Crime Mob’s single “Knuck if You Buck” began killing Atlanta radio and quickly spread to mixtapes and radio stations throughout the country. With the video dropping soon, the crunk single is bound to be a radio staple for months to come. The heavy buzz about the group’s single caught the attention of Def Jam, Sony, and So So Def. Crime Mob is managed by Serious (Lil’ Scrappy’s manager), so the group ended up signing with Warner Brothers through Lil’ Scrappy’s Crunk Inc and Lil’ Jon’s BME Recordings. They plan to usher in a whole new phase in the crunk movement: “high-school crunk.” The six members – Psycho Black, Princess, M.I.G., Killa C, Lil’ J, and Diamond – are all sophomores, juniors, or seniors in high school. But after graduation, their educational goals are pretty simple. “I plan on becoming a billionaire in this rap industry,” says Psycho Black. When it comes to balancing education with their “job,” Diamond says, “I go to school, do my homework, and go straight to the studio. If we don’t finish til five in the morning, some days I leave the studio and go straight to school.” Their album, appropriately named “On the Rise,” explains their quick rise to #1 on radio playlists. Atlanta radio personality CoCo Brother first played “Knuck if You Buck” on Hot 107.9’s “Dig it or Dish it,” and it quickly became mainstream and the group signed a deal. M.I.G. sums it up by saying, “We make that shit. We’re young and we make hits. Head Banger Productions.” Killa C ads, “We’re in the lab, cooking beats like… crack.” – Words & photo by Iisha Hillmon

The Tallahassee-based Nappy Headz (not to be confused with Kentucky’s Nappy Roots) first gained regional notoriety with “Robbery,” the gangsta version of the popular Khia record, “My Neck, My Back.” Faheim, one of the six members of the group and also the producer, explains, “‘Robbery’ was just a play-around song. I had just cleaned up the studio and it was lookin’ empty, so we was like, man, let’s get some people in here to do a song.” That same night, “Robbery” was played in the club, and reached the ears of influential record pool owner TJ Chapman. “TJ’s DJ’s reached out to [DJs everywhere] the next day with that record,” says Faheim. “I love him for that ‘cause he made us.” Their follow-up singles, “FLA” and “What They Do,” featuring Total Kaos, also proved to be successful regionally. Attend any local show and it’s easy to see that Tallahassee has love for the Nappy Headz, who’ve known each other for years by living in the same neighborhoods and comparing rap styles. According to group member Dirt Dogg, they love the city right back. “We tryin’ to build the 850. It wasn’t even cool to say ‘850’ until we came up here and built up Leon County. We made that. Now, it’s cool to say you from Tally. We got everybody wanting to be from Tally, wearin’ 850 shirts.” And while the group enthusiastically proclaims that they’re “tryin’ to get as big as 36-inch rims, as big as Lil’ Jon glasses,” they are still realistic about their plans to drop a second independent album. “‘NFL: Nappy For Life’ drops late May, early June. And if it don’t drop then, just wait on it. That’s what’s up!” – DJ Dap & JB (Photo: JB)

When I told a Universal executive I was headed to interview their artist Ric-A-Che, he told me to ask Ric to call him. I thought this was slightly unusual – but after I met with the 26-year-old Detroit native and passed along the message, he explained the double meaning of the name of his upcoming album: “Lack of Communication.” While working on his debut release through SRC/Universal, he says, “It was funny, because during the whole recording process, I didn’t have a cell phone or pager, so they were losing their minds, like, ‘Where are you??’ Also, from the creative angle, they wanted me to sound this way and I wanted to sound another way.” It took Ric-A-Che several years of pursuing music independently before he caught a break with the unique vibe of Darija’s “Coo-Coo Chee,” a women’s anthem of sorts. “She wrote the hook, but she couldn’t come up with the verses, so she let me have it,” he says. “If you can make women happy, you’ll go a long way. Women buy CDs – they’re like 75% of the consumers.” The finished product caught the attention of SRC A&R Knobody, who immediately brought the project to CEO Steve Rifkind. “[Steve] called me the next day to welcome me to SRC,” says Ric, who speaks highly of his new boss. “If Steve Rifkind believes in you, he goes the extra mile. And he showed me the business aspects too, which a lot of people in the record business won’t do. They’d rather rob you first and then show you.” With “Coo-Coo Chee” picking up heavy spins throughout the country, look for his debut album to hit stores on June 22nd, and he promises you won’t be disappointed. “Music is what most artists don’t have. I use my vocals as instruments. I wanna be able to give you at least four, five singles so you’ll never get tired of the album.” – Words & photo by Julia Beverly, jb@ozonemag.com