Many gambling stories end in nightmares, but rolling the dice may have saved 42 Dugg's life. After starting to rap while behind bars in 2015, Dugg began to take his rhyming career more seriously upon regaining his freedom in 2017. And he quickly caught the ear of rising star Lil Baby.

The pair would eventually connect a year later, when Dugg flew to Atlanta to meet Lil Baby and the rest of his team. The 4PF boss shares a love for gambling with the Detroit native, which served as the core of their budding friendship. “I ain’t never seen no other young n---a that gambled and liked gambling as much as I did," Baby tells Billboard of his respect for Dugg's competitive fire when playing Cee-lo (Three Dice Game).

Just a few months later, Yo Gotti got wind of Dugg's movement through Baby and wanted to become involved with his ascension. Fast forward to last March, and Gotti eventuallyknights Dugg with a CMG chain in his hometown of Detroit on Meek Mill's Motivation Tour, signifying his allegiance to the Collective Music Group through a joint venture with Lil Baby's 4PF label.

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42 Dugg

“I’m really proud of Dugg’s growth and development over the years," Yo Gotti adds of mentoring Dugg."His hard work is starting to pay off and he’s only gonna get better as an artist. Baby and I know Dugg has the potential to be a superstar and we’re both gonna do everything we can to keep putting him in the best positions to succeed.”

The blessings continue to pour in for Dugg, who added 42 in front of his childhood nickname after discovering it to be Douglas Adams' answer to "life, the universe, and everything." In the first quarter of 2020 alone, the 25-year-old has already notched a heavenly assist on Lil Baby's sophomore album, My Turn, and followed up to release his Young & Turnt, Vol. 2 project to close out March, which earned him a Tyler, The Creator co-sign and debuts at No. 70 on the Billboard 200.