Proof positive that the best way to break into the major ranks of Hip-Hop playaz is to win your game out on the mean streets first - comes with the signing of South Carolina native Lil Ru as the newest addition to the roster of Def Jam Recordings, a division of Island Def Jam Music Group (IDJ).
Nasty Song, the Def Jam debut of Lil Ru - which impacted at Urban radio in April - is making its way out of the Deep South and up the nationwide Mediabase Urban chart, hitting #36-bullet this week with a 2.5 million audience, and 4 million audience overall.
Nasty Song is the first single from Lil Ru's long-awaited debut album, 21 & UP, set for July 7th release in the physical and digital marketplace. For Lil Ru, who has been at it for nearly a decade - and has experienced short-term deals along the way with Elektra and Capitol Records - the album is the culmination of a hard life on his own: growing up on the streets with a mother currently incarcerated for manslaughter, and a father who has never been around.
"I feel like the album represents everything it takes to be a man," he says. "Whether you're in the club, the streets, or just struggling all around. People are going to relate." In Life, Lil Ru details the trials and tribulations of his younger life and how his mom's absence affected his childhood. Like Dat lightens the mood as Ru goes out of his way to please the ladies. The party continues with Yeah That's Money, celebrating the finer things in life.
"Never having that stable background or that family, I was alone a lot," says Lil Ru. "I was able to make a situation happen with my music and I was able to feed myself and family off of that," he concludes. "Music always had me first, I always stayed focused on that."
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