Many people know Chopper Young City for how active he is in the music and entertainment industries. His name keeps growing. He became famous through his unique style and interesting acts. He was born and raised with a love for art. Chopper Young City net worth is thought to be around $300,000 to $500,000 as of 2025. This comes from selling songs, performing live, getting endorsements, and starting different businesses. Even though he is becoming more famous, he keeps his work and personal life grounded. Chopper Young City is focused on growing his impact, so he balances his artistic goals with business goals. This makes him a bright and multifaceted figure in the industry right now.
Social Profiles
Quick Bio
| Attribute | Details |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Kevin Lemar Barnes |
| Stage Name(s) | Chopper, Young City |
| Birthdate | January 12, 1987 |
| Birthplace | New Orleans, Louisiana, USA |
| Height | 6′ 7″ (2.01 m) |
| Age (2025) | 38 years old |
| Profession | Rapper, Reality TV Star |
| Notable Work | Member of Da Band, MTV’s Making the Band |
| Music Career Start | Featured in Making the Band 2 (early 2000s) |
| First Album | The Fast Life (2007) |
| Social Media | Over 130,000 Instagram followers |
| Family | Has a daughter named Xiomara |
| Legal Issues | Arrested in 2022 on sex trafficking charges |
| Known Aliases | Rodney Hill (used to avoid prosecution) |
Chopper Young City Net Worth in 2025
It is thought that Chopper Young City’s net worth in 2025 will be between $300,000 and $500,000. His main source of income comes from music, such as his time on MTV’s reality show Making the Band with the hip-hop group Da Band, as well as from solo music releases and appearances. Even though he had early success and was signed to the Bad Boy South label, his career has been slowed down by legal issues, such as being arrested on sex trafficking charges. These problems could have an effect on his finances in the future. His net worth is mostly made up of money he makes from singing, reality TV, and business, with some money coming from his legal problems.
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Business Ventures and Income Sources
Music Career
Chopper Young City makes most of his money from his music business. His fame grew when he was in Da Band and was on MTV’s reality show Making the Band. He has made money from record sales, performances, royalties, and streaming of his solo and group work.
Reality TV and Media Appearances
Reality TV shows, especially “Making the Band,” helped him become better known and earn money through endorsement deals and contracts tied to media appearances.
Entrepreneurial Ventures
As with many rappers, Chopper Young City’s specific business activities are not widely known. However, he can make money through brand endorsements, merchandise sales, and using social media to bring in more money. As of 2025, there is no public record of any of the big side businesses he owns.
Legal and Financial Challenges
Chopper has had legal problems, including being arrested on sex trafficking charges, which have probably made it harder for him to run his business and make sure he has steady income.
Real State Ownership and Properties
It is said that Chopper Young City (Kevin Barnes) owns more than one piece of property. A police report from a sting operation says he said he owned six other homes across the United States in addition to the one in Southern Highlands. These properties belong to him and were brought up in connection with his court problems. Beyond this statement, there is no available information about the locations, values, or types of these properties. He owns more than one house, which suggests that he has put some of his money into real estate. This is a popular way for artists and entertainers to diversify their assets and income.
Personal Life
Kevin Barnes was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, on January 12, 1987. He is mostly known as a rapper and as a part of Da Band on MTV’s reality show Making the Band. At 6 feet 7 inches, Chopper is a very tall person. He has shown bits of his family life on social media, like pictures of himself and his daughter Xiomara. Even though he is well-known, he keeps a lot of his private life secret.
Barnes has had a lot of legal problems. In 2022, he was arrested on charges of sex trafficking. Police reports say that he used his social media following to find women to do sex work, which has been a big part of his recent public image.
In the beginning of his career, after Da Band broke up, Chopper was signed to Bad Boy Records as a solo act. He has put out a lot of mixtapes and albums, and his music business is a big part of who he is.
Career Journey
Kevin Barnes was born Chopper Young City in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1987. He first became famous in the early 2000s as a rapper and part of the hip-hop group Da Band. Making the Band, an MTV reality show created by Sean “Diddy” Combs, brought him fame across the country. The show’s goal was to find skilled people to put together a hip-hop group, and Chopper’s fast-paced New Orleans rap style made him stand out right away.
Da Band’s first record, “Too Hot for TV,” came out in 2003 and was certified gold. However, Diddy broke up the group in 2004 and only kept two members. He later signed Chopper as the first solo act to the Bad Boy South label. Even though he had the ability, Chopper did not put out an album with Bad Boy.
Then Chopper started his own record company called M.O.E. (Money Over Everything), and he kept putting out songs under the name Chopper Young City. Early in his career, he showed potential and got a lot of attention, but he had trouble keeping up the momentum.
In the past few years, legal and personal problems have taken a back seat to his work. In 2022, he was arrested on sex trafficking charges, which got a lot of attention. His public image and job prospects have been hurt by these problems.
Struggles with Mental Health, Addiction & Homelessness
Mental Health Struggles
Kevin Barnes, who plays Chopper Young City, has said in public that he has mental health problems. He says that these problems are partly caused by the stress and bad treatment he got on the reality TV show Making the Band, especially when Sean “Diddy” Combs was in charge. Over the years, the intense exposure and hard experiences in the music business have led to mental problems and instability.
Addiction and Legal Troubles
During his work and personal life, Chopper has had a lot of legal problems. He has been arrested for assault, robbery, weapons charges, and most recently, sex trafficking claims. These problems have caused big setbacks in his personal and professional life, making problems with addiction and a chaotic lifestyle worse, which he has talked about in a number of interviews and public comments.
Homelessness and Life Challenges
Reports and public conversations say that Chopper has had very hard times in the past, including times when he was homeless and unstable. He went from being famous all over the country to having problems with the law and his own demons. This shows the problems he had when he wasn’t in the spotlight, which have affected his job and how people see him.
Current Status
As of 2025, Chopper Young City (Kevin Barnes) is having a hard time with the law. He was nabbed in Maryland on a sex trafficking warrant out of Las Vegas. He is accused of using his social media following to find women to do sex work. After being caught in April 2022, he was taken to jail but later freed on his own recognizance. The case is still going on, and his next court date has not yet been set.
Chopper has talked about other famous people in the music business, like Diddy, being in trouble with the law, which shows that he thinks some of the accusations are part of bigger problems with the system.
Public Perception & Media Coverage
Initial Public Perception
At first, Chopper Young City, who goes by the names Young City or Kevin Barnes, was seen as a potential Southern rap artist coming out of MTV’s Making the Band 2. Diddy wanted him to become a big star from New Orleans like Lil Wayne. His charm, honesty, and fast-paced New Orleans rap style made him famous across the country and won him a loyal fan base. Early news stories about him showed how talented he was and how special his energy was in the hip-hop scene.
Media Focus on Downfall
But how people and the media saw it changed over time. Instead of talking about how good he was as a musician, the news kept focusing on his legal problems, label disagreements, and personal problems. Many people wrote about how his reality TV fame made him seem like a volatile personality instead of a serious artist, and how his work had a lot of unrealized potential. This idea came about because of the fact that his tries at a solo career under Bad Boy South never really took off.
Controversy and Legal Issues
Chopper’s image was already bad because he had been arrested and was facing legal problems, such as assault and sex trafficking charges. These scandals got a lot of attention from the media, which painted him as someone who was having a hard time at work and in his personal life. This caused less support from the business and doubt from both fans and people who worked with them.
Social Media Presence and Industry Commentary
In recent years, Chopper has become known for being open and honest on social media, where he criticizes the business and talks about personal things. Different people have had different responses to this. Some like how honest he is, while others see it as erratic behavior that makes his legacy more difficult to understand.
Current Public Image
At this point, Chopper is often seen as a warning tale about what can go wrong when you get famous too quickly without getting the right help. The media painted a picture of a bright artist whose career was slowed down by bad choices, outside pressures, and legal issues. He is still well-known in hip-hop culture, but mostly for telling stories about what could have been instead of his current success.
FAQs
Who is the rapper Chopper Young City?
R&B singer Rodney Hill, aka Chopper Young City, is from New Orleans and is best known for his roles on MTV shows Making the Band and Da Band.
How old is rapper Chopper City?
People don’t know his exact birthday, but he is in his early to mid-40s.
What is BG’s net worth?
BG is a rapper from New Orleans who has had a successful career and is thought to be worth in the low millions. This shows how important he is to Southern hip-hop.
Who is the highest-paid rapper?
Some singers, like Jay-Z and Drake, make hundreds of millions of dollars a year.
What happened to Chopper after Making the Band?
After the show, Chopper had legal problems, problems with his record label, and career problems that slowed his rise, even though he had early potential.
Conclusion
Chopper Young City’s story is one of raw ability, early fame from reality TV, and the rough realities of making it in the music business. Even though his career has had setbacks, his impact as a Southern rapper and member of Da Band is still felt today. His financial success shows a mix of accomplishments and setbacks, which shows how hard it is for many artists to go from reality TV fame to long-lasting music careers.
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