Lil Twist

In 2003, ten-year-old Texas native Christopher Moore, under the name Lil Twist, scored a Dallas-area pop-rap hit with “Texas Twist.” The performing name stuck, though a couple years passed before Moore’s career advanced farther, when he sought out Lil Wayne at a concert and impressed the multi-platinum rapper enough to become his protégé. Signed to Wayne’s Young Money label in early 2010, Moore debuted there with “The Leak,” featuring Wayne, which became his first single to reach Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The following year, XXL magazine featured Moore in their annual Freshman Class feature, and he issued a second charting single with another assist from Wayne, “Love Affair.” “Turn’t Up,” featuring Busta Rhymes, charted in 2012, but Moore’s debut album, Don’t Get It Twisted, never materialized. Throughout the next few years, Moore recorded with the likes of Mindless Behavior and Soulja Boy, appeared on the Young Money compilation Rise of an Empire, and continued to release mixtapes. ~ Andy Kellman