Our Lil Romeo Has All Grown Up

Lil Romeo is gone now. We should all mourn his passing, but we should also rejoice in the coming of Romeo, his new incarnation. Am I fooling? Not really. Lil Romeo had a lot to offer the hip hop and R&B world, no matter what you think of putting a child behind the mike at the age of 11. He was, after all, the kid that broke Michael Jackson's record as the youngest person to score a number one single. That says a lot for him right there.

But then again, Lil' Romeo comes with a lot of controversy because one could argue that he was famous because his father was famous. After all, the New Orleans native was Master P, who is no small figure in the world of entertainment. One could even argue that Lil Romeo got his start by making many guest cameos in some of Master P's music videos.

Am I giving him too hard a time? Perhaps. Lil' Romeo did put out his own album back in 2001, titled-what else?-"Lil Romeo." And then he recorded on his own the second solo Lil Romeo album, called "Game Time," in the following year. And what was that all-time, youngest number one song? That would be "My Baby" in case you forgot.

The Birth of Romeo

After gaining huge popularity as a young boy with his first two solo albums, and winning a number of awards (both BET and Grammys), what could a kid do? He could change his name, take on a huge social issue, become a movie star, get a basketball scholarship, and start his own music label, that's what.

Slow down, you say? For starters, after releasing compilation albums for years while he finished up his education at Beverly Hills High School, Lil' Romeo has released another new studio Lil Romeo record called "God's Gift" in 2006. By this point, for all intents and purposes, Lil' Romeo had grown up and now went by the name Romeo. Romeo supposedly has another album coming out at the end of summer in 2008, which will be called "High School Romance."

Now what was all that other stuff I was talking about? Let's start with the acting career (the best reason for him to be out in Beverly Hills. In 2003, he was in the film "Honey," along with Jessica Alba. Lucky Romeo. He even had his own TV show around this time called (what else?) "Romeo." It was on Nickelodeon. Since then, he was in the movie "God's Gift," and made appearances in the TV show "Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide."

Bouncing to the Beat of a Basketball

What was it about basketball before? After finishing up school, Lil' Romeo then announced that he was getting a scholarship to play b-ball at USC. As impressive as this is, even this aspect of Lil' Romeo's life comes with a controversy. Supposedly, the only reason that USC gave him a free ride and the chance to play was to get his friend, Demar DeRozan, to come play at USC.

With a new record on the way, a history of success behind him, and a full life to get even bigger and better, what does Lil Romeo care what people say about him?

From Lil Romeo Back to Hip Hop Music