000 copies its first week.[9] The next single was "Please Excuse My Hands", featuring Jamie Foxx and The-Dream.[7][10] RIAA certified Gold "Bust It Baby" on September 17 and Definition of Real October 14.[8] In the same year Plies released his third album, Da REAList, in December 2008, six months after the release of his second album. The first official single off this album is "Put It on Ya", featuring Chris J. The album debuted at number 14 on the Billboard 200 with 114,000 copies sold in its first week.[11] The second single is "Want It, Need It", featuring Ashanti and the third is "Plenty Money". He did a guest performance on Ludacris's single "Nasty Girl" from Ludacris's album Theater of the Mind. He also appeared on Khaled's song "Out Here Grindin' also featuring Akon, Ross, Young Jeezy, Lil Boosie, Ace Hood and Trick Daddy, which peaked at #38 on the Hot 100 and is from Khaled's third album We Global. 2009-2010: Goon Affiliated In an interview with Plies and according to Slip-n-Slide Records, the rapper announced that he completed a fourth album. Tentatively, he planned to release it on February 16, 2009, but stated that the exact date depended on the success of his third album.[12][13] The album, Goon Affiliated, ended up being released on June 8, 2010.[14] The album's first two singles are "Becky" and "She Got It Made" featuring Bei Maejor. The album debuted at #5 on the Billboard 200, much more successful than his previous album. He continued to make guest appearances on Usher's "Hey Daddy (Daddy's Home)" (that version not making the Usher's sixth studio album Raymond vs. Raymond), Gucci Mane's "Wasted", from The State vs. Radric Davis and Young Jeezy's "Lose My Mind", from Jeezy's fourth album Thug Motivation 103: Hustlerz Ambition, all of which made the top 40 of the Hot 100. 2010-present: Purple Heart On September 3, 2010 Plies released a mixtape titled You Need People Like Me which had a song titled "Boosie" dedicated to the incarcerated rapper Lil Boosie.[15] On November 18, he released another mixtape titled You Need People Like Me Pt. 2.[16] On December 23, 2010 he released another mixtape titled No Chaser.[17] In 2011 Plies released two mixtapes titled I f** With The DJ & Aristotle. On May 3, 2011 Plies announce the title for his fifth studio album titled Purple Heart. On September 22, 2011 Plies released his first promotion single from Purple Heart titled "Just (The Tip)" which featured Jeremih & Ludacris.[18] On February 24, 2012 Plies released the promotional mixtape On Trial which included the second promotional single from his album Purple Heart titled "With You".[19] On April 17, 2012 Plies released a single titled "We Are Trayvon" that was dedicated to Trayvon Martin which all profits from the single be donated to the "Trayvon Martin Foundation".[20][21] On July 16, 2013 Plies released the promotional single from Purple Heart titled "F**king or What", on August 22, 2013 he released the official music video for the single.[22][23] On September 3, 2013 Plies released the promotional titled "Faithful" featuring singer/songwriter Rico Love.[24][25] On January 17, 2014 Plies released his mixtape enitled Da Last Real n***a Left.[26][27][28] On November 13, 2014 Plies released his mixtape enitled Da Last Real n***a Left 2.[29][30][31] On February 11, 2015 Plies would release the first single off of his upcoming fifth album Purple Heart titled "Find You" the single would feature appearances from K Camp & Lil Wayne.[32][33] On April 29, 2015 Plies would release the second single off of his upcoming fifth album Purple Heart titled "Dayum!", the single is known for Plies addressing the controversy surrounding him getting attacked on stage.[34][35] On August 8, 2015 Plies released his mixtape enitled Ain't No Mixtape Bih.[36][37][38] Lyricism and public persona David Jeffries of AllMusic described Plies's debut album The Real Testament as tracks covering both gang life and love.[39] Similarly, Jeffries described the lyrical content of Da REAList as having "a spectrum that runs from irresponsible gun talk to irresponsible s** talk".[40] A profile of Plies in the December 2008 issue of Vibe magazine observed that Plies constantly referred to himself as "real" in his music and album titles. However, it pointed out that the word "has virtually synonymous with 'criminal' and, in some cases, almost superseded the idea of being able to actually rap".[3] In July 2008, hip hop website HipHopDX published an investigative report suggesting that Plies exaggerated his criminal background.[41] Legal issues On July 2, 2006, after a shooting at a Gainesville, Florida nightclub, Plies was charged with illegal possession of a concealed weapon, and members of his entourage were charged with attempted murder.[1] The shooting, in which 5 people were injured, started after Plies' microphone was cut off for Lil Boosie to perform, after Plies' performance ran over time. According to the promoter Jonathan Smith, Plies became "enraged". A fight began with fists and shouting, and ended with at least six rounds of bullets being fired.[42] Controversy Tallaha**ee, Florida concert incident On April 3, 2015 a viral video of Plies getting attacked on stage during a concert in Tallaha**ee, Florida was released, the attacker would later address the situation stating "I f*** with you bruh, that n**** is one of my top five artists, that n**** started talking that bulls***. So I dropped his a** like any real n**** would do like B****, f*** you bruh.".[43][44][45] On April 29, 2015 Plies would release a single titled "Dayum!" addressing the attack stating "Never seen a n**** try to slam me & slammed his damn self, with a hundred grand in my pocket n**** I beat your lil’ a** half to d**h, chopper game serious n****, hands on Mayweather level, big bruh always told me you can’t show love to these p**** n****'s, if you ever ever ever ever ever try me, swear to god on a stack of bibles p**** better k** me, by the time security got to me he was already sleep, I done got back on stage n****, started doin' me."