Lil' O

A member of DJ Screw's Screwed Up Click who blew up with 2001 solo single "Back Back" rapper Lil O was born in Lagos, Nigeria but raised in Houston, Texas. His mother passed when he was just 13, and with his father's strict disciplinary style, the only parenting Lil O experienced in his teens, the future MC rebelled, up to and including drug dealing. As he worked his way up the ranks, he also began to rap, although drug dealing was his center. In 1999, he released his debut album, Blood Money, but he was soon locked up on drug charges and failed to promote the LP. A year later, he was out of jail, out of the drug game, and serious about hip-hop. Late in 2000, his album Da Fat Rat wit Da Cheeze took off, thanks to its hit single "Back Back" plus guest appearances from Slim Thug, Big Hawk, and Z-Ro. Major-label Atlantic picked the album up a year later, then in 2003, Lil O left the label and issued Food on Tha Table through Navarre. A 2007 Greatest Hits followed, adding four new tracks and a bonus disc of screwed & chopped remixes. Grind Hard, Pray Harder, from 2011, found the MC on the Bar None label and mixing with the likes of Chamillionaire, Devin the Dude, Big KRIT, and Swishahouse's DJ Michael Watts. ~ David Jeffries, Rovi