[Lil Flip, Underground Legend Full Album Zip
Oludare Padilla
Amid the flourishing underground rap scene of Houston, Lil' Flip rose to quick and prosperous fame after his independently released 2000 album The Leprechaun broke through to a national audience, prompting the young rapper's signing to Universal Records soon after. Nicknamed the Freestyle King, Flip as a teen initially won the attention of the immortalized DJ Screw, who ushered the rapper into his loose-knit Screwed Up Click. The affiliation brought instant respect for Flip throughout Texas as well as the greater South, and his Leprechaun album capitalized on that, moving an impressive number of units for an independently released album. The album's slowly mounting yet ultimately broad reach and Flip's youthful appeal attracted Universal Records, who signed the barely 20 year old to a major-label contract in 2002 and released Undaground Legend later in the year. Driven by the lead single, "The Way We Ball," as well as a rem...
Amid the flourishing underground rap scene of Houston, Lil' Flip rose to quick and prosperous fame after his independently released 2000 album The Leprechaun broke through to a national audience, prompting the young rapper's signing to Universal Records soon after. Nicknamed the Freestyle King, Flip as a teen initially won the attention of the immortalized DJ Screw, who ushered the rapper into his loose-knit Screwed Up Click. The affiliation brought instant respect for Flip throughout Texas as well as the greater South, and his Leprechaun album capitalized on that, moving an impressive number of units for an independently released album. The album's slowly mounting yet ultimately broad reach and Flip's youthful appeal attracted Universal Records, who signed the barely 20 year old to a major-label contract in 2002 and released Undaground Legend later in the year. Driven by the lead single, "The Way We Ball," as well as a remix of "I Can Do Dat," a hit previously released on The Leprechaun, the album extended Flip's audience nationally and heralded him as one of the South's most promising young rappers of the early 2000s.
U Gotta Feel Me In 2002, Flip returned with Undaground Legend, a slick sophomore effort. It would go practically unnoticed. Two years later, Flip returned to the scene with the more expansive double-disc set U Gotta Feel Me. The set spawned a couple sizable hits, namely "Game Over (Flip)" and "Sunshine," and brought Flip the national fame he'd long been courting. With that fame came competition, and it wasn't long before Flip was beefing with T.I. for the right to don the crown of King of the South. Flip kept his profile public not only with such drama but also with a string of mixtapes, most notably the Freestyle Kings series, which reached its sixth volume in 2005. Flip's next album was planned to follow that year, but at the last minute Sony refused to release it and the rapper was without a label for the next three years. I Need Mine finally appeared in 2007 as a double CD on the Asylum label. Two collaborations followed. All Eyez on Us from 2008 found the rapper partnering with Outlawz member Young Noble, while 2009's Certified was recorded with Young Money member Gudda Gudda.
Amid the flourishing underground rap scene of Houston, Lil' Flip rose to quick and prosperous fame after his independently released 2000 album The Leprechaun broke through to a national audience, prompting the young rapper's signing to Universal Records soon after. Nicknamed the Freestyle King, Flip as a teen initially won the attention of the immortalized DJ Screw, who ushered the rapper into his loose-knit Screwed Up Click. The affiliation brought instant respect for Flip throughout Texas as well as the greater South, and his Leprechaun album capitalized on that, moving an impressive number of units for an independently released album.
The album's slowly mounting yet ultimately broad reach and Flip's youthful appeal attracted Universal Records, who signed the barely 20 year old to a major-label contract in 2002 and released Undaground Legend later in the year. Driven by the lead single, "The Way We Ball," as well as a remix of "I Can Do Dat," a hit previously released on The Leprechaun, the album extended Flip's audience nationally and heralded him as one of the South's most promising young rappers of the early 2000s.
In 2002, Flip returned with Undaground Legend, a slick sophomore effort. It would go practically unnoticed. Two years later, Flip returned to the scene with the more expansive double-disc set U Gotta Feel Me. The set spawned a couple sizable hits, namely "Game Over (Flip)" and "Sunshine," and brought Flip the national fame he'd long been courting. With that fame came competition, and it wasn't long before Flip was beefing with T.I. for the right to don the crown of King of the South.
Flip kept his profile public not only with such drama but also with a string of mixtapes, most notably the Freestyle Kings series, which reached its sixth volume in 2005. Flip's next album was planned to follow that year, but at the last minute Sony refused to release it and the rapper was without a label for the next three years. I Need Mine finally appeared in 2007 as a double CD on the Asylum label. Two collaborations followed. All Eyez on Us from 2008 found the rapper partnering with Outlawz member Young Noble, while 2009's Certified was recorded with Young Money member Gudda Gudda.
Wesley Weston, Houston, Texas, USA. Lil' Flip aka the Leprechaun, burst onto the national US hip-hop scene in 2002 with the release of his major label debut, Undaground Legend. The young rapper first made a name for himself with appearances on mix tapes by legendary underground producer DJ Screw. His unusual moniker was derived from the fact that he was "always flipping styles". He subsequently teamed up with his manager Duane "Humpty Hump' Hobbs to form the independent Suckafree label. The duo's first project was 1998's Hustlas Stackin Endz, recorded with Lil' Flip's crew HSE. This was quickly followed by Lil" Flip's debut album, which became a local hit thanks in part to the success of the track "I Can Do Dat' on underground radio. Before too long, news of Lil' Flip's burgeoning popularity had reached the ears of the major labels, and after a predictable bidding war he signed a solo recording contract with Sony Records. Suckafree was given a distribution deal as part of the contract. Lil" Flip was injured in a drive-by shooting in Houston prior to the release of his major label debut, Undaground Legend. The album entered the US Top 20 in September 2002. Lil Flips New ablum U Gotta Feel Me came out in March 30. His number one single is Game Over (flip).
Nato e cresciuto a Houston (Texas) nella comunit di Cloverland, situata nell'area meridionale della citt, il giovane Eric viene essenzialmente scoperto da DJ Screw[1] (figura quasi leggendaria dell'hip hop di Houston. lui stesso a dargli il nominativo "The Freestyle King"[2]), che nota in lui non indifferenti doti di freestyler e lo ospita in alcuni dei suoi innumerevoli mixtape. Prima che questi muoia nel 2000 per un attacco cardiaco, il rapper entra a far parte della Screwed Up Click ed gi abbastanza noto in ambito underground grazie ai due album pi popolari del DJ.
Presto Flip fonda l'etichetta indipendente Suckafree assieme al manager "Humpty Hump" Hobbs, anch'esso rapper[1]. Il primo lavoro che i due pubblicano sotto tale etichetta risale al 1998 col titolo di Hustlaz Stackin Endz[3]; il progetto prende il nome dalla crew HSE, fondata da Flip assieme ai compagni A.P. e Redd, i quali partecipano anche loro al processo di registrazione[1]. Allora Flip ha solo 17 anni. Il disco, che si diffonde pi che altro per passaparola, vede in aggiunta i featuring di artisti quali Papa Rue, Lil' O e Big Hawk.
Due anni dopo segue The Leprechaun, altro album indipendente di Flip edito dalla Suckafree, che anticipato dal singolo I Can Do That spopola in tutta Houston (ma anche nel resto degli USA) per le radio black rivelandosi un grande successo underground e non solo (si dice che Lil' Flip abbia venduto un sacco di copie del disco solo distribuendole direttamente dal bagagliaio della sua auto[1]). The Leprechaun raggiunge la posizione n.67 nella chart Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums di Billboard[4][5] e con oltre 100 000 copie vendute consacra Flip come uno dei rapper di Houston pi importanti del momento, ma anche come uno dei primi artisti del southern rap che comincia in grande stile a farsi conoscere a livello nazionale, per tutti gli USA e non solo a Houston[6].
Per il rapper segue un periodo di florida vendita di mixtape (circa 10, che nel giro underground vendono sulle 30 000 copie l'uno[6]), ma anche tragico in quanto viene raggiunto a marzo a Houston da diversi colpi di arma da fuoco provenienti da una macchina in corsa (gli assalitori rimangono sconosciuti). Tuttavia riporta ferite non gravi, si riprende presto e stipula un contratto con la Sony Records[1], e in particolare con la Columbia Records[6] (etichetta sussidiaria della prima). All'interno di tale contratto, la Suckafree gioca il ruolo di label distributrice[1].
Il 27 agosto 2002 esce allora Undaground Legend, vero e proprio album di debutto di Flip in quanto suo primo lavoro ad essere pubblicato sotto una major discografica. Il disco, sebbene non ottenga molta promozione dalla Loud Records, vende sulle 70 000 copie durante la prima settimana di debutto[1] e nella met di settembre raggiunge la posizione n.12 all'interno della Billboard 200[5][7] e la n.4 nella Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums[5][7], per aggiudicarsi poi lo status di platino. All'album partecipano artisti importanti come Chamillionaire, David Banner, Bizzy Bone (questi a 2 tracce) e Juvenile (questi al remix del precedente singolo di successo I Can Do That). L'unico singolo estratto The Way We Ball, che si piazza alla posizione n.69 della Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs[8][9]. I riscontri e i pareri della critica sono molto favorevoli, la quale si esprime al riguardo dicendo che, se l'album fosse stato pi pubblicizzato e altre canzoni fossero state pubblicate come singoli, avrebbe avuto ancora pi successo, in tutto il resto del mondo.
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