Eleven years ago, in a world where Nokia 3210s, overpriced Helly Hanson jackets and K-Swiss Tongue Twisters were the norm, a LAD going by the name of MC Smally decided to go with the flow.
Not only did he play the game but he rolled the dice, not once but twice.
The decision to release these iconic lyrics landed him an unprecedented amount of fame, but what happened to the man who became a phenomenon in playgrounds across the country?
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To this day, the mystery surrounding his identity has remained anonymous. Until now.
Image: UrbanDictionairy
If you were born between the years 1990 and 2000 then the name MC Smally might ring a bell.
That's because at one point or another you'll have sat on a school bus, minding your own business, when the sound of an 11-year-old lad rapping about his glamorous life in Prestolee suddenly emerged from the speakers of an old Sony Ericsson W810i.
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Away from those nostalgic bus journeys, this phenomenon was even making an impression in the UK grime scene, with the renowned Wiley using his track on one of his famous tunnel vision mixtapes back in 2006.
George Smalley from Bolton, Greater Manchester in the north west of England, never expected his first single to reach the heights it did back in the mid 00s but his music was played on phones across the country and to this day he still can't believe how fast it travelled.
"It was mad because, at first, the song blew up in my hometown," George told LADbible in his first public interview.
"The song just went around the schools, but then stories were getting back to me about friends who had gone on holiday to find that other kids from all over the country had been playing my songs. I was gobsmacked."
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Like many other young people his age, Smalley grew up idolising US rapper Eminem. He wore dungarees and a hockey mask to the annual fancy dress day at primary school. He even carried a makeshift chainsaw to look like his idol.
A few years later, the charismatic kid from Bolton would become involved with the popular UK Bounce Scene and in 2005/06, he was inspired to create the famous 'That's My Name' song.
He would go on to release popular songs Armour, Chase Da Sun and the catchy O-Zone Bounce, but despite his popularity, a large section of his fanbase couldn't put a face to the man they listened to on a daily basis.
"I've never really seen myself as a celebrity or anything," Smalley said.
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"There was never a face to MC Smally. In fact, there are still clips on YouTube that claim to be me when I was a kid, but they are false. There was plenty of haters and politics, too, but you get them with anything I suppose."
Image: JDZmedia
You can still find the majority of MC Smally's songs on YouTube, with his biggest hit, 'That's My Name', boasting an impressive 2.6 million views, and the fact that 838,000 people have listened to his latest single 'Spitfire' at the time of writing proves that plenty are still interested in his music career.
"I actually cringe at the songs now, but you can never forget your roots and it's a main reason why I'm still producing music to this day," Smalley told LADbible.
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George, who has reinvented himself as 'Smallz', will be back on the scene after a long spell on the sidelines and the 23-year-old is ready to prove that he can make 'real music'.
"I want to prove that I can make real music. 2018 has got a lot in store," he said.
"I've got my first official mixtape coming soon which will eventually be released on all platforms, but first I've got a single called 'Clues' coming out on 12 January to start the year with a bang."
MC SMALLY IS BACK!
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Entertainment, Music