Can you introduce
yourself?
Yeah, yeah, y’all know what it is. It’s ya main boy Lil Ru, the world famous.
Listen, “Don’t I Look Good”, know what I’m sayin, man. South Carolina representa
man. A bullet in this game, ya heard me. You better respect it. It’s goin down.
Believe that.
And where are you
from?
Columbia, South Carolina, man. Represent it to the death. Believe that, brother.
I had heard your song
“We Will Destroy” way back when, but hadn’t heard anything from you until
recently..
(laughin) Aw shit you know that history, man. That’s what I’m talking bout.
Give me some
background on how long you been rappin, and some history of yourself as an
artist.
Aw man we been grindin doin this thing since I was like 15, seriously. I been
rappin since I was 8 years old. So from 15-22 I been takin this shit real
seriously. So, where I’m at right now, man, just some hard grindin: mix CD to
mix CD, like you said I had the “We Will Destroy”. That was like the start of me
when I was 15. So shit, from 15 to, what, 17 I was just doin this shit
independent by myself til I hooked up with Angie Stone. She got me a deal with
Elektra. From that, they had me runnin, know what I mean.. a bad situation
happened with that. I was back in the streets doin my independent grind again.
Then we came up with the “Don’t I Look Good”. My man Kevin Williams, he came
down. He heard the song. He liked it. Then he hooked my own situation up for me
with Capitol, and now you got Lil Ru with this “Don’t I Look Good” shit. We out
here, man.
Okay, so the “Don’t I
Look Good” single brought about your new deal?
Yeah yeah yeah. Yeah, yeah. Definitely did that.
So what’s the word on an album droppin, and stuff like that?
Yeah man we lookin to drop the album in ’08. Man, right now we just promotin the
hell out this single, “Don’t I Look Good”. We got the second single comin out,
called “I’m Spinnin It”, ya know what I mean? Look for that: video and all that
be tradin in a minute. But right now, man, we for real, “Don’t I Look Good”.
It’s gon’ be crazy, man. This just the start. And we out here, man.
So in terms of “We
Will Destroy”, that dropped around 2001 or so, right?
Yeah, 2001/2002. Right around that time right there, man.
And have you ever had
an official album up to this point?
No I never did a solo album myself that I put it in stores. I did a couple
compilations, a mix CD here and there, but I never had a solo one by myself.
So tell me how that
feels to finally get your own solo shine.
You know I was like damn. It’s crazy to see just me on that joint. It do feel a
little different to be doin it by yourself, man, know what I mean? I feel like
I’m in a good position, and I gotta git it on my back. So I’m just tryin to take
it over, man. I’m just tryin to take the flag off through the championship
round. Believe that there.
Has it been hard
waitin this long gettin your own album out?
Aw man. It’s been ridiculous long. Everybody say that. It’s crazy, man. I think
everything’s about timin, man. Whatever God got planned for you, then that’s how
it’s gonna go down man. I just feel like I’m better than I was back then,
though. So I guess right now’s the perfect timin for it.
And tell me what it
was like comin out at 15 with a hit single. That’s pretty young..
I come from nothing. No parents, none of that, so, yamean? For me to do that at
15, I’m just on my grind crazy, man. Like, it was real crazy. Like, just me by
myself. It ain’t never been.. I didn’t really know what I was doin, far as
recordin or nothin, but that right there got me to where I am right now, you
feel me? So, we out here, man.
And what were some of
your influences that got you rappin?
Aw man, big shout out to that whole early Cash Money, No Limit, all of that. I’m
influenced right now, just by the rap game, period. Anybody doin they thing cuz
the rap game’s at a different point right now. So I’m just respectin the whole
rap game, period, man.
On that note, a lotta
people wanna talk down on the state of hip hop today. But you personally are
feelin it..
Yeah, most definitely, man. I feel money, you feel me? So anything that makes
money, I can’t hate on it, dog. Like you can say what you want. You might not
agree with it, but if money in it, it gon’ work, man, ya know what I mean.
That’s what pay bills. So I deal with money most definitely.
South Carolina, up to
this point, hasn’t had any national rappers come out. So you’d be the first.
Right. I’m tryin to set the mark, man. Tryin to be one of the first that really
get us the opportunity to get some real exposure for my city, man. Cuz we do got
a lotta stuff goin on down there that’s crazy to me, man. I feel like everybody
got a right to change somethin: Columbia to Charleston, to wherever in South
Carolina. I feel they do got a chance. So I’m just tryin to kick the doors open
for everybody.
Do you feel like
you’ve had a harder time gettin your foot in the door because you’re from a
place that’s kinda off the hip hop map in terms of the industry?
Oh yeah, most definitely I feel like South Carolina.. like you say that, they
like ‘oh yeah, that’s bubblegum rapper: he ain’t from Atlanta’, none of that. So
I feel definitely South Carolina, you know South Carolina they lookin at a
little sideways, but we just in the pool with everybody.. man. For real.
Tell me a little bit
about what the music scene’s like in Columbia, or South Carolina in general.
To me, man, the hood: if you’s out there, they gonna support you to whatever you
do, whatever you put out. Cuz that’s what I been doin since I was 15. See that’s
the only way I’m mainly still alive, cuz they gon support you. I feel like if
you doin your thing right and you got respect, they gon respect you. But the
music scene down there real strong with me, cuz like I’m the only one down there
that has like a real strong buzz. But since I’ve had this deal, though, it has
been gettin stronger though, so I’m lookin forward to that.
Anybody else down
there we should look out for?
Oh yeah, man. Look out for my homeboy CollardGreen; my homeboy Mr. Flip, man;
the whole Head Hunter Records out there; my man 9 Million Dollar Productions. He
did the lead single, “Don’t I Look Good”, and he did “I’m Spinnin It”, so we gon
be here for a minute. We got a whole bunch in the waitin.
You got a website
people can hit you up at?
Yeah yeah. You can hit up my myspace page, dog: /lilruhoodhard. Or you can check
out www.lilru.net. You can go
fuck with me there. And we got the amazon.com jumpin off with the preorder of
the CD. Gotta get that promotion out right quick, (laughs), ya dig? So it’s goin
down, man.
Have you been tourin
across the South?
Yeah right now.. shit I just woke up like two minutes ago. I’m in Tallahassee,
finna do the Prairie View homecomin. We finna knock that out and we down here
for this TJ’s DJ’s though too. So good look, man. We out here workin, now.
So you just on your
grind..
Yeah yeah. Hell yeah.
In terms of the
mixtapes, you got some out now, some droppin..?
Yeah man. I just finished one last week. We pressin it up as we speak: Microwave
Music. It’s crazy, man. It’s called Microwave Music. Strictly for the hood, man.
It’s got music on there for everybody, but it’s definitely a 100% hood mix CD,
man. It’s goin down, just to expose my style more, so everybody know that I
ain’t just no one-dimensional rapper. Cuz you heard “Don’t I Look Good”, you
might think, ‘oh he’s a looks good type kinda dude’, but that ain’t even 5% of
my style, know what I mean? That’s just something I do to get money with, you
feel me? We can go anywhere they wanna go. You wanna do a rock song, sing,
whatever it might be. I’ma do what it takes to feed my family, man. That’s how
it is, man. The mix CD gon display all of that.
Aight and you spoke on
it a minute, but give me a word on how you describe your style.
Me, myself, man, I’m like a gumbo pot. Man, I got 101 styles and I can’t be
defined as nothing, dog. I’m just here, man. I’m just here to be a problem for
anybody that’s doin music at the same time as me. They ain’t gon like it, they
ain’t gon appreciate what I’m bout to do to the game cuz I’m finna kill it. Yeah
I’m telling you cuz if you in the way, you just gon be in trouble. It’s gon be a
problem, man. I’m tryin to be here for a long, long time. Believe that, dog.
This is something the world ain’t never seen. I can promise you that now.
Is there anything else
you wanna add?
Yeah man, I been on your website and I been reading comments on that joint. Hey,
that keep me motivated when I go through that, check y’all out, man; be reading
the different ups and downs about the song and what not. So I just wanna say ups
and downs don’t matter. Whoever hatin, whoever lovin we gon be here. South
Carolina here for respect and recogniton. We gon get that. And that’s what it
is. My city gon be on shortly, man.
Aight Ru, appreciate
the time.
Aight all the time. I appreciate y’all.
Real Nigga 101 written by O.D. The G,
January 01, 2008
Look I'm Bout That Paper. I Smell like It, I Spend It, I Throw It. I Know What Real Money Look Like..Aye If You Know What It Is You'd Put Ya Money On Lil' Ru. DA TRUTH is Still Alive. HOLLA!!
Oh I Forgot written by O.D. The G,
January 01, 2008
Westhell, Chucktown, Metro, All South An North Cack Niggaz It's Time To Get Them Dead White Guys. I'm Out .. GET OFF YO ASS CUZ!!
One More Thing written by O.D. The G,
January 01, 2008
Dude, this guy has to be the stupidest mother fucker out there, look at the way he talks, he sounds like he dont even know how to put words in a sentence let alone rap. Im white, and im more thug then this guy is. He dont know how it is to hustle gettin money. Shit half the mother fuckers reading this right now are fake fucks.
wuz gud dis ya gurl cumim from out dat winnsboro south carolina and yall niggaz been ignorin us and hatin on our flow but my nigga lil ru finna put us on da map! do ya thang boi and stay on yo grind SC 2 da fullest, duces
FIRST OFF I WANT TO SAY YOU DOING YO THING I MEAN U REPPIN DAT 803 2 DA FULLEST...AN THATS WHAT IM TALKING BOUT...WE FINALLY GOT SOMEBODY FROM SOUTH CAROLINA...WE ON DA MAP NOW...AND U REAL WITH YO SHIT...SERIOUSLY...AND YOU LOOKED GOOD ON THE FAIR GOUND YESTERDAY...SO U NO I HAD 2 TAKE A PICTURE WIT U...AND DNT MIND DA STUPID HATIN PRESS ASS HOE NAME LARY...CUZ HE A HATA 4REAL
