"Beanie Sigel was born Dwight Grant on March 6, 1974, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Growing up on the south side of Philly, the young Beanie had his share of influences growing up, both on the radio and on his street. Musically, artists like Big Daddy Kane, EPMD, Gang Starr, Kool Moe Dee and Kool G Rap & DJ Polo were some of Sigel's most important impression-makers, and certainly some of the East Coast and West Coast gangsta rappers of the mid-1990s were significant in forming Sigel's musical style. Beanie Sigel first showed up on the national scene with Rock-A-Fella Records, rapping as a featured artist on the mixtapes of DJ Clue?, as well as songs by the Roots and Jay-Z.Beanie Sigel quickly earned enough credibility within Rock-A-Fella and its associated label Def Jam to warrant his own LP production. The Truth, released in February of 2000, was successful right off the bat, as singles like ""Anything,"" ""Remember Them Days"" and ""The Truth"" all notched a good deal of airtime on urban, hip-hop and R&B radio stations across the country. Critics were impressed with Beanie Sigel's obvious talent. The fact that artists like Kanye West, Eve, Scarface, Sam Sneed and Rockwilder helped out on the production and performance of the record certainly didn't hurt.Beanie followed up The Truth with The Reason a year later. The same Def Jam/Rock-A-Fella crowd helped out on The Reason, pushing the album into the No. 5 position on the Billboard 200, as well as the No. 1 spot in the Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart. When Beanie Sigel landed a weapons charge and started getting caught up in the legal system, production on his third album, The B. Coming, was pushed through quickly. His clothing line, State Property, and his music career were put on hold while he served time in the mid-2000s, but after his release from prison Beanie Sigel dropped another record, The Solution, on his anxious, fanatical legion of supporters."