Happy 20th year Anniversary to Master P and his eighth studio album “Only God Can Judge Me.” Master P released on October 26, 1999, and had production by Carlos Stephens, XL, Ke’ Noe, Sons Of Funk, Jermaine Dupri, and features Nas, Jermaine Dupri, Mac, Silkk the Shocker, Mystikal, and Magic. The album has been certified Gold by the RIAA, It has sold over 640,000 copies in the United States and more than 1 million copies worldwide. Master P released two singles “Step To Dis” and “Da Ballers” featuring Jermaine Dupri, with both songs making the charts on the Billboard.
Master P was releasing albums throughout the early ’90s both as a solo artist and a group member, but it wasn’t until 1996 when he released his fifth album. The single “Mr. Ice Cream Man” boosted Master P’s rise to fame. Master P continued his meteoric rise in 1997 with his platinum-selling single “Make Em Say Uhh”. Besides being a solo artist P was also in the group Tru. Master P moved from California back to New Orleans to relocate No Limit Records with a slew of new artists and in-house producers Beats By the Pound. Later in 1996, Master P returned with TRU to work on Tru 2 da Game, which would not be released until 1997. At that time TRU was reduced to a trio with just Master P alongside his brothers C-Murder and Silkk the Shocker.
On September 2, 1997, Master P released his breakthrough album, Ghetto D. The first-week sales of the album were the highest of any of Master P’s albums, selling over 761,000 copies, and it went on to go certified triple platinum. It contained the hit single “Make ‘Em Say Uhh!”, Master P’s highest-charting single to date. The song earned him an MTV Video Music Award nomination the following year for “Best Rap Video”, but lost to Will Smith’s “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It”. On June 2, 1998, P. Miller released his seventh and best-selling album to date MP Da Last Don. Master P released a film of the same name earlier that year. The album debuted at number 1 on the Billboard Top 200 charts selling over 400,000 copies in its first week and went on to sell over four million copies. On October 26, 1999, Master P. Miller released his third studio album Only God Can Judge Me, which contained his single “Step To Dis”. The album went certified gold, selling over 500,000 copies.
Master P is the founder of the No Limit Records, which was relaunched as New No Limit Records through Universal Records and Koch Records, then again as Guttar Music Entertainment, and currently, No Limit Forever Records. He is the founder and CEO of P. Miller Enterprises and Better Black Television, which was a short-lived online television network. In 2009, Forbes estimated Miller’s net worth at nearly $700 million, which put him as the third-richest figure in hip hop at the time, and yet he still did more. Master P was signed to two separate NBA contracts in the late 1990s, playing for both the Charlotte Hornets and Toronto Raptors during the 1998 and 1999 pre-season respectively. Miller currently owns his own basketball league, Global Mixed Gender Basketball (GMGB).
Master P went on to star in or be featured in over forty movies while releasing over twenty albums and seven mixtapes. You can say he was the first successful independent record label whose CEO was the main artist. Master P put me on to what it was like living in New Orleans at the time. He had every using that popular slang “Bout it, Bout It” after he released his song. The album “Only God Can Judge Me” helped Master P solidify his spot in hip hop at the time. With big-budget videos and features with Nas and Jermaine Dupri, he would go on to show that it was no limit with No Limit.
Salute Master P on your 20th year Anniversary of “Only God Can Judge Me” and Much success on all your new endeavors.
