July 05, 2006 @ 12:36 pm

Lil' Scrappy: Get On His Level

by: John Kennedy

Lil’ Scrappy couldn’t ask to be in a better situation.

The Atlanta-born MC is bordering superstar status without a solo LP in stores and he is backed by one of hip hop’s premier hitmakers in Lil’ Jon. Factor in his G-Unit affiliation and its understandable why the BME/WB signee feels his upcoming album, Bred 2 Die, Born 2 Live, is a masterpiece in the making.

“We family,” Lil’ Scrappy says of his relationship with G-Unit. “You know 50 [Cent], he don’t do the regular label thing like, ‘OK, you on my label. I’ll see you in the studio and on the show and that’s it.’ He really f**ks with you and he makes everybody else f**k with each other.”

right The comradery can already be witnessed over the bubbly synths of Scrappy’s Young Buck-assisted street single, “Money in the Bank,” while G-Unit first lady Olivia also appears on the album, which is slated for a late summer release. Other guests on Bred 2 Die, Born 2 Live include Beanie Sigel, Diamond of Crime Mob, Jazze Pha and, of course, executive producers Lil’ Jon and 50 Cent.

“50 and Jon is like Jay-Z and R. Kelly – it’s the best of both worlds,” Lil’ Scrappy says. “When you with 50 you on some of that real gangsta s**t, pouring your heart on a track. But when you with Jon it’s like you on some real crunk club s**t. You make the crowd move like crazy.”

The subplot of Scrappy’s debut album fits firmly into mentor Lil’ Jon’s “Crunk Ain't Dead” campaign for his forthcoming Crunk Rock record. With the South snapping to the sounds of D4L and Dem Franchize Boyz, Lil’ Scrappy’s fans may expect the self-proclaimed “Prince of Crunk” to help restore crunk music to prominence. But Lil’ Scrappy would rather not be pigeonholed into a single sound. “I'm not an Atlanta rapper, I'm a rapper out of Atlanta,” Scrappy explains. “The snap movement – that’s what they do. That’s the Atlanta thing right now. … Atlanta always been crunk. Just like the snap music, Atlanta always has dances that come and go. That’s just how we do things.”

“But me, I’m just gon’ stay me,” he continues in his southern drawl. “I'm gon’ do whatever the hell I feel like doing. If I want to do a snap song, I’ll do it. If I want to do a crunk song, I’ll do it. Hell, if I feel like crying on a song, I'll do that too.”

You most likely won’t see Lil’ Scrappy sobbing any time soon though – unless it’s on the silver screen. While the world caught a peek of Scrappy’s acting talents in his video for “No Problems” – a four-minute adaptation of the Denzel Washington-featured flick, Training Day – the rapper will likely see more time in front of the camera in the near future. Scrappy is in Los Angeles taking movie scripts and preparing to shoot music videos for the aforementioned “Money in the Bank” and his lead single, “Gangsta Gangsta,” at the very moment.

In addition, Lil’ Scrappy is going through designs for his G’s Wear clothing line (also called God’s Little Thug Clothing), as well as working on albums by Crime Mob and his G’s Up crew.

With so much on his plate, it’s easy to see Scrappy’s maturity since first gracing the latter half of 2004’s compilation CD, The King of Crunk & BME Recordings Present Trillville & Lil Scrappy. Ask Scrappy and he would agree that his growth will traverse into his music. “I used to just be on real stuff, just pouring out my heart,” Lil’ Scrappy recalls. “And then I met up with Jon. Jon was like, ‘Look, the crunk is moving out. Hop on that and then when you come around with your first album, you can let everybody know who you really are.’ That’s what I’m doing now.”

Scrappy says his versatility will show on Bred 2 Die, Born 2 Live, with songs ranging from hustler tales to romantic rhythms. “It’s actually gon’ be a classic album,” he says confidently. “I’m the dopeman this year. I got everything you need, from the powder to the weed.”

Careful, with one listen to Scrappy’s product you might get hooked.