"A protégé of Sean ""Diddy"" Combs and fresh Bad Boy talent, the one and only Loon has shaken up the East Coast rap stereotype over the past decade, collaborating with artists like Mario Winans, Diddy, Carl Thomas and Kelis while sending his hit albums and singles flying straight up the hip-hop charts in the process.Born and raised on the tough streets of Harlem, Loon (whose real name is Chauncey Hawkins) grew up in an oppressive setting, learning the tricks of the street trade from a young age. The son of street legends and the grandson of a man who palled around with Bumpy Johnson, Loon found an escape from his could-be fatal surroundings by writing in his diary, providing a sense of getaway. Eventually, Loon transferred his diary spillings into rhymes, evolving into rap material and, ultimately, an in with Mase's posse Harlem World. Loon performed in the same circle of rappers that Diddy hung around with, and right about the time he changed his name from Puff Daddy to P. Diddy, the hip-hop tycoon picked up on the talents of Loon and made the up-and-coming rapper his new project. Placing Loon on his newly-arranged Bad Boy roster in 2001, Diddy helped speed up the success of Loon's career with the hit single ""I Need a Girl, Pt. 2,"" a high-charting collaboration between the two that got Loon's name out to the mainstream.In 2003, Loon got his chance to shine solo with the Big Boy release Loon. Led by the hit single and Kelis collaboration ""How You Want That,"" Loon went all the way to the number two slot on the R&B/hip-hop charts, also coming in at number six on the Billboard 200. The album featured a number of hip-hop heavyweights, preparing the public for his next albums No Friends and Wizard of Harlem, both released in 2006."