UTP

UTP no longer performs as a group. Wacko, the rapper whose gravelly delivery powered "Nolia Clap," died in August 2026 at 52, and that closes the book on the collective as a working unit. What survives is a small, sharp catalog and one of the most recognizable hooks to come out of New Orleans in the 2000s.

Fans of Southern rap know them for that single above all: a sparse, chant-along record that hit No. 31 on the Hot 100 and became a neighborhood anthem far beyond the Magnolia Projects. The group's two full-length albums, The Beginning of the End (2004) and Back Like We Left Something (2007), sit in a specific pocket of New Orleans rap history, the moment when Juvenile's post-Cash Money independence pulled a whole crew of Uptown talent into the studio.

The sound is unpolished on purpose. Bouncy local rhythms, call-and-response choruses, street reporting delivered without polish. Their association with J Prince and Rap-A-Lot gave them a national distribution lane that most New Orleans crews of that era never got. [edit]

The group started as an act of independence. Juvenile had spent years as one of Cash Money Records' biggest stars, but in 2001 he left the label and set about building his own infrastructure. Uptown Project was part of that plan: instead of a solo venture, he assembled a crew from the neighborhoods he came up around, drawing on the Magnolia Projects and the wider Uptown corridor.

The original lineup was Juvenile, Wacko, Skip, Corey Cee, Soulja Slim and Young Buck. Soulja Slim was already a local legend in his own right, having released Give It 2 'Em Raw through No Limit in 1998. Young Buck was the young gun from Nashville by way of New Orleans, hungry and versatile. Wacko and Skip were the neighborhood voices, and Corey Cee rounded out the roster.

Their first release came fast. The Compilation arrived through Orpheus Records on October 8, 2002, a posse record that let each member take solo turns. A second compilation, Street Stories, followed in 2003. Around this time Young Buck, Skip and Wacko were also cutting tracks for 50 Cent's early mixtape run, including material that landed on 50 Cent Is the Future. That connection pulled Young Buck toward G-Unit, and he left UTP to sign with 50.

Then came the blow. Soulja Slim was shot and killed outside his mother's home in the Gentilly neighborhood on November 26, 2003, the day before Thanksgiving. He was 26. Corey Cee departed soon after, and the group signed a joint deal with Rap-A-Lot and Asylum, carrying on with a slimmed-down roster. The debut album they made in that shadow, The Beginning of the End, landed May 18, 2004. Its title was not subtle, and nobody in the crew pretended otherwise. [edit]

UTP's sound sits at the corner of bounce and street rap, built on stripped-down drum patterns, trigger-happy hi-hats and choruses designed for a crowd to shout back. "Nolia Clap" is the clearest example: a two-note vocal hook, handclaps, and almost nothing else competing for space. Producer and label support from Rap-A-Lot kept the mixes dry and vocal-forward, closer to a block party than a radio record.

Lyrically the group stayed local. Magnolia Projects references, neighborhood shout-outs, and matter-of-fact street narratives dominate. Juvenile brought his established cadence and star power, Soulja Slim brought raw menace, and Wacko brought a rougher, older-sounding growl that gave the records grit. On the 2007 album the duo format tightened things further, with fewer voices and more room for each rapper to stretch out. [edit]

"Nolia Clap" outlived the group that made it. The song became a staple of New Orleans club sets and a reference point for later Southern rap, and the phrase itself entered the local vocabulary as shorthand for the Magnolia Projects. The record's national chart run, peaking at No. 31 on the Hot 100, gave a New Orleans independent crew a mainstream look at a time when Cash Money and No Limit had already established the city as a rap capital.

UTP also functioned as a talent pipeline. Young Buck's stint in the crew preceded his G-Unit run, and the early mixtape work Wacko and Skip did with 50 Cent helped connect New Orleans rap to the New York mixtape circuit. The group's Rap-A-Lot deal tied them to one of the South's most storied labels, and their records circulated through the same distribution channels as the Geto Boys and Scarface. [edit]

UTP never had the organized fandom infrastructure of a pop act, no official fan club or lightstick. What they had was neighborhood loyalty. The Magnolia Projects and the surrounding Uptown wards treated the group's records as community property, and "Nolia Clap" functioned as an anthem at block parties and second lines.

That loyalty showed up again in August 2026, when Rap-A-Lot founder J Prince posted a tribute to Wacko referencing the Magnolia Projects and signing off with "We still in New Orleans with UTP. RIP to Wacko." For longtime listeners, that line captured the relationship better than any official fan designation could. [edit]

Wacko's real name was Damon Grison, and he was 52 when he died in August 2026. Soulja Slim was killed on November 26, 2003, the day before Thanksgiving, at age 26. Young Buck recorded with 50 Cent before joining G-Unit, and some of that material appeared on 50 Cent Is the Future. The group's debut album title, The Beginning of the End, was chosen while the crew was still reeling from Slim's death. UTP's first release was a compilation rather than an album, issued through Orpheus Records in October 2002. [edit]