Carlos Walker is currently constructing his audio autobiography, I Am Carlos.
“I’m giving like my life story, like where I came from,” Mr. Walker, p.k.a. Shawty Lo, explained to HipHopDX recently regarding his upcoming new album’s direction. “I come from Bankhead [in] the projects, Bowen Homes, which they tearing ‘em down right now. I come from that. My mother was on drugs. My father was elsewhere. I came from crime and drugs, and money, girls, and I’m just…I’m telling like what happened with [all that] up to now…how I came to be a superstar.”
Lo’s audio-bio is tentatively slated to drop spring 2010. The man with a string of hit singles in ’08 (“Dey Know,” “Dunn Dunn” and “Foolish”) is at the moment unsure if his collaboration with fellow 404 natives The-Dream, Ludacris and Gucci Mane, “Atlanta, GA,” will remain the jumpoff-joint for his sophomore solo album as previously planned prior to the song surfacing online in August.
While his first single remains up in the air, Mr. Get-Get-Get It revealed to DX that none of the tracks leaked to the ‘Net earlier this year – notably songs featuring Rick Ross and Bun B (“911”), as well as Lil Wayne (“Supplier”) – will make it to market via his new LP.
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“I got a lot of new stuff,” said Lo. “I really don’t wanna put like so much of the old stuff back on the album. But it gonna be a lot of artists on the [album] – Not a lot, I don’t want too [many guest appearances] ‘cause I really want it to be more personal about me. So I’ll probably [only] have a couple of collaborations.”
Another previously-leaked joint that Lo revealed to DX will not be included on I Am Carlos is “Roll The Dice.” Released at the top of ’09 (with a video for the track subsequently surfacing online in March), the Coldplay-sampling selection is Shawty Lo’s explanation of how his highly-publicized ’08 war of words with T.I. came to be, and how Lo is choosing to “be the bigger man” and pledging to end the beef on his part.
“Roll The Dice” was penned after Lo and Tip’s respective camps collided at last year’s Dirty Awards in the ATL and the two then-beefing Bankhead representatives subsequently decided to speak in an attempt to end their dispute.
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“Me and Tip, we talked for about 15 minutes on November 24th [2008],” said Shawty Lo of that pow-wow. “And we just came to a conclusion [that] it ain’t need to go no further. Basically, it’s over with. Homie be home next year. Free Tip.”
Although their differences had informally been put to bed in November at the Dirty Awards, the formal display of peace between the onetime rivals in March solidified the squashing of their beef, as Lo explained, “[T.I.’s] last show [before beginning his jail sentence] at Club Crucial I came out and showed – What better place to do it [than] on Bankhead, and show in front of our peoples [that the beef was squashed]? I came on stage, the people saluted and they went crazy.”
Continuing in his new peaceful mood, Lo is now back on good terms and making music again with the group that ushered him onto the national stage in 2005 via the Snap-Rap smash “Laffy Taffy,” D4L.
“Everybody been talking good,” said Lo of his Down 4 Life crew. “Everything’s in the making. Everybody got good spirits… We ain’t got a timeframe [to complete a new album]. We just gotta get in the studio and get the music done.”
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Shawty Lo is staying in grind mode, as in addition to the aforementioned new solo album and new D4L group album, a new collabo mixtape with Jim Jones that the two are currently recording (which follows the Halloween release of Lo’s still-buzzing Fright Night mix) as well as a collabo track between Lo and red hot rookie Drake entitled “I’m About My Business” should be surfacing soon. The consummate hustler, Lo also noted during his discussion with DX that he has his own brand of liquor, “Stunna,” on the way, along with a new cologne called “Lo’s Seduction” due in stores around Valentine’s Day.
I Am Carlos is due in stores and online spring 2010 from Warner Brothers/Asylum Records.
