LIL’ ROMEO AT YOUR BALCONY

Guided by his dad, Master P, and fast on the heels of popular pint-sized rapper Lil Bow Wow, 11 year-old Lil’ Romeo is set to release his debut album, "Soulja Boy," on Soujla Music Entertainment. With a multi-Platinum indie-rap pioneer for a father, Romeo isn’t new to the game. He watched his dad grow the No Limit brand from its humble roots in the trunk of a car to a full-fledged empire. Romeo even did a few guest intros for dad on and other No Limit artists’ records. But Master P had no intention of turning his talented son into a rap star. In fact, he only learned of Romeo’s skills after returning home from a tour. While P was away, Romeo laid down tracks with No Limit producers Diesel and C-Los Beats. Impressed with the little tyke’s flow, P asked, "Who is that?" and was surprised (and proud) to find it was Lil’ Romeo.

Master P, aware of the pre-teen record-buying audience, started working to catapult the straight-A fifth-grader into superstardom. The first single, "My Baby," has already generated a buzz at Crossover stations with huge early phones, and the video is spinning on BET. Additionally, Romeo has major promotion plans with Nickelodeon, including concert and series appearances, and intends to star on television and the big screen. The energetic and talented pre-teen is primed—and, in the words of his father, "This kid is ready."

HITS’ never-ready reporter Kenya "Get A Witness" M. Yarbrough convinced Lil’ Romeo and Master P to talk to her, but drew the line at calling her "Big Juliet."

What do you think about being a rap star?
Romeo: I like it a lot. I like being there for the fans and the fans rootin’ you on. My dad taught me to always be focused and don’t let anything change. There’s not a lot of changing around me so far, but I’m changing rap what I’m rapping about is for the kids.

What does your music have for the kids?
Romeo: I’m a little kid and they can look up to me and listen to my music. It’s for everybody, teenagers, kids, girls, boys. And, even grown-ups, anybody could listen to it.
Master P: Something that’s different about his music is that it’s educational, too. He has a song where he’s teaching the kids their ABCs, but the way he did it is very creative. It’s done in the form of rap music. Romeo has a very positive image.

Do you think there’s not a lot of music targeted to your age group?
Romeo: I don’t think there’s enough. We just have Bow Wow. And I think that I’m gonna open doors again, because Bow Wow has opened doors for me. Now there’s more than one kid rapping. People can [watch] us and see that kids can really do this and that kids have more to listen to now.
Master P: I think it’s true. I think Romeo’s gonna play a very important role. With Bow Wow being out there right now, it’s just one artist. It’s like having the Backstreet Boys and then NSYNC comes along. With me and my brothers being in the business, we know exactly what the marketplace was missing. And I think that Romeo has what no other child act out right now. To have a song like this, its gonna be a big gap-filler as far as child entertainment is concerned. I don’t think anybody’s tapped into that market. Look what it did to Crossover, Pop radio. We’ve never had a song react like that.

What’s your favorite track on the CD?
Romeo: All of ‘em.
Master P: I think he has a lot of great records on this album. I just think this "My Baby" record is such a great crossover with the Michael Jackson hook. I think this record is going to be huge especially for the kids. The fan base out there is just ridiculous. We get at least two million hits on the Internet; fans and kids writing in all across America.

Will the Internet be a powerful tool for this CD?
Master P: I think that traditional radio and video are great tools for this CD. People are caught up on visuals now and the Internet lets you express your opinion; say what you like and what you don’t like. So I think the real tools are video and radio, but it’s complemented on the Net.

What was the experience of shooting the video like?
Romeo: It was my first video and it was real fun for me. My favorite part was flying in the helicopter and skating with all the kids.

It features a Michael Jackson impersonator. Is Michael one of your favorite artists?
Romeo: Yes, that’s one of my main influences. He’s the best Pop artist that’s been around and I look up to him.

Didn’t you do a song with Bow Wow?
Romeo: Yeah.
Master P: We had one with Bow Wow, but, as far as with Romeo’s album coming out, we couldn’t wait to put it out and get approval through Sony, so we decided to just pass on that right now. Hopefully, down the line, he and Bow Wow will have some time to get in the studio and make something happen.

You two are friends?
Romeo: Yeah. I like him.
Master P: There’s no competition between them. Bow Wow’s been out for a while. There’s enough room for a lot of kid entertainment. He and Bow Wow are friends, and Romeo is in a great position. His record is set up right. Hopefully, while Bow Wow is in the studio making another record, Romeo will be doing his thing and then hopefully they’ll meet up on something.