That you’ve only been hearing about 23 year-old David "Young Buck" Brown for a little over a year has its roots in many different grounds, but lack of determination is not one of them. "I been doing music my whole life," says the Nashville, Tennessee native. "I started rapping when I was about 12 or 13, just playing around with it. Around the age of 14, 15, I was in the studio, serious about it." When Buck was 16, he got word that New Orleans’ Cash Money rap troupe was recording in his town and scored a chance to perform for the label’s CEO, Brian "Baby" Williams, who had him prove his worth by engaging in verbal combat against Cash Money’s baby gangsters, including future Hot Boy Lil’ Wayne. Young Buck’s performance was so impressive that Williams offered him the chance to become part of the cash Money stable. Buck accepted, dropping out of high school and relocating to New Orleans for the next four years. But after waiting for years on the Cash Money bench, Young Buck decided to return home. "I came back to the hood and got in those streets and started doing whatever it took for me to provide," he confesses. But Buck had also been pushing hard in the studio and, along with childhood friend D-Tay, released an independent LP, Thuggin’ Til The End. Though the record didn’t sell many units, Young Buck gained invaluable experience. His next opportunity came when Baby Williams called him, inviting him back into the Cash Money fold as part of a new group he was putting together. When Buck arrived at the offices, he saw that the label’s fortunes had vastly improved. But after about a week of sitting around the office and not running into any of the recording roster, he felt that he was just sitting on a more comfortable bench. "I was ready to get out of there when Juvenile stopped by the office," says Young Buck. Juvenile, who at the time was having contractual issues with Cash Money’s principals, offered Buck a chance to join up in his new venture, UTP Records. Young Buck was living and recording music out of Juvenile’s tour bus when UTP met up with 50 Cent and his G Unit crew in New York City. A freestyle session led to some group collaborations, most notably the street hit, "A Little Bit of Everything." "It was like an honor thing for me to meet 50 cause I respected his whole story. I was a fan before I even became an artist under his Unit. We started vibing from the beginning. We left on a note of, ‘Yo, if this rap situation happens for me or it happens for you, we’re both gonna holla at each other.’ And through the grace of God, it started taking off for 50. And he came back, like, ‘I told you.’ Juvenile had always told me, ‘If an opportunity comes, take it. I’m doing what I can do, but if it’s something that’s gonna help you better, do it.’" Young Buck’s first G Unit appearance came when 50 Cent took "Bloodhound," a Buck solo effort he enjoyed from their first meeting, turned it into a duet and placed it on 50’s record breaking debut, Get Rich Or Die Tryin’. Last year, the G Unit released Beg For Mercy, which has sold well over 2 million copies to date. Next up for Young Buck is his solo debut, Straight Outta Cashville. "I got the name from N.W.A.’s Straight Outta Compton," says Buck. "Straight Outta Cashville speaks for itself. It tells you my way of living up on to this day. I want the world to get a feel of me, showing them the way I am and the way I get down." Straight Outta Cashville features production from Dr. Dre, Eminem, and Lil’ Jon with appearances by G Unit’s 50 Cent and Lloyd Banks as well as Southern hip-hop heavyweights T.I., Lil’ Flip and David Banner. "With me being form the South, I wanted to make this album like a G Unit South’," says Young Buck. "It’s all the way street. You won’t really get a lot of the mainstream, lovey-dovey side because that wasn’t a part of my life in the beginning. Straight Outta Cashville is just a lot of headbusters." -Courtesy of Young-Buck.com/Interscope