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Song Review and Video Premiere: 'Points up' by Big Court

Formerly Known as 'Court Dog,' the No Limit Records Affiliate Releases New Single and Video Featuring Actor Glenn Plummer of 'South Central' Fame.

By Victor TrammellPublished 6 years ago 3 min read
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Video published by Tru Muscle Entertainment

Like professional athletes, star rap artists must have a backup plan when their careers dwindle prematurely. Doing so diversifies your marketability and gives you more investment potential.

However, unlike sports, hip-hop has a longer shelf life when it comes to how long rappers are active. Father time has lost no battles when it comes to the average age that professional athletes typically retire from their respective leagues. Very few athletes, such as legendary NBA icon Michael Jordan, have been able to leave their chosen sport for multiple years and come back to play again at a higher level. Though athletic and physical greatness in a high-performance sport has a time limit, the most profitable musical greatness can indeed be timeless.

No Limit Records founder Percy "Master P" Miller made urban music history with his company after accumulating a ground-breaking distribution deal with Priority Records in the mid-1990s. This industry move cleared the way for the springing of many successful music careers and legendary album releases. One of the first projects released at the beginning of the No Limit/Priority era was the 1995 gold-certified compilation project titled Down South Hustlers: Boucin' and Swingin.' Two members of No Limit's Down South Hustlers collective was rap duo C.C.G.

Hailing from Kansas City, Missouri, C.C.G. originally consisted of Court Dog and Cisco (later Dank Nitty) who at the time were three young rappers who were already well-known for their craft locally. Court Dog (now known as Big Court) said in an exclusive 2016 online radio interview with music show hosts Prez and Mac Jay that prior to being a part of the No Limit empire, he met Romeo Rynell, a Kansas City rap musician, businessman, and founder of Barbershop Records. Rynell was one of the first golden era pioneers of local Kansas City rap music in the early 1990s.

Later on, C.C.G. broke through nationally on the song "R.I.P.," a melodically soulful, cult classic tribute to those who have died in the street life. Court Dog went on to have a well-documented solo career and was hailed in features released by the formerly prominent street music publication Murder Dog Magazine. The C.C.G. project titled Only Game in Town went on to be released in 1999. This project was released by a music label called Capital Gain and featured guest appearances by Silkk the Shocker and Master P, two members of the legendary group TRU.

After leaving the rap game for a while, Court Dog renamed himself Big Court due to reinventing himself as a bodybuilder and fitness enthusiast. Big Court (born Courtney Richardson) pitched an idea to Master P about a whey protein milkshake line under a company called TRU Muscle Sports. That plan came to fruition and Big Court was able to go on to launch TRU Muscle Entertainment, a subsidiary distributed through the rebranded No Limit Forever. Big Court has made his return to rap in meteoric fashion.

This month he dropped a single and matching video called "Points Up." The video to this track definitely sets a cinematic trend that epitomizes a legendary standard. While Court raps on the song's chorus, "We're putting points up on the board," old film clips of Master P officially playing in an NBA preseason game with the Toronto Raptors flash on the screen. P hits three-point jump shots on different sides of the court. Court's Michael Jordan analogy in his commentary at the beginning of the video makes perfect sense here ahead of another independent music three-peat.

Toward the close of the video, the original gangsterdom continues when actor Glenn Plummer makes an appearance in a key role for a brilliant closing video concept. Plummer is well-known for his ground-breaking role as "OG Bobby Johnson" in producer Oliver Stone's cult classic South Central. Stone's G'd up masterpiece is based on author Donald Bakeer's historically relevant book released in 1987 called Crips: The Story of the LA Street Gang from 1971-1985.

(Buy 'Points Up' on all major digital music platforms right here.)

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About the Creator

Victor Trammell

Mr. Trammell is an award-winning digital media producer, freelance journalist, and author. Formerly, he wrote national radio content for the Michael Baisden Show. He also served as Senior Editor at the Your Black World online news network.

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