Ackquille Jean Pollard (born August 4, 1994), known professionally as Bobby Shmurda, is an American rapper. Along with Rowdy Rebel, Shmurda is considered a pioneer of Brooklyn drill music. He rose to international fame in 2014 when his song "Hot Nigga" peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100. The success of the single led to Shmurda signing a deal with Epic Records. His debut EP, Shmurda She Wrote, was released in November 2014. In December 2014, New York City Police arrested Shmurda and charged him, along with several other members of GS9, with conspiracy to murder, weapons possession, and reckless endangerment. In 2016, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to seven years in prison, which was reduced to five years after receiving credit for the two years he already served awaiting trial. After over six years in prison, Shmurda was released from Clinton Correctional Facility in February 2021. His release was widely celebrated across the hip-hop community. Early life Ackquille Pollard was born in Miami, Florida. His mother is African-American and his father is Jamaican. His mother moved to East Flatbush from Florida after his father's incarceration. Pollard had run-ins with the law while living in Brooklyn, including fifteen months spent in detention for probation violation and being arrested on gun charges that were later dropped. According to his 2014 indictment, Pollard was the ringleader of a criminal enterprise called "GS9" that regularly entered into disputes with criminal gangs, was responsible for murders and non-fatal shootings, and engaged in drug trafficking along Kings Highway to East Flatbush. Career The first song that he remixed was Crime Mob's "Knuck If You Buck"; however, he did not receive any attention until 2014, with the release of his song "Hot Nigga". The song uses the instrumental from Lloyd Banks' 2012 song "Jackpot". The song and its accompanying music video went viral shortly after being uploaded to YouTube in the spring of 2014. Shmurda's signature "Shmoney dance", which he performs in the video, soon became an internet meme and was featured in numerous popular Vines from the latter half of 2014; it was also replicated by Beyoncé and Jay-Z during their On the Run Tour and by Canadian rapper Drake while hosting the 2014 ESPY Awards, among other celebrities. Freestyles over the instrumental were made by a number of rappers after its release, including Juicy J, French Montana, Lil' Kim, Gunplay, and