The Freestyle King: Lil Flip

Lil Flip is one of the top hip hop artists to come out of the Houston, Texas, area. And in fact, most people say he really was the first Houston act to make it big on the national stage. What really sets Lil' Flip apart from the competition is high freestyle abilities. In fact, he is often called the Freestyle King.

The first Lil' Flip album came out in 2000, before he even turned 20.Wesley Eric Weston Jr., as is his real name, got some national attention with the independent release, with such Lil' Flip songs as "I Can Do That." Yet most of the 200,000 copies sold were in the Texas and Southern states region.

But is mainstream national success all that matters? Of course not. In the case of this Lil' Flip album, what it more importantly got for him was attention from a record label (Def Jam South) and another local but big-time rapper (Scarface). What else did the record get him? The magazine Source labeled the record one of the best independents releases.

Going National

With a firm first record under his belt and some solid attention on the local level, Lil' Flip made his move for the national stage. The second Lil' Flip record, "Undaground Legend," proved that this guy was legit. The record went platinum. Lil' Flip followed that up with "U Gotta Feel Me," which really got him national attention.

The album had guest stars on it the likes of Three 6 Mafia and Ludacris. It started out number four on the charts, and even got pop radio play. Lil' Flip songs such as "Game Over" and "Sunshine" got play on video music stations. And the album as a whole sold more than 2 million records.

The next Lil' Flip record was "I Need Mine." Again, he got a lot of help from his friends, with Nate Dogg, Mike Jones, Big Pokey, and many others guest starring on the tracks. The record would start out number 14 on the charts. Another Lil' Flip album is due out in 2008, called "Ahead of My Time."

Going Multimedia

Lil' Flip is more than just about rap these days. Like many of the top rappers today, Lil' Flip also runs his own record label, called Clover G. As part of his record label, Lil' Flip is working on a television show in which he will train a number of lucky wannabe rappers. He will impart some of his freestyle finesse, as well as teach them how to be businessmen and women.

He even has his own kind of liquor with his name on it. Did I just say liquor? Yes. Called Lucky Nites, the alcoholic beverage is made with vodka, pineapple juice, and amaretto.

And check out the Lil' Flip video game out there as well. He got his spot on the video game called Def Jam: Fight For New York. He is part of Snoop Dogg's Crow crew.

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