What Happened to Rapper Lil’ Zane?
The 2000s are a nostalgic time period, especially for millennials born in the 1990s and late 1980s. Lil Zane was a popular young rapper during this time period and recently revisited his success and what happened with his career in a recent series.
Lil’ Zane and his rise in music and acting
Lil’ Zane, whose real name is Zane Copeland Jr., was first signed to RCA Records in the mid-1990s with a group named Kronic. After going solo, he ended up getting to tour with 112 in 1999. He was featured on the group’s 1999 single, “Anywhere,” which was a huge success, reaching No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100.
His first single, “Money Stretch,” was on the Next Friday soundtrack in 2000. The same year, he released his first album, Young World: The Future, which included the hit song “Callin Me” featuring 112. The song reached No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Shortly after this success, he began appearing in several television shows and music. He starred as Eric in Dr. Dolittle 2 and appeared as himself in sitcoms The Parkers and One on One.
His second album, The Big Zane Theory, was released in 2003, but wasn’t nearly as successful as his first album. For the album, he changed his name from Lil’ Zane to just Zane. Around this time, he also continued to appear in more television projects and films, such as The Fighting Temptations.
However, in the mid-2000s, his public profile began to slow with both music and television/film. He continued to release new music, but none of them have made sales or chart impacts.
What actually happened with his career
In a recent interview for BET’s YouTube digital series, ‘Finding,’ they at down with Zane to discuss his career.
He talked about sticking with is manager who was launching a label rather than signing with Diddy and Bad Boy Records. “I think that Diddy respected that. Don’t make stupid decisions when you grow up, kids. Don’t make decisions with your heart, make them with your mind,” he said.
He also talked about how he got involved in acting more, stating that he thought his label was trying to sabotage him. He said the label would not release several of his songs and projects. Zane also said he went to an album signing one day and there were no copies of the album at the story.
The rapper said that he took more acting jobs to get the money that he wasn’t getting from music. “I started really pursuing my acting career when the label started bullsh*****g. They started making me feel like they were just sitting on my project. I needed another way to get some money,” he added.
