It's been well-documented, but it's worth another mention: 2 Chainz's ascent over the last year-plus has been unlike anything hip-hop has seen for someone at his age (35), with his years in the game (more than a decade). The formula, it seems, was simple in conception, if difficult in execution: mix timing (for the majority of 2011, T.I. was locked up and Young Jeezy was searching tirelessly for a hit and release date), hard work (a couple memorable mixtapes and more features than anyone can count), and hot records ("Spend It," "Riot," "Mercy" and "No Lie" to name a few), ...