St. Louis rapper Huey (aka Baby Huey) started dropping beats with a friend on his neighborhood block of Arlington Ave. during his mid-teens, taking inspiration from fellow Dirty South stars like Chingy, Nelly, and Ludacris. Writing songs was something fun to do, but when Huey's older brother brought in music veteran Angela Richardson, Huey's ambitions became more serious. Richardson was cultivating a rap group at the time, and it wasn't long until Huey's sharp-witted rhymes became front and center. Songs such as "Oh" and "Pop, Lock & Drop It" became local favorites among DJs and promoters, further pushing Huey's mixtapes into college campuses and other surrounding mediums. One of these mixes, Unsigned Hype, which sold out of its 8,000 copies, caught the ear of producer TJ Chapman. Chapman later introduced the budding rapper to Mickey "MeMpHiTz" Wright, Vice President of A&R at Jive Records, in early 2006. The Notebook Paper, Huey's Jive debut album, appeared in mid-2007.