In 2003, Shawty Lo formed the hip hop group D4L, with fellow Atlanta-based rappers Fabo, Mook-B and Stoney. Shawty Lo subsequently launched his indie record label D4L Records. Shawty Lo self-funded the group in its early days. He explained that the group’s name stands for “Down for Life”. The group signed to the indie label Dee Money Entertainment, which released the group’s debut in conjunction with Asylum Records. Their debut album, titled Down for Life, was executive produced by Shawty Lo and eventually certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The album had spawned the hit singles “Betcha Can’t Do It Like Me” and “Laffy Taffy”. The latter of which attributed much to the group’s success, as it broke records as the most downloaded song in the history of music according to the 2007 Guinness Book of the World Records. It was also a multi-platinum ring tone and scored a prestigious ASCAP award. The group debuted with “Betcha Can’t Do It Like Me”, which Billboard claimed to have popularized snap music. In January 2006, D4L’s single “Laffy Taffy”, reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart. As was another Atlanta-based hip hop group Dem Franchize Boyz, D4L was part of the snap music trend in 2006, which continued when Mississippi-based rapper Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em, came out with the No. 1 hit song “Crank That (Soulja Boy)”, in 2007.

On December 4, 2007, Shawty Lo released “Dey Know”,his solo commercial debut single.[5] The single charted in the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. On February 26, 2008, his solo debut album Units in the City, was released. The album peaked at #14 on the Billboard 200 and at #2 on the Top Rap Albums chart, selling over 160,000 copies to date. The album spawned two other singles, “Dunn Dunn” and the remix to “Foolish”. The album features guest appearances from Shawty Lo’s D4L cohorts and Gucci Mane, among others. Shawty Lo also released a music video for the album cut, “Got Em 4 da LO”. The songs “Dey Know” and “Foolish”, were both officially remixed, featuring new verses from several high-profile artists. These include Ludacris, Young Jeezy, Plies, Lil’ Wayne, DJ Khaled, Birdman, Rick Ross and Jim Jones. The “Foolish” music video also included cameo appearances from Pitbull, Jadakiss and Ace Hood. In late 2008 Shawty Lo started working on a new album entitled Carlos; artists that were to be featured on the album included Rick Ross, T-Pain, Lil’ Kim, Bun B, Nate Butler, Lyfe Jennings, Mýa, T.I., Lil Wayne, and Gucci Mane. On December 8, 2008 Shawty Lo released a song from the album entitled “Supplier”; it featured appearances from Trey Songz and Lil Wayne.

On March 9, 2009, Shawty Lo released a song from the album entitled “Roll the Dice”; the song is known for marking the end of the beef between him and fellow Atlanta, Georgia, rapper T.I. On March 23, 2009, Shawty Lo announced that he had changed his second album title from Carlos to I Am Carlos and its release date would be June 3, 2009. On April 27, 2010 Shawty Lo would release the first single from the album entitled “Atlanta, GA”, which featured appearances Gucci Mane, Ludacris & The-Dream. On June 10, 2011, during an interview it was confirmed by both Shawty Lo and Allhiphop.com that he had signed a new label deal with G-Unit Records after it was reported they were in talks. Shawty Lo said, “My new situation with G-Unit was just solidified and I got off the phone with 50 yesterday, I just signed a really large deal, as well as, It’s like a new beginning and all I needed was someone behind me. 50 Cent is a marketing genius & I got my new thing D4L & G-Unit & we going to be working the south and the rest of the world if need be”. It was later clarified by Shawty Lo that he had not signed as an artist but instead he had signed his label D4L Records to G-Unit South a subsidiary record label of G-Unit Records. On July 27, 2011 Shawty Lo would announce that he has change his second album title from I Am Carlos to Still Got Units. On June 10, 2014 it was announced that Shawty Lo was working & prepping the release of his new mixtape entitled King Of Bankhead. On February 3, 2015 Shawty Lo would release King of Bankhead.

On September 21, 2016, Shawty Lo was killed in a single-car accident in Fulton County, Georgia. The crash happened around 2:20 AM when Shawty Lo’s car went over a guardrail, hit two trees, and caught on fire; he was ejected from the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene. Two female passengers, also in the vehicle, experienced non-life threatening injuries.