| Net Worth | $200,000 |
|---|---|
| Real Name | Shamele Mackie |
| Date of Birth/Age | March 5, 1978 41 y.o. |
| Source of wealth | Rapper, Songwriter |
| Height | 5’9 |
| Country of origin | USA |
| State/City of origin | Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York City, New York |
| Last Updated | 2019 |
Net Worth
Details of Papoose’s net worth is a bit sketchy.
He reportedly made anywhere from $200,000 to 1.5 million dollars. It’s safe to say that Papoose net worth at least $200,000. Despite landing a VH-1 contract, he apparently remains in a lower tax bracket than the majority of his counterparts.
He aims to put the quality and authenticity of his music before radio plays and commercial success which, understandably, does not often equate to multimillions in and of itself.
His accrued wealth is mostly derived from mixtape sales and reality television. His full-length studio albums have contributed, as well. Collaborating with other artists also puts food on the emcee’s table and accounts for a decent fraction of his earnings.
To date, the Busta Rhymes collab was one of Pap’s bests. “Da Flow” featuring Sheek Louch and Dave East fared well amongst hip hop heads. Meet Sims joined him in “The Streets Got Me.” Surprisingly, he even crossed over to work with pop and R&B singers such as Jeannie Ortega and Joe, respectively.
Some of his other noteworthy guest appearances and features are “My Jealousy” by Cam’ron, All Star, Slim Thug and Tef, “Pop the Trunk” by Kay Slay, Greg Street, Yung Joc and Chamillionaire, “Thug Love” by Maino, Ray J and Red Café, “Write Cha Name” by Ron Browz, and “Get Paid” by Blink Money, French Montana and Chinx Drugz.
Introduction
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Papoose is renowned for bringing the grittiness of the streets of Bed-Stuy straight into the booth, no chaser. His delivery almost transports listeners like a time machine, back into the early-90’s, smack dab in the middle of graffiti-stained brick walls and cats with pagers and gats on their sides wearing Bomber jackets and wheat-colored Timberlands, hollering “son” every few sentences.
In a world obsessed with auto-tuning, from choruses to adlibs, who could be mad at a little grittiness?
Papoose, affectionately known as Pap, definitely was not an overnight success, but at 40 years old – which in rap game years is grandfatherly – he’s still reinventing and carving out a lane for himself. Granted, in 1998, he stepped foot in the industry rather effortlessly compared to other acts in his caliber. He’s come up, however, was anything but smooth or fast.
He found himself at the short end of the stick, a victim of several false starts. It seemed fate would only deal him a hand that would let him go but so far and no further.
It would take the determination, tough skin and pure love for music that he developed in the crux of Brooklyn to see him through those “close but no cigar” seasons of his life.
Finally, in 2005, Papoose went from the indie trenches to mainstream notoriety after cameoing on Busta Rhymes’ epic remix, “Touch It.” Whether the masses considered Pap worthy of king status or not, he made it clear in one simple bar, how he felt and where he stood.
“I got New York City in the palm of my hand.”
Early Life
Papoose didn’t get his stage name from the streets or his homeboys. When he was a child, his grandmother, Vivian, nicknamed him strictly because of his distinct look. Although he is of both Liberian and Native American descents, she felt his features resembled the latter, hence the moniker.
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The name Papoose is loosely-based on a—then-acceptable but potentially offensive—term for an Algonquian or Native American child. Shamele Mackie is his birth name. He was born in Bedford-Stuyvesant in the borough of Brooklyn on March 5, 1978, to his parents, Irene Mackie and Gregory Hudgens.
He fell in love with the art of rapping at the age of 11 and made strides to move in that direction. His careful and thought-out steps led him to an open door: the iconic Kool G. Rap.
From there, he partnered with Kool G. Rap professionally. The old-school emcee was looking for raw talent and fresh, new voices. He handpicked Pap. They cut a track together on Kool G. Rap’s album Roots of Evil.
This was 1998 and Papoose was 20 years old and hungry. The masses could hear it in his tone of voice and bravado on the single “Home Sweet Funeral Home.”
His path never strayed from hip hop, and that’s how he ran across the woman of his dreams. The duo teamed up to do great multimedia exploits.
Pap and That Baby Mama Drama
Papoose and his rapper-wife, Remy Ma, have a high-profile marriage. They’ve implicitly become the poster-children for black love and, for all intents and purposes, are referred to as “goals” in some circles. They’ve even worn apparel with the slogan written on it.
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But the couples’ relationship was thrown into the rumor mill in 2017. Gossip sites and vloggers insisted that publicly-and-staunchly-faithful Papoose had been out and about, sowing his wild oats.
The accusations came when the alleged side chick spoke up about the purported affair and love child they conceived. Papoose vehemently denied the claims, and his wife took his side and supported his version of the story.
According to The Inquistr’s reporting about a feature written in Hollywood Life, Remy Ma kept her cool and continued on with Papoose, unfazed.
An anonymous source close to the celebrity couple said, “Remy trusts Papoose. She never questions his loyalty to her…”
Personal Life
Papoose married Reminisce Mackie, also known as Remy Ma, in upstate New York, and it played out like a scene from a gangster-romance movie.
They had their nuptials in the courtroom right before she was hauled off to jail for shooting Makeda Barnes-Joseph in the stomach over a money-related discrepancy.
Papoose planned to tie the knot with Remy that April, but the shooting threw a wrench in their scheduling.
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Papoose honored his vows to Remy throughout her sentence. He was there to accept her with open arms when she was released from New York Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women in August 2014. They renewed their vows in a traditional ceremony in March of 2016.
Pap has made it a point to lay low and remain tight-lipped about his educational background, upbringing, and personal matters, in general.
This is why it came as a shocker when he consented to filming a reality TV show with Remy, relinquishing most of his privacy.
Papoose has full custody of a daughter from a previous relationship. Her name is Dejanae, and she attended the University of New York.
She has hopes of making it in the music industry. Pap is also a stepfather to Remy’s son, Jayson. The rap couple share a biological daughter.
Career
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Papoose rode high off of the fanfare he accumulated by linking up with Kool G. Rap on the Roots of Evil album. He subsequently went on to work on his own projects.
If “Home Sweet Funeral Home” put him on the map in any significant way, then his song “Alphabetical Slaughter” solidified his place; that song was a unique spin on the ABC’s of “thugacation,” as his mentor, Kay Slay referred to it.
“Thug Connection” drew in crowds of new fans, too, fans who felt Papoose was something original and refreshing, something for the hood. Despite his newfound level of influence and fame, he failed to secure a recording contract.
Instead of throwing in the towel and going home, Pap went harder. He went back into the studio, letting out his frustrations, ambitions and past tales, putting it on “wax.”
The end result was fire. He compiled all of his tracks and launched mixtape after mixtape, selling them online and out of the back of the trunk, so to speak.
Eventually, he inked a deal with Fontana Distribution and came out with his debut album, The Nacirema Dream. It had been shelved many years prior. Papoose has approximately 29 mixtapes and two LPs in total. He’s slated to release his newest album, Underrated, in mid-February.
Additionally, Pap has reaped and enjoyed the benefits of cashing in those Love & Hip Hop checks with the rest of the LNHH alumni.
Highlights
- Papoose received placement on the “NBA 2K16 Soundtrack”.
- According to Remy, Papoose doesn’t put his dishes in the sink when he’s done eating.
- Papoose was a member of the Flip Mode Squad.
- He’s appeared on “Wild ‘n Out.”
- Remy Ma joined him on “Wild ‘n Out”, and they crushed the competition.
- Papoose and Remy landed their own reality show in 2018 called “Remy & Papoose: Meet the Mackies.”
- Remy & Papoose: Meet the Mackies is a Love & Hip Hop series spin-off.
- Papoose not only has two biological daughters but also a son named Dejay.
- His newest project, Underrated, may just be a fitting title, and one of the long-awaited singles on that album is “Numerical Slaughter.”
- “Numerical Slaughter” originates from his smash-hit Alphabetical Slaughter.
Favorite Quotes from Papoose
“Remy look good in person just like she do in the magazine, so I’ma stay close to Ms. Martin like Dr. King.”
“I feel like in hip-hop, they say certain rappers are, like, ‘He’s Illuminati‘ or ‘She’s Illuminati,’ but I don’t think they know the definition of it. Basically, so I can simplify it to you, it means “he who carries the light.” It goes deep, years and years before our time, but to bring it up to date, there might be certain people who are in positions of power and a higher force who want to communicate messages. They will use those people because everybody’s paying attention to them.”
“My independent experience has been better than my experience with a major label…”
“I don’t care who offended cause I handle my business. The gun stay in my jeans, genes like its family resemblance.”
