Craig Longmiles, born on October 27, 1973, in Fort Worth, Texas, is more widely recognized by his stage name, Six-Two. He is a multifaceted artist known for his rapping, singing, and songwriting abilities. Six-Two prefers to view himself not merely as a rapper but as a conversationalist and storyteller.
His musical journey began in his teenage years when he teamed up with his friend El Dogg to form the group GenaCide. The duo gained recognition and radio airplay for their track “Tha Citi” from their album “Waste uva Cular.” Six-Two also achieved national radio exposure when DJ Greg Street included his song “Simple As That” on his “Six O’clock” mixtape.
While developing new material, Six-Two was introduced to the legendary DFW artist The D.O.C. by his friend and producer Erotic D. After witnessing Six-Two's raw talent, The D.O.C. invited him to Los Angeles, where he had the opportunity to collaborate with Dr. Dre on the iconic “2001” album. During this time, Six-Two wrote and was featured on two tracks: “XXplosive,” which included artists Hittman, Kurupt, and Nate Dogg, and “Bitch Niggaz,” featuring Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre. The album debuted at number two on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, selling 516,000 copies in its first week. “2001” produced three successful singles and has been certified sextuple platinum by the RIAA, with total sales reaching six million copies in the United States. Despite facing mixed reviews regarding its gangster-themed lyrics, the album received generally positive critiques. As of July 2013, it had sold 7,664,000 copies in the U.S.
Following the album's success, Six-Two joined the “Up in Smoke Tour,” which is recognized as the largest and most successful hip-hop tour in U.S. history to date.
Upon returning to the DFW area, Six-Two began working on his first solo album, which featured notable artists such as The D.O.C., Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, M.C. Ren, Nate Dogg, Ice Cube, and Devin The Dude. However, due to some misunderstandings with paperwork, the album was released under The D.O.C. as “Deuce.” In an interview with DUBCNN, The D.O.C. confirmed that the project was originally intended to be a Six-Two release.
After parting ways with The D.O.C. and Silverback Records, Six-Two was approached by another hip-hop icon, Timbaland, who invited him to Miami to collaborate as an independent artist and songwriter on the album “Shock Value.” During this time, Six-Two co-wrote the Pussycat Dolls' number one hit “Wait a Minute.” After a dispute over his rights to the song, he successfully fought to retain them, but most of the tracks he co-wrote or performed on for the “Shock Value” album were removed or had their vocals redone, except for “Release” featuring Justin Timberlake. Although Six-Two is credited in the album booklet, his name is misspelled as Craig Longmile instead of Craig Longmiles.
He achieved the distinction of being listed in the number one spot on the List of Number-One R&B Singles of 2000 (U.S.) with Erykah Badu's "Bag Lady."
In true Six-Two fashion, after returning to Texas, he collaborated with Big Mike from the Geto Boys and traveled to Houston to work on a new album titled “Southern Hydro.” They wrote and filmed the video for “Down Home,” which became one of the most viewed videos on YouTube in 2008. However, due to personal matters affecting both artists, the album remains unfinished but includes tracks featuring Pimp C, Bushwick Bill, Kory Blues, and Devin The Dude. They still plan to release it in the future.
Since then, Six-Two has released street albums including “Mac-a-roni and G’s,” “Affiliated,” and “Concrete Evidence.” He also produced a video for his single “Monsta,” featuring Yung Lott, Faddy Daddy, and The GS Boys, which premiered on MTV and MTV.com during All-Star Weekend 2012. After a brief hiatus, Six-Two returned with two street albums, “Legendary Vol. 1” and “Legendary Vol. 2,” followed by a new solo album titled “Still Affiliated,” released in October 2013.
Six-Two offers aspiring artists this piece of advice: “Get your paperwork right. Make sure you have a lawyer look it over. Don’t take anyone at face value. Protect yourself and get what’s yours.”
