Max B

Charly Wingate (born May 21, 1978), better known by his stage name Max B (short for Max Biggaveli), is an American rapper and singer.

He is best known for his solo Public Domain and Million Dollar Baby series of mixtapes, and introducing the term "wavy" as a slang in popular lexicon.

Max B was born Charly Wingate on May 21, 1978 and raised in the Abraham Lincoln housing projects in Harlem, New York City.

His mother, Sharon Wingate, the eldest of eight siblings, had battled with substance abuse for most of her life and eventually served a year and a half in prison for her crack addiction.

Charly was largely raised by his grandparents.

According to his mother, his grandmother taught Charly her strong religious values from a young age.

As a child, he was friends with future rapper and Dipset founder Cam'ron.

He grew up with music in the household, and had sung in the Boys Choir of Harlem.

Despite his grandmother's best efforts, Charly was heavily influenced by the streets, and at the age of 18, began serving a sentence for robbery in 1997.

Wingate went on to serve 8 years in prison, before being released in 2005.

Following his release, he immediately began pursuing a career in music, choosing the stage name Max B.

The "B" being shorthand for Biggaveli, a portmanteau referencing The Notorious B.I.G. ("Biggie Smalls"), Jay Z ("Jigga") and Tupac Shakur ("Makaveli").

According to Wingate, his love for rap music came from his deceased brother, Eric, who left him collections of cassettes while he went in and out of town.

In 2005, Max B appeared as a feature on various records, including "G's Up" and lead single "Baby Girl" off of Jones' sophomore album Harlem: Diary of a Summer released in August.

He made his mixtape debut in 2006, and signed a recording deal with fellow Harlem-based rapper Jim Jones' label/group ByrdGang.

He appeared as a feature on "You Gotta Love It" off of Cam'ron's Killa Season album released in May 2006, and released his debut mixtape Million Dollar Baby the same month.

Max B collaborated on the ByrdGang mixtape M.O.B. (Members of ByrdGang) released on July 7, and made several feature appearances on Jones' mixtape The 7 Day Theory released on September 27.

In 2006, Max B became embroiled in legal trouble when he was arrested on September 29 in connection to a botched robbery turned homicide that occurred in Fort Lee, New Jersey, allegedly involving his "on-again off-again girlfriend" Gina Conway and step-brother Kevin Leerdem.

While away, Max B had already recorded several feature appearances on Jim Jones' third album Hustler's P.O.M.E. which was released in November.

In addition to writing for Jones on other tracks, most notably its lead single and Jones' highest-charting single to date "We Fly High" which was released on October 21.

Max B's second solo mixtape Public Domain: Million Dollar Baby Radio was released on November 2 while the rapper remained behind bars.

Notable tracks off the record include "Deez My Streets" and "Dom Perignon" among others.

Followed by his third mixtape Public Domain 2: Rise of the Silver Surfer released in December of that year.

Notable tracks off the record include "Blow Me A Dub" and "De La Soul" among others.

Both mixtapes were hosted by Connecticut-based veteran DJ Big Mike, whom Max would develop an extensive relationship with throughout his career.

After having spent 10 months imprisoned, Max B was released on July 11, 2007, on a $2 million bail.

Short of funds, portion of Max's bond was raised by selling his publishing over to his label owned by Jim Jones.

It would eventually go on to become one of many grievances and disputes Max would share with his former labelmate and head Jim Jones.

Max B's fourth mixtape Public Domain: The Prequel was released later in the month following his release from prison.

He appeared as a feature on Styles P's "Holiday" off of his third album released on December 4.

Max B collaborated on the MOB2 (Members of ByrdGang 2) mixtape released on October 20, and had written for Jones' digital album which came out on February 19 the following year.

Exactly one month prior to Max's release, on June 11, his friend Stack Bundles had been killed in his neighborhood of Far Rockaway, Queens.

Following a streak of financial and ethical grievances, Max B parted ways with Jones in 2008.

The two became embroiled in a bitter feud which pitted Jones and his associates on one side, and Max B and his affiliates on the other.

Max B is closely associated with producer Dame Grease, and fellow rapper French Montana where the two collaborated on the Coke Wave mixtape series.

By 2008, Max B had left ByrdGang and publicly distanced himself from the "Dipset" movement.

In mid 2009, he was sentenced to 75 years in prison on conspiracy charges pertaining to armed robbery, kidnapping, aggravated assault and felony murder.

In a 2009 interview before his trial, Max expressed his loss stating, "That was fucked up because the nigga Stacks was close to me, I ain't even gonna front. I was in jail at the time, so a nigga was sitting. A nigga learned to cope with that thing pretty well though, R.I.P. to Stacks. Shout out to my nigga, he played me all the joints he had. Man, that was my nigga."

While in prison, he secured a deal with Amalgam Digital to publish his debut album Vigilante Season which was released in 2011.

On September 16, 2016, it was announced that Max B took a 20-year plea bargain for aggravated manslaughter.