Lil Scrappy 'Tha Grustle' album

Everybody has a story. Some are told like an upbeat sonnet. They dance with laughter and family get-togethers at the park. Others are kind of mundane. Nothing too exciting. Nothing terribly depressing either. They’re just stories.

And then there are people like Darryl Kevin Richardson II. Their chronicles read like dark Hollywood screenplays, what with odd characters, gritty sets, cruel plot twists, the whole nine.

“I had to sleep on my floor in my momma room,” begins Richardson, who more commonly works under the pen name Lil’ Scrappy. “My sister slept with my momma. The hoes had the rooms. The [junkies] had the living room and the kitchen to do they ish. All of them were my aunties and uncles. Niggas on the streets were my brothers and sisters. Junkies were cookin’ for me. [I’d say] That’s my auntie! She just crazy. Don’t pay her no mind. That’s how a nigga grew up. That’s how it was.”

You may not be familiar with Scrappy’s whole tale, but from the scene just painted, you already have the gist of that particular life chapter. There was some grindin’. There was a bit of hustlin’. There were the literal and metaphoric dead ends. But all the while the young man was doing his dirt, he knew there was more for him than what the unforgiving South Atlanta streets had revealed. He had a God-granted gift he wasn’t going to waste.

The rapper wound up connecting with famed hip hop producer/rapper Lil Jon. (They actually met at a club after a fight at Lil’ Scrappy’s show, but that’s another story for another time.) Jon’s BME imprint linked the fiery MC with a group of upstart ATLiens, Trillville. Through mean mixtapes and a massive single, “Head Bussa,” their names became known. Things seemed to be picking up for Scrappy.

As dramatic accounts often go though, stuff would play out a lil’ differently. In Scrap’s case, the deal with BME never really took off. The enterprising young man tried to reignite his buzz with a joint venture between BME, Warner Bros. and 50 Cent’s G-Unit imprint. The cumbersome 2006 effort was called Bred 2 Die Born 2 Live.

“If you can put Enimen and Dr. Dre together and blow up a dude like 50 Cent, I’m sure you can put 50 and Jon together and blow up a nigga like Scrappy,” details the rapper who did drop the hit “Money in the Bank” during this tumultuous time. “It’s real easy. Well, it would seem easy. But I came to a situation where everybody got egos.”

Scrappy also faults Jon’s reluctance to give the project his full attention as a reason the solo debut never became the smash it should have.

But all of that is a lesson learned, more material for the autobiography. So too are the run-ins with the law, family disputes and life-altering physical altercations over the past year.

“I be stressed a lot,” admits the 25-year-old father who followed up Bred 2 Die with the unheralded banger, Prince of the South. “2008 f*cked everybody up. When you get hit, you gotta have that jaw to keep takin’ it. I ain’t have that jaw. Nigga hit me in the jaw in 2008 and a nigga was staggerin’. I tried to come out with a couple mixtapes and stuff like that. But people used to seeing me with money behind me. So, when the money not comin’ with it, niggas not f*ckin’ with it.”

Thankfully for Scrap, Disturbing Tha Peace CEOs Ludacris and Chaka Zulu saw potential. The two creative forces met, declared their mutual respect for each other and made a pact. The first release from this promising DTP/Def Jam collaboration is Scrappy’s long-anticipated third album, Tha Grustle.

The emotion spilled over the new album’s grimy tracks may not be typical of the stuff found in New York Times best-sellers, but it’s certainly what the streets need and what clubs crave. “Activate Me” and “Expensive” show the young man’s swagger hasn’t gone anywhere. The Maino-featured “Stand Up” and Don Cannon-produced “Ya Dig” are nods to the Rotten Apple. “Phone Tag” is a playful number with female companion Diamond. DJs won’t know whether to use the Luda-featured “Addicted to Money” or the Gucci Mane-rocked “Look Like This” to drive the dance floor crazy.

No need to read between the lines with Tha Grustle. There’s no doubting Scrap’s relentless dedication and work ethic have finally paid off. And honestly, DTP is a better place because of it.

“Everybody got their own lane,” Scrappy tells of the diverse roster on the label. “Playaz Circle is on some playa ish. You got Luda, who’s on his grown man, arrogant ish. You got Shawnna on her female gangsta ish. Scrappy? I’m on my everyday ish. I’m in all the lanes.”

Where said road takes Lil’ Scrappy tomorrow, nobody really knows. All that’s for certain is that the next chapter in the rapper’s life promises to be quite the page-turner. But until it’s written, we’re going to just sit back and enjoy the unapologetic narrative the young man’s telling right now.

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Lil Scrappy - Tha Grustle