from his
official site:
In the world of hip-hop, the biggest names to ever burst out of the genre and hit the mainstream have always had one thing in common; a unique voice. Nobody sounded like Biggie before he came out. Nobody sounded like Pac before he came out. Certainly nobody sounded like Scarface before he came out. And you can add Nelly, Eminem, and pioneers like Ice Cube, Guru, Slick Rick, and Doug E.Fresh to that list too. Papa Reu has a lot in common with these artists, but he's different. He's a unique voice in a genre hell bent on imitation, and with the release of his third full-length independent album, CERTIFIED, he's poised to carve out his own slice of the hip-hop pie.
You've heard this man on more tracks than you probably realize if you've been paying attention to the music coming out of Houston and Louisiana over the past decade. His most recent hit is the 504 Boyz "Tight Whips" that can't seem to get outta rotation on BET and urban radio across the country. His reggae infected hook "We roll tight whips every daaaaaay" can be heard booming out of trunks from New York to LA to his native lands, Trinidad and Tobago. But Reu is no overnight success. He's put in the man-hours with labels like Cash Money, Virgin/Noo Trybe, and his own Reu Music for years.
Papa Reu was born on the island of Tobago, a small spot in the Caribbean that is more known for soca music than the hip-hop and reggae Reu currently spits.
When he was about to enter the 11th grade, he decided to leave the island and go live with his brother, who was studying in college in Houston, TX. He moved to 3rd Ward in the heart of the United States 4th largest city and attended Jack Yates High School alongside a gang of other Houston hard hitters like Big Pokey, Big Moe, Big Mike, and 3-2. It was there that he entered a talent show and sang a reggae laced song about his school and his 3rd Ward neighborhood over a popular D.O.C. beat and won the whole thing. The rest as they say is history.
Reu's first appearance on record was on the song "Lick Em Up Shots" on 8Ball & MJG's On the Outside Looking In. Not a bad start for an up and coming vocalist as that record is considered a classic by many down south rap fanatics. He then did a track with DMG on his Rap-A-Lot debut Rigormotiz called "One Up in the
Chamber." At the time he had been hanging around Rap-A-Lot's studios soaking up game and making crucial moves that would bring him to the point he is at today.
Around the same time he also got with the R&B group H-Town. Founding member Dino went to Jack Yates High School as well and asked Reu to come to the studio and get down on a couple of tracks. "I'm dedicating this album right here to my boy Dino from H-Town and my mama," Reu says, reflecting on the days before the talented singer lost his life in a car crash just months before the release of Certified. "He gave me one of my first opportunities." The collabo resulted in three cuts, "Baby I Love Ya," Buss One" and "Rock it Steady," on the multi platinum Beggin' After Dark LP.
Reu appeared on the fledging Virgin subsidiary Noo Trybe Records for a short while and laid some vocals on the title track to the Luniz debut album, Operation Stackola. When that labels short life ended he got a call from the fellas over at Cash Money Records. Though he never officially signed to the label, Papa Reu touched some of the label's classics and toured with the Millionaires for close to four years. "Shoot First" from the Hot Boys Guerilla Warfare album, "Rich Niggas" with Juvenile, "We Love Stuntin'" with the Big Tymers, and Lil Wayne's "Like Me" all were blessed by Papa Reu's island inflected hip-hop vocals.
Having soaked up game from some of popular music's hardest hitters, Reu set out on his own and formed his own label, Reuster House, now known as Reu Muzik. His first album, 2000's Xcuse Me sold 45,000 units completely independently, and Reu traveled as far as Hawaii doing shows in support of it. His second record, You Know Me fell on ill fate as it was released on September 11, 2001. The day the world changed. He still managed to move a respectable amount of units, but with the changing tides of the music and every other industry it never picked up the steam as needed. So Reu set to work on Certified, what some say is his masterpiece.
Papa Reu put everything into this record. Recorded mostly by his Reuster House stable of producers, Dedicated is a "??" song journey into the world of a man who's seen it all in the music game. A man who left his homeland in search of a better life. A man who has dedicated himself to pushing the limits of traditional hip-hop and reggae and strives to create something new.
"I believe in myself and I believe in my sound." Papa Reu explains, "My sound is so different, there's nothing like it. That's why I'm taking all of my chances on it. I'm not your regular rapper, regular singer, regular reggae dude, I have something new to introduce to the world. Working independently it might take a little longer, but it's all going to be done."
Enlisting some of hip-hops top talents to rhyme with him wasn't hard, Reu seems to have built solid relationships with everyone in the industry. The first single "Represent" features Lil Flip, Lil Keke, and Hawk. It's an instant Houston classic that shakes the clubs up every time it's dropped. Houston's finest really do "represent" on this one. Daz Dillinger makes an appearance on "Give it Up," and Juvenile guests on the infectious "Bubble Eye."
The bouncy reggae cut "Champion Steppa" features New Orlean's 5th Ward Weebie and is certain to become a summer hit for 2003. From the islands of the Caribbean, to Texas, to Louisiana, to beyond, Papa Reu has created a sound to be enjoyed by everyone. Maybe even imitated, as some of his heroes have been.
Papa Reu explains. "I'm working hard now so that ten years from now I can hear cats trying to sound like Reu." And they surely will.
― William Wiggins, Wednesday, 25 February 2004 20:15 (twenty-two years ago)
one year passes...
two years pass...