Michael Lawrence Tyler (born September 22, 1970), better known by his stage name Mystikal, is an American rapper and actor from New Orleans, Louisiana. He is known for brash, obstreperous vocal delivery characterized by a Southern rasp. He signed with local record label Big Boy Records to release his self-titled debut studio album (1994), which was re-released by Jive Records the following year as his major label debut, Mind of Mystikal (1995). He then parted ways with the former label in favor of its local competitor, Master P's No Limit Records; he released his second and third albums, Unpredictable (1997) and Ghetto Fabulous (1998) for the label as a solo act, and one—Goodfellas (1999)—as a member of its flagship group, 504 Boyz. Following his departure from No Limit, his 2000 singles, "Shake Ya Ass" (featuring Pharrell Williams) and "Danger (Been So Long)" (featuring Nivea) peaked at numbers 13 and 14 on the Billboard Hot 100, respectively. Both preceded the release of his fourth album, Let's Get Ready (2000), which debuted atop the Billboard 200.
