The Young Money Heir- Lil Chuckee

November 10, 2011

The Young Money Heir- Lil Chuckee

by Jason Pollak

Straight out of New Orleans like his older “brother” Lil Wayne, Lil Chuckee is the next great star from the Young Money line. Rapping since the age of 10, Chuckee has been working diligently to perfect his flow and rhymes. He is already a mixtape monster, appearing on multiple features and dropping a slew of hot records. His most recent mixtape “Twap or Die” came out a few weeks back and features Chuckee going in on all the big industry beats right now.

However, Chuckee has aspirations beyond the mixtape scene. He is currently gearing up to drop his debut album under Young Money and is in the process of building his own label, Child’s Play Entertainment. He has also recently built a studio in his house and has learned to record himself. All signs of a true, dedicated artist. Now that he’s dropped the pad and pen and picked up the mic, we have begun to see an evolution in Chuckee’s music. Big things are coming from this young MC and the best is yet to come.

Jason
So, I know you’re from New Orleans, but what part are you from and when were you born?
Lil Chuckee
I’m from Calliope. I was born in ‘95.

Jason
When did you begin rapping? Have you been rapping your whole life?
Lil Chuckee
Yea, I started in ‘05. It was crazy. I started learning about the whole process.

Jason
Did you start out by writing or freestyling?
Lil Chuckee
I didn’t know all that much about bars and the more technical parts. But yea, I was writing some stuff out, figuring out how to freestyle. It definitely started out with the pen and paper.

Jason
Which method do you use now?
Lil Chuckee
Oh, I don’t write at all now. Well I shouldn’t say I’m completely done writing, I still write if I have some ideas outside the studio. As far as a studio session goes though, I don’t write anything down.

Jason
So, you kind of just hear the beat and go with whatever words come to you?
Lil Chuckee
Yea, exactly. I record myself now, so whenever I come up with an idea, I just record it. I know how I like my music. I know how I want it to be. I have a studio in my house now, so it’s usually just me and a couple friends that chill in there and record all day.

Jason
What’s it like having a studio in your house? You’re pretty dedicated to the craft at such a young age.
Lil Chuckee
You know, it’s crazy cuz there are a lot of other things I could be doing. What would a normal 16 year old be doing right now? This is what I chose to do as a career and I understand this is my job. Ya know what I mean, so I wouldn’t put anything before this. At the end of the day, I’m old enough to know that this is what is going to pay the bills.

Jason
You also kind of seem wise past your years? How did you develop that mentality?
Lil Chuckee
To be honest with you, I’ve been like this since I was young, man. I was always on some other stuff. I don’t know how, I don’t know why. I have friends that want to go outside and I’d just rather be in the studio.

Jason
When did you sign to Young Money? How did you and Weezy come together?
Lil Chuckee
Yea, I met Wayne at a video shoot. I spit to him- then it was like boom, bam and from there it was all love. He told me Young Money is where I need to be and I thought so too. At the time, Young Money wasn’t a label yet, this was still way back in ‘05. I knew he was forming a label and I knew it would be a good idea to join up. Worked out pretty well.

Jason
What’s it like to see Young Money grow from those early stages to the point where it’s at today?
Lil Chuckee
It’s amazing. I wouldn’t want to say it happened over night, but I remember all of us on tour, I remember all of us coming out on Wayne’s set. And now for Nikki and Drake to be successful, it’s just great to see. Now I have my own label Child’s Play Ent., and just from watching and being a part of it, it’s given me a much better idea of what I need to do in order to grow my own label. I look up to them…I look up to Young Money Cash Money.

Jason
What’s it like to see Drake and Nikki blow up? They have opened up a lot of doors that weren’t there before.
Lil Chuckee
Yea, I mean it’s cool. That’s my big bro and big sis right there. They doin’ their thing right now. I’m definitely happy for them.

Jason
Along with Lil Twist, what’s it like being one of the younger stars of Young Money?
Lil Chuckee
It’s real good man. I’ma keep it 100 wit you. No diss to nobody, but me and Twist was coming up together. Next thing you know (laughing) he’s a kid artist or whatever, doin’ his thing. He about to drop his album and I’m about to be droppin’ my album too.

Jason
Yea, we’ve all been waiting for that album for a while now.
Lil Chuckee
Yea, we gonna work on it, a lot of people are waiting on that Lil Chuckee album. A lot of people been waiting on that Lil Chuckee and Lil Wayne song too. I got something coming out real soon. It’s about to be retarded.

Jason
Oh really? That’s gonna be crazy. Could you give me an idea of what the song is about?
Lil Chuckee
I wanna say….no, no (laughing) I can’t say anything. I don’t wanna spoil it. This is our first song together, so it’s gonna be great. It’s comin’, you just gotta wait for it.

Jason
I see you’re also in school. Grades are always important. What’s your favorite subject?
Lil Chuckee
I like reading a lot. I would say English and language arts is my favorite.

Jason
What’s one of the more important things Wayne has taught you?
Lil Chuckee
Yea, he really just taught me how to go hard on everything I do. Just go in hard on every line, every bar and that’s whats up and I thank him for that.

Jason
Aright cool, so I guess that brings us to our final question. What can we expect in the near future? You told me about the Wayne feature, any other cool features or songs coming out? Young Money is rolling out all kinds of stuff over there.
Lil Chuckee
Yea, Drake’s album is about to come out. That’s gonna be nice. I don’t want to give a date on my album cuz I still got work to do on it, but sometime next year I’d say. I’ll be on the Young Money compilation. And that’s about it. Shout out to the fans. #TeamChuckee. I appreciate all the support.

Chit Chat events Features Interviews Music bands, events, hip hop, Jason Pollak, Music, Young Money