What's Next for Remy Ma? Jail and Marrying Rapper Papoose Are Up, but What's Next on the Agenda?

On May 13, 2008, Remy Ma (birth name: Reminisce Smith) was sentenced to eight years in prison. That's a ton of bricks falling down on the 27-year-old, who's been busy working on her follow-up to her debut, 2006's There's Something About Remy: Based on a True Story.

It really is a shame.

First getting attention as a battle rapper in her native Bronx, Remy got her big chance after she appeared on Terror Squad's #1 hit, "Lean Back." She was the highlight of the track, drawing praise for her lyrics and delivery.

The stars seemed to be aligned for her to become a star in her own right. She got busy working on her debut album, which eventually saw the light of the day with lukewarm sales.

While the album fell off the charts quickly, only making a Hot 100 impression with its single, "Conceited," it allowed her to use big promotional dollars to give a wide audience a taste of herself.

And "Conceited," is pretty brilliant. Scott Storch uses a lighter mix of what he gave to "Lean Back," while Remy completely lets loose her confidence with attitude.

Unfortunately, the single couldn't bring the album back to charts, leaving Remy unhappy with the label's promotion and leading her into her more independent projects.

No longer on a major label, Remy at least seemed more comfortable and creative, even if that gives less avid rap fans like myself less exposure to her.

Then came the incident which will now sideline her career.

She still seemed unphased at first continuing her mixtape works, but then her eight year sentence, which isn't nearly as bad as the possible 15-25 she could have ended up facing, but still a staggering blow, which brought her to tears.

We won't see the self-proclaimed "Queen of NY" for another couple of years. She'll be a woman in her thirties when she comes out, face-to-face with an ever-changing music industry. And at the rate things are going, it's only becoming harder for an artist to break out in our world of iPods and illegal downloads.

Life as she knew it will come to an abrupt end.

A bit of good news that came out of the turmoil is that she plans to tie the knot with rapper Papoose while in jail.

But as an older woman, your opportunities and appeal slowly wrinkle away, so unless there's a successful appeal or something of that nature, the youthful, talented femcee is gone.

Essential Remy singles:

"Lean Back" - Terror Squad featuring Fat Joe & Remy Ma.

"Conceited" - Remy Ma

"Whuteva" - Remy Ma

"Feels So Good" - Remy Ma