Currensy facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Currensy
Currensy in 2024
Background information
Birth name	Shante Scott Franklin
Also known as	Spitta Andretti Juke Curren$y
Born	(1981-04-04) April 4, 1981 (age 43) New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Genres	Hip hop
Occupation(s)	Rapper songwriter record executive
Years active	2002–present
Labels	Jet Life Atlantic (current) Cash Money Young Money Universal Motown DD172 Def Jam Asylum Warner Bros. (former)

Shante Scott Franklin (born April 4, 1981), better known by his stage name Currensy (stylized as Curren$y), is an American rapper. Born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, he signed with the regionally-based labels Cash Money Records and Young Money Entertainment in the mid-2000s, although he released no albums for both. He signed with DD172 to release four albums before signing with Warner Records to release his fifth album and major label debut, Weekend at Burnie's (2011). In February of that year, he founded the record label Jet Life Recordings.

Currensy is perhaps best known for his 2015 single, "Bottom of the Bottle" (featuring Lil Wayne and August Alsina), which remains his sole entry on the Billboard Hot 100.

Music career

2002–2008: No Limit and Young Money

In 2002, Currensy was signed to Master P's No Limit Records and was a late addition to the 504 Boyz. The song "Get Back" by 504 Boyz, produced by Donald XL Robertson, was featured on the 2003 film Malibu's Most Wanted soundtrack. Currensy appeared on 5 songs in Master P's Good Side, Bad Side album. Even though he was signed with No Limit, he represented C-Murder's TRU label. Currensy has several songs with C-Murder, and was featured on the late Soulja Slim's album, Years Later (2002).

In 2004, Currensy signed with Cash Money Records and Lil Wayne's Young Money Entertainment. He was featured on Lil Wayne's mixtape Dedication 2, The Suffix and several unreleased songs while with Young Money. He released a mixtape entitled Welcome Back in 2004. He was featured in Lil Wayne's "Grown Man" on Tha Carter II. While still at Young Money, Currensy created Fly Society with skateboarder Terry Kennedy, first as a clothing company, then expanding to release music. He released the song, "Where da Cash At" as the lead single for his Young Money debut, Music To Fly To, in 2006. In 2007, another mixtape was released entitled Life at 30,000 Feet. He remained with Young Money until late 2007. In 2008, Currensy released Independence Day, his first project after leaving Young Money and the first of seven mixtapes to be released that year while he struck out as an independent artist.

2009–2010: This Ain't No Mixtape, Jet Files and Pilot Talk

Currensy performing in 2010

Currensy signed with Amalgam Digital to release his debut album, This Ain't No Mixtape, in 2009. This album was entirely produced by Monsta Beatz. Currensy was also selected to XXL magazine's annual "Freshman Class" list, and released his second album, Jet Files, through Amalgam Digital that same year. Amalgam Digital released physical copies of This Ain't No Mixtape and Jet Files on May 31, 2010.

Currensy's third album, Pilot Talk, was released on July 13, 2010. The album featured guest appearances by Snoop Dogg, Big K.R.I.T. and Mos Def, amongst others, with most of the songs produced by Ski Beatz. Prior to the album's release, there was news of Pilot Talk being released under a newly relaunched Roc-A-Fella Records. However, Currensy stated in interviews with both XXL and Complex Magazine that the album would be released under Damon Dash's DD172 record label division, BluRoc Records and distributed through Def Jam Recordings. Currensy made numerous appearances on labelmate Ski Beatz' debut studio album, 24 Hour Karate School, which was released on September 21, 2010.

2010–2011: Pilot Talk II and Weekend at Burnie's

Currensy performing in 2010

Currensy's fourth album, Pilot Talk II, was released on November 22, 2010, which featured Fiend and Raekwon, among others, with many of the songs produced by Ski Beatz. 2010 also saw the release of mixtape Smokee Robinson with DJ Don Cannon.

On February 1, 2011, it was announced that Currensy signed a label deal with Warner Bros. Records for his imprint, Jet Life Recordings. Covert Coup was his first project on his Jet Life Recordings imprint under Warner Bros. Released for free via Currensy's official website on April 20, the album contains ten songs completely produced by The Alchemist. He released a mixtape, Weekend at Burnie's on June 28, 2011, featuring his Jet-Life anthem "#JetsGo", which was produced by Rahki. The rest of the mixtape was produced by frequent collaborator Monsta Beatz. In 2011, Currensy and his Jet Life crew released the album Jet World Order, under Jets International / iHipHop. Every track on this album features Young Roddy and Trademark da Skydiver. Frequent collaborators of Currensy are also featured on this album, including Smoke DZA, The Cool Kids' Mikey Rocks, Cornerboy P, Fiend, Street Wiz, and Nesby Phips. Currensy himself appears on three tracks.

2014–present: The Drive In Theatre and Pilot Talk III

Currensy announced a new mixtape, The Drive In Theatre, in January 2014. He followed up on January 26, 2014, with the release of a new single, "Godfather 4" featuring Action Bronson. On February 4, 2014, Currensy took to Twitter to announce a release date for The Drive In Theatre, it was released on February 14, 2014.

On January 17, 2013, Currensy announced on Twitter that he and Ski Beatz began the process of making Pilot Talk III. The album has been in development ever since, with Currensy, in various interviews, naming possible guest appearances from Lil Boosie, Lil Wayne, Wiz Khalifa, Ab-Soul, French Montana, Action Bronson, Jadakiss, Styles P, and Riff Raff, with a majority of the production handled by Ski Beatz, along with some production from Cool & Dre. On January 19, 2015, Currensy posted the album's possible artwork on his Instagram account, created by David Barnett, who was also responsible for the artwork of the first two Pilot Talk albums. On March 1, 2015, DJ Skee released the first single "Alert" featuring Styles P and produced by Ski Beatz. On March 15, 2015, Currensy announced that he'll be releasing Pilot Talk III exclusively on a $100 USB drive, "bundled with a Jet Life shirt and Pilot Talk 3 look book" with accompanying music videos. However, he also hinted at the album may be up for streaming. The bundle was available for pre-order on the Jet Life website, which also confirmed that it will not be released on iTunes. It was set for release on April 4, 2015. He released 12 mixtapes in 2016.

In June 2023, Currensy released Vices, a joint album with producer Harry Fraud.

Jet Life Recordings

On February 1, 2011, Currensy started his imprint Jet Life Recordings.

Current artists

• Street Wiz
• Tiny C Style
• Fendi P (formerly Corner Boy P)
• Fiend
• Mr. Marcelo
• MaryGold
• T.Y.

"Pilot Talk" Lawsuit

In March 2012, news surfaced of legal action being taken against Damon Dash by Currensy. In the lawsuit, the rapper claimed that he never legally signed to Dash's DD172 label, and the record executive released the pair of albums (Pilot Talk I and Pilot Talk II) as well as Muscle Car Chronicles without authorization. Currensy demanded that Dash immediately stop releasing his music for profit, and pay $1.5 million in damages. On October 6, 2015, Currensy was awarded $3 million in settlement stemming from the 2012 lawsuit against Dash for releasing material of his music without his consent.

Discography

Studio albums

• This Ain't No Mixtape (2009)
• Jet Files (2009)
• Pilot Talk (2010)
• Pilot Talk II (2010)
• Weekend at Burnie's (2011)
• Pilot Talk III (2015)
• Canal Street Confidential (2015)
• Back at Burnie's (2019)
• Collection Agency (2021)
• Pilot Talk IV (2021)

Collaboration albums

• How Fly (with Wiz Khalifa) (2009)
• Covert Coup (with The Alchemist) (2011)
• Jet World Order (with Jet Life) (2011)
• Muscle Car Chronicles (with Sean O'Connell) (2012)
• Jet World Order 2 (with Jet Life) (2012)
• Live in Concert (with Wiz Khalifa) (2013)
• The Carrollton Heist (with The Alchemist) (2016)
• Fetti (with Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist) (2018)
• 2009 (with Wiz Khalifa) (2019)
• Gran Turismo (with Statik Selektah) (2019)
• Pheno Grigio (with Berner) (2019)
• Plan of Attack (with Trademark da Skydiver & Young Roddy) (2019)
• Prestige Worldwide (with Smoke DZA) (2019)
• The Tonite Show with Curren$y (with DJ Fresh) (2020)
• Spring Clean (with Fuse) (2020)
• The OutRunners (with Harry Fraud) (2020)
• The Director's Cut (with Harry Fraud) (2020)
• Bonus Footage (with Harry Fraud) (2020)
• Welcome to Jet Life Recordings (with Jet Life) (2021)
• Welcome to Jet Life Recordings 2 (with Jet Life) (2021)
• Highest in Charge (with Trauma Tone) (2021)
• Matching Rolexes (with Kino Beats) (2021)
• Regatta (with Harry Fraud) (2021)
• Continuance (with The Alchemist) (2022)
• Spring Clean 2 (with Fuse) (2022)
• Vices (with Harry Fraud) (2023)
• Highway 600 (with Trauma Tone) (2023)
• Highway 600 (Deluxe) (with Trauma Tone) (2024)

See also

In Spanish: Currensy para niños