Lil Ru will not have to wait long to see his debut 21 and Up hit store shelves. Def Jam recently anounced that the young rapper’s album should be dropping July 7. His single “Nasty Song” has already garnered attention from fans, growing in plays on his MySpace page. It has already reached over 3 million plays.
The son of a mother in jail for manslaughter and an absentee father, Lil Ru hopes fans can releate to his struggle.
“I feel like the album represents everything it takes to be a man,” he said via press release. “Whether you’re in the club, the streets, or just struggling all around. People are going to relate.”
He also added that music made a way for him to succeed.
“Never having that stable background or that family, I was alone a lot. I was able to make a situation happen with my music and I was able to feed myself and family off of that. Music always had me first, I always stayed focused on that.”
In other news, DXnext alum Fred Knuxx [click to read] is now a part of WongGee Inc. This new label situation will allow Knuxx to complete his debut The Big Deal in time for a 2010 release date.
Meanwhile, expect two other offerings from Knuxx. Two mixtapes, King of Grind and Delafornia will be released this year. For Delafornia, he was able to enlist Glasses Malone and Spider Loc [click to read]. “I decided to sign with WongGee Inc because they understood my vision as an artist and seemed genuine about executing it and taking me to the next level. This is a big move for me, my family and Delaware,” he said through a statement.
The first promotional release from the Delafornia mixtape should be coming soon. Fans can also catch him June 25th and 26th as he will be performing at the Atlanta Pool Conference.
Another person making a change is Kevin Black. Black has been named the Chief Operating Officer of Global Music Group. He has had some success throughout the years, since starting as a National Director of Promotions for Death Row Records. From there, he went on to EMI, Virgin, A&M, Interscope and Warner.
The label made headlines in 2008 when it had the winning bid for Death Row assets. However, they auctioned Death Row’s assets off again and are no longer connected to Death Row.
“We are taking care of other details right now. We aren’t involved in Death Row Records now,” Ron Bush, a rep for GMG said in a statement.
They are planning a few releases this year, one of which will be Lil’ Mo’s forthcoming album. It is slated to hit stores in September.
