Percy Robert Miller (born April 29, 1967 in New Orleans, Louisiana), better known as Master P is an entrepreneur, businessman, marketer, and rap artist. He is the founder and CEO of No Limit Enterprises, an entertainment and financial conglomerate. Fortune magazine listed Master P as one of the wealthiest men under the age of 40 in North America, with a net worth of $361 million in 1999 [citation needed].

• 1 Biography
• 2 Personal life
  • 2.1 Legal woes
• 3 Businessman and entrepreneur
  • 3.1 Entrepreneurship
  • 3.2 Rapper
  • 3.3 Actor and film producer
  • 3.4 Basketball player
  • 3.5 Author
  • 3.6 No Limit Sports
  • 3.7 Video Games
• 4 Accomplishments
• 5 Discography
  • 5.1 Solo albums
• 6 See also
• 7 References
• 8 External links

Born Percy Robert Miller in New Orleans, in 1967, the oldest of five children, Master P grew up in a housing project then called the Calliope Apartments in New Orleans Third Ward. When interviewed by NBC, Master P stated that he had to sell marijuana and crack cocaine in the projects. Though he shuttled back and forth between New Orleans and California, the teenaged Percy settled in New Orleans, attended Booker T. Washington and Warren Easton high schools, and played basketball at both schools. Master P also attended Richmond High school in Richmond, California. After the death of his brother, Kevin, and with some junior college business courses to his credit, Master P moved to Richmond, California and opened a small record store, No Limit Records, financing the store with $10,000 that he received as part of a medical malpractice settlement related to the death of his grandfather.[1][2]

After working in music industry as a retailer, Master P became an entertainer, as well as owning his own record company. No Limit Records, the retail store, became No Limit, the record company. In 1994, he self-produced his first album, The Ghetto's Tryin' to Kill Me, and sold it out of the trunk of his car in neighborhoods in and around Oakland and also in New Orleans.

After selling records, he decided to sign his company, Penisweeat, to a straight pressing and distribution deal with Priority Records. "In order for me to stay true to myself and my company, I had to maintain complete creative control," says P. When the deal was solidified with Priority in 1995, No Limit Records released TRU (made up of Master P and his brothers, Silkk the Shocker and C-Murder).

In early 1997 Master P released TRU's latest project, "TRU 2 DA Game", which debuted at number two on the R&B chart[citation needed], number one on the Rap chart[citation needed] and number eight on the Top 200[citation needed]. Within one week of its release, "TRU 2 DA Game' was RIAA certified Gold[citation needed] and is now double Platinum[citation needed].

His first feature film, 'I'm Bout It', a straight to video project that he financed, wrote, directed and produced, and acted in, debuted number one on Billboard's Top Music Video chart[3] and has attained a multi-platinum selling status. The film is allegedly based loosely on his life growing up in New Orleans. The soundtrack, also a platinum seller, made history. According to Billboard magazine, 'never before had a soundtrack charted unless it was accompanied by a theatrical film release.' The soundtrack debuted number one on Billboard's R&B album chart and number four on Billboard's Top 200[4].

Master P is married to Sonya C. Miller with seven children including Lil Romeo and Young V.

In 2003, Master P was arrested in New Jersey for carrying hollow-point bullets, which are illegal in that state. He had presented his legally registered firearm to Transportation safety officials, but after the discovery of the illegal ammunition, he was detained. He was later released on his own recognizance, with a scheduled court appearance in June 2003.[5]

Master P and his brother Silkk the Shocker (real name Vyshonne Miller) were arrested in Los Angeles on the University of California, Los Angeles campus on January 27, 2005, after police found two handguns in the car. They were ordered to stand trial on February 27, 2006, and face a maximum sentence of 3 years if convicted.[6]

As founder and CEO of No Limit Entertainment, Miller at one time presided over a business empire that included No Limit Records Bout It Inc., No Limit Clothing, No Limit Films, No Limit Sports Management, PM. Properties and Advantage Travel. Master P ranked 10th on Forbes magazine's 1998 list of America's 40 highest paid entertainers with an estimated income of $56.5 million.[7] By 1999 Master P built an empire worth $361 million in four years[citation needed] according to Fortune magazine, a feat which has never been matched in hip hop history[citation needed]. At one time, the estimated worth of his business dealings reached $661 million.[8]

Master P was one of the first rappers to build a financial empire by investing in a wide range of business ventures[citation needed]. Master P invested the millions of dollars he made from No Limit Records into real estate, films, toys, a phone sex company, clothing, telecommunications, book & magazine publishing, car rims, fast food franchises, gas stations, sports management and many other ventures. No Limit Communications, a joint venture with marketing gurus, Djuan Edgerton and Rickey Spearman, was a surprising success. No Limit Enterprises quickly became a financial powerhouse. According to Black Enterprise magazine No Limit Enterprises grossed $110 million in revenue in 1998 alone[citation needed].

Master P began his rap career in 1991 in Richmond California when he released 'Get Away Clean' on In-A-Minute records. Master P later formed hard-core rap group TRU with his two brothers Silkk The Shocker and C-Murder. Master P left In-A-Minute records shortly after releasing his debut album and formed his own label No Limit Records. With Master P as its premier artist, No Limit Records went on to release many albums from artists such as Snoop Dogg, Mystikal, Mia X, Mercedes, Soulja Slim, and Miller's siblings Silkk Tha Shocker and C-Murder and Lil Romeo.In 2004, Master P's No Limit Records filed for bankruptcy[citation needed]. He started a new label The New No Limit records, but released far fewer records than his previous label. In 2005, Master P started a new label called Guttar Music Entertainment.

Master P is also an actor and film producer, appearing in both movies and television. He has made guest appearances on CSI: NY, Oz, Dark Angel, Girlfriends, The Hughleys, Moesha, Dancing with the Stars, and his son's series Romeo! which aired on Nickelodeon. His film appearances include the comedy Uncle P, Lockdown I Got The Hook Up, Foolish, Hot Boyz, Bout It da Movie, MP Da Last Don, Gone in Sixty Seconds, Takedown, Scary Movie 3, Decisions, Hollywood Homicide, Still Bout It, Dark Blue, and Undisputed. Master P made his wrestling debut on June 13.[1] He made a movie with Katt Williams, Micheal Blackson, titled REPOS, in 2006, written by his personal staff writers Britt O. Wynn and Banio Koroma Jr. In 2007 he starred in the ultra low budget, straight to DVD comedy Black Supaman with Tony Cox.

He had a contract with NBA teams twice - with the Charlotte Hornets during the 1998/99 season and the Toronto Raptors in 1999 pre-season. [9] [10] He was waived a few weeks after signing in both cases and he has not played in a regular season NBA game. [11] [12] He also played in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) for Fort Wayne Fury.

In 2006, Miller announced the production of a book, titled "Guaranteed Success". The book is designed to "educate those interested in benefiting from the power of Hip-Hop from a financial stand point." [13] The book is scheduled for a September 2007 publication date, under the banner of Kensington Publishing Corporation.

Miller established a sports talent agency organization under the title No Limit Sports.

The most lauded No Limit Sports client was Ricky Williams, who was represented by Leland Hardy during his negotiations with the New Orleans Saints. Hardy negotiated the contract for Williams, which was largely incentive-laden in exchange for an $8M-plus signing bonus with salary incentives worth a range of $11 million to $68 million should he hit all of his incentives, with most of them requiring higher than top-level production to attain. In March of 2000, after failing to qualify for many of his incentives, as well as having an injury-prone season and lack of performance, Ricky Williams ended his relationship with No Limit Sports.[14]

No Limit Sports also represented NBA players Ron Mercer and Ricky Davis in their dealing with the Denver Nuggets and the Charlotte Hornets. In January 2000, both players severed their ties with Master P and No Limit Sports citing Miller's aims at playing professional ball, as well as the disastrous contract No Limit Sports had negotiated for Ricky Williams.[15]

Within six months of the departure of Williams and the basketball players, No Limit Sports had no clients and closed its doors.[16] Miller was sued by Bank One for over $700,000 owed on a line of credit indirectly related to the failure of the sports venture as well as lackluster album sales.

According to Allhiphop.com, Master P and Seth Green are producing a video game entitled Play The Industry. The game has an anticipated 2009 release date.

• Made Forbes list of highest paid entertainers in 1998
• In the Guinness Book of World Records as the highest paid entertainer in 1999
• Forbes Celebrity 100 list in 1999

• Get Away Clean (1991)
• Mama's Bad Boy (1992)
• The Ghettos Tryin to Kill Me! (1994)
• 99 Ways to Die (1995)
• Ice Cream Man (1996)
• Ghetto D (1997)
• MP Da Last Don (1998)

• Only God Can Judge Me (1999)
• Ghetto Postage (2000)
• Game Face (2001)
• Good Side, Bad Side (2004)
• Ghetto Bill (2005)

• Living Legend: Certified D-Boy (2005)
• America's Most Luved Bad Guy (2006)
• Featuring Master P (2007)
• Master P & Romeo: Hip Hop History (2007)

• C-Murder
• Silkk The Shocker
• Romeo
• TRU
• Rich Boyz
• 504 Boyz
• Guttar Music

• The Official Promotionz Site for Guttar Music - Master P
• IMDB
• Chicago Tribute
• Estimated net worth at Findarticles
• UrbanDigital Records - Master P's Online Music Distributor
• Master P Artist Page on UrbanDigital Records
• Take A Stand Records - Master P's Record Label for Responsible Hip Hop Artists
• Master P Theatre w/Doug Benson