June 28, 2004 @ 2:38 pm

Interview: Young Rome - Young But Mature

by: Patrick Taliaferro

Young Rome has a dilemma. He's in the same boat Kelly Rowland of Destiny's Child found herself in about two years ago. Young Rome, formerly Romeo from kiddie group Immature, has traded those blonde braids for his hair’s na

Why should people leave their air-conditioned home to buy your album? Good Question, (he laughs) you want to have something to listen to while you're chilling out in the house. Food For Thought is a good album to throw on and listen and vibe to. I know Marques Houston and Omarion of B2K like to tell people they are brothers. Are you related to anyone in that camp? Nah, I am the only Jones in that camp. Since you and Marques are doing the solo thing, what happened to the other Immature member LDBÂ… Is he still alive? LDB is doing good, he is alive and healthy. He got a producing team together called Platinum Status. He's keeping that going while writing music and producing. Were you a bit leery about signing with TUG considering their problems with B2K? Nah, I been with TUG since I was eight. I know everybody has their problems, no situation is the same. I am happy, and I always been happy. Chris Stokes is like a second father to me. The TUG family shows me nothing but love. Your rapping style is very similar to singingÂ… How would you describe it? I think my style is different because I do a lot of melodies, instead of rhyming straight or just rocking to the beat. I throw a lil' more melody to it just to mix it up. Everybody can spit straight, but sometime you want to show a little versatility in regards to what you can do. What's in your CD deck right now? Still got The Black Album in there, Kanye West, I got the Usher album (I think everyone got that). And just a lot of mix tape stuff. I noticed that almost every track on your album has a guest star, were you afraid of being outshined? I feel as though I can hold my own, you have to be able to do that. A lot of times you have to make guest appearances on other people's albums, and if you can't hold it down for yourself you shouldn't be out there. You should have confidence in yourself. I feel that with this album that I did my best. Considering the issues Immature experienced growing up with kiddy stage name, do you think using 'Young' in your moniker was a smart move? 'Young', everybody calls themselves that. It's not like 'lil'. Young is something people can say in front of their names at any age. So at 45 are your going to call yourself 'Young' Rome? Your spirit will always be young. Young can be a good thing. Even though I am getting older I am spitting for the youth. I never forget about that. People represented for me when I was younger so I represent them, no matter how old I get. I hear they are planning a sequel to You Got Served, since your character was a traitor in the film, how would you fit in? I can't really talk about that. Sonny was a traitor like you said. I can't really give up how it works out in the second one, but it's definitely a good story line. Where do you see Young Rome in five years? Hopefully with another two albums under my belt, more movies, and still around holding it down. Tell me the first thing that come to mind when you hear these words: Ray J (Brandy's Brother) Good Dude Lindsey Lohan Pretty Young Lady Janet Jackson and Jermaine Dupri In Love L.A. Lakers My team for life Whitney and Bobby They gonna work it out To check out Young Rome's "After Party" video featuring Omarion click here.

Article tags: Interview, Young, Rome, Young, But, Mature 

del.icio.us digg Furl Reddit YahooMyWeb

Page printed from:
http://www.vibe.com/news/online_exclusives/2004/06/interview_young_rome_young_but_mature/

Return to previous page