first draft article

First draft


LIL MAN, the biggest thing in HIP HOP in 2010. His latest album “In the Hood” is hitting stores in the 21st February 2010. Critics are expecting the album to fly off the shelves. In the album he shares his experience of how he grew up and the battles he faced. Having a lot of hype surrounding him before his album dropped on the scene meant that LIL MAN had a lot to live up to if he was going to be a success in the industry. As the newset artist in the game LIL MAN has had difficulty in impressing other big rappers, who claim that he is “over rated” and a “one hit wonder”. His confident personality has meant that this has not affected him slightly and has even motivated him even more. Having listened to his new album, we are sure that he will be a massive success.

How did you get signed by Columbia records?

Well, basically I tried many things to get noticed in the music industry. I had made many mix-tapes and sent them to various record companies. I also uploaded my music on my MYSPACE and YouTube channel, having seen many new artists be successful by doing this. All this helped me gain some publicity and get noticed by A&R of Columbia records. And, I guess Columbia records saw something in me which I believed to have all along.

You’ve been an underground artist for a long period, why do you think it took you so long to get noticed?

I believe that I have matured and learnt a lot from making music underground. It’s made me a stronger person and artist. Making underground music can make some artist lose confidence and give up on music. I always knew I had the talent and I was bound to get signed as long as I concentrated on the music. There were small periods of my underground career in which I was getting very little attention and praise , but my strength of character and strong will power had got me through this. I have always believed that I AM HIP HOP, so if I didn’t get signed the record companies would lose out.

What can audiences expect from your new album ‘In the Hood’?

I would say that audiences can expect a lot from this album. I spent a lot of time on this new album, many hours in the studio. Also, I have had a lot of hype surrounding me and my music, so I made sure that in this album I lived up to the hype. There are also much collaboration with big artists like, Frenzy, Soul sisters and Big Mike.

On the song “grown up”, you reveal a lot to your audiences about yourself. What was your motivation behind this decision?

My main motivation behind the decisions to make my song ‘Grown up’, very revealing was that I wanted to not hide anything or have any secrets. I knew having a fake persona wouldn’t get you anywhere in the music industry so I decided to reveal all. Also, I believed by doing this people wouldn’t draw comparisons between me and other artists because I believe that I am unique.



Are you competitive with other artists that make similar music? For example, RUTHLESS.

Nah, I don’t worry too much about other artists, I believe that they should be worrying about me. I know some people have compared me to RUTHLESS but that doesn’t affect me. Me and my fans know that I am an individual no one like me. I have a lot of respect for RUTHLESS, I admit I did look up to him early on in my music career as he has sold a lot of records and pioneered the way for a lot of people. Not a lot of rappers have been as successful as him and I am planning to achieve greater.

What artists did you plan to work with but didn’t?

The timing and scheduling wasn’t right for me and JOE B. I also wanted to do a duet with LADY S but it never worked out. Many of the artists I had wanted to work with were busy this year, on tour but in the future I hope that we may be able to collaborate. There are however, some artists on my album that I admire that I was able to collaborate and make great songs with.

Do you think being a star becoming and famous has changed you in any way?

Nah, I still feel like the same person I was before I became famous. I would say the only difference now is that more people recognise me and I sign a lot of autographs. II am still aware of where I came from and how hard I have worked. I am very aware that all these good things that are happening to me could go away in the blink of an eye. For this reason I don’t think that I will ever change.

Some people have said that the explicitness of your music means that you will have trouble in selling mainstream music. Do you agree with this?

No way, there are many artists from the hip hop genre that make music which is a way more explicit than mine. Even so, I will not change my music or lyrics so that I can sell more music if that means that the quality of the music I am making is lower. My main goal is to be me to the best of my ability, if people appreciate this and buy my records that is a bonus. My last music video did not have a single curse in it, so I do not actually believe that my music is offensive. I admit that I did use curses quite often in some of the songs but can you name me one Hip Hop artist who hasn’t?

Your fashion sense is quite unique and outrageous in some cases. Why do you feel the need to dress in this way?

What I wear is a microcosm of my personality; I believe you are what you wear. My clothing reflects how I feel on a particular today, this is just who I am and always will be. My clothing also helps to distinguish me from other artists, which I believe is important because there is no one like me out there.

You seem to be very passionate about Hip Hop music. What made you feel like this about Hip Hop?

Growing up as a kid me and all my friends would listen to artists like MASTER M and FRESHMEN. I believe they were the founders of Hip Hop and my idols growing up. When listening to their music I was inspired and motivated to start making music in the hope that I can make music which was of a similar quality to theirs.

We at SOUND understand that you spend a lot of time on Twitter. What do you like about it so much?

(Laughs) Yeah, I do spend quite a bit of time on Twitter. This is mostly because I like to keep in contact with my fans and share my views on current news. This helps me to allow my fans to get to know more about me which I don’t mind as I have no secrets. Also, on tour there’s not much to do when travelling so I like to pass time by going on twitter.

If you could describe your new album in three words, what would they be?

UNIQUE, GREAT and REAL.