Every few years an MC comes into the rap game and is called “The Next Big Thing.” Big L, Eminem, 50 Cent…and now Papoose.
Born in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, Papoose has been lighting up New York and the mixtape circuit with his fiery flow, complex lyrics, criminology tales, and intense charisma since heads first got wind of him via the his street track, "Alphabetical Slaughter," where he raps using all the letters of the alphabet.
In a now-legendary move, Papoose got his first big break from DJ Kay Slay by repeatedly bumrushing him at Hot 97 in New York after his Drama Hour radio show. As Slay exited the building, Pap shoved his demo in his face and asked him to take a chance on a new artist. Slay ignored him, but the determined MC persisted and eventually Slay snatched the demo and promised to listen (likely just to get the dude off his back). He did and called him up, offering a management deal. Soon Busta Rhymes got wind of the new kid on the block and signed him to his label, Flipmode/Aftermath through a joint venture with Kay Slay’s Street Sweepers Entertainment. Then Jive Records stepped up and offered Papoose $1.5 million to release his upcoming debut album, The Nacirema Dream. (That’s “America” spelled backwards, by the way.) And the rest is about to be history.
So, needless to say, when the hottest MC in the game at the moment says he’ll stop by Freestyle 101 and spit, you know we leapt at the opportunity to catch him in action. Better still, we got him before he is a household name (check his debut Jive single, “Bang It Out” featuring Snoop Dogg for proof of his imminent rise to fame). He even gives a shout-out to his favorite game, Grand Theft Auto. Nice.
Freestyle 101 gets posted here at G4tv.com every Tuesday at noon PST. Coming up we got Guru, Lifesavas, Myka 9, G-Unit’s new west coast members Spider Loc, 40 Glocc and Gail Gotti, and many more. Check out our behind-the-scenes photo gallery, our MySpace site, and visit our beatmakers, Messiaz.
