It was only three years ago when the world would be introduced to the raspy voiced Atlanta swag of Shawty Lo on his infectious hit, “Dey Know” from the rapper’s major label debut Units in the City. Outside a few high profile guest verses along with some insanely popular mixtapes including the DJ Drama hosted Fright Night and Bowen Homes Carlos, Shawtykept a reasonably low profile.
That would be until news of a new label situation involving rapper/mega-mogul and G-Unit Records head, 50 Cent. Having felt as if he’s struck gold, Shawty sees the deal as a new chapter in his rise to super stardom.
“It feels great, I love my new home. In fact it feels like I’ve been there for years,” said Shawty Lo regarding his new deal with G-Unit.
The deal came about after he worked with G-Unit’s “Predicate Felon” Tony Yayo while being courted by several record labels fresh out of his deal with Asylum. G-Unit would be added to the list after a chance meeting with the label’s head-hancho.
“I was in New York and I had six or seven deals on the table and G-Unit got added to the list,” explained Shawty on the deal that was worth $10 million. “We had a meeting and it felt like we were around each other forever; we had similar life stories but most importantly, I loved everything we talked about during the meeting.”
While many artists become complacent and overly comfortable with signing a high profile deal, this is only the start according to Shawty.
“Even with this moment, I haven’t reached the moment I’ve wanted to reach yet,” Shawty said. “I want to be in the same shoes as the 50 Cents, The Jay-Zs or whatever; that’s the kind of level I want to be on so right now it feels like the beginning for me.”
That kind of mentality doesn’t come through osmosis either. In Shawty’s case, his rough upbringing in the violent and crack infested streets of Bankhead gave him a business frame of mind. Not just sitting on a deal, Shawty is hard at work on the follow-up to his debut in Still Got Units. So, is Shawty worried regarding his sophomore album? The confidence is pretty inspiring.
“I’m not worried because I know that I can make quality music with good beats,” Shawty said. “You saw what I could do in the game; I won Rookie of the Year along with Track of the Year at the BET Hip-Hop Awards, I had hits of my first album so there’s nothing I can’t do.”
Interesting indeed, seeing that Units in the City featured the very first rhymes he ever wrote, “Still Got Units” hopes to continue the legacy he started with D4L before his drug and assault conviction kept him in jail for a year while “Laffy Taffy”exploded on the charts.
In regards to D4L, the group is signed to Atlantic Records as a whole so reunion isn’t possible until the label situation is cleared up. According to Shawty, they’ll always be family. “We all speak a lot; in fact Stuntman is married to my sister, but if we can work things out it can happen,” explained Shawty.
The sky is the limit for Shawty who even has a book and documentary in the works, detailing a life that saw him rise from former drug dealer with an arrest history that would make other rappers blush.
“My mother was on drugs, my father was elsewhere, my grandmother died of cancer when I was seventeen,” Shawty said. “People said they wanted to hear my story so this is the best way outside of my music to do it.”
As Shawty embarks on the next chapter in his journey, his eyes are fixated on topping himself every day and it looks like he’ll undoubtedly pull it off by the way things are going.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future but I know that I’ll be 10 times better than what I am now,” saidShawty.
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