Entertainment, Music - Army Times

Someone new from ‘the Lou’

Dance-floor heat: St. Louis rapper Huey and his management team knew they were on to something last fall with “Pop, Lock & Drop It” which has in recent weeks stormed up the “Billboard” Hot 100, R&B/Hip-Hop and Rhythmic charts.

The song set off a frenzy every time DJs put it on in local clubs. Fans flooded radio stations with requests for the infectious dance number, and it wasn’t long before the rapper was signed to Jive Records. Women from coast to coast enthusiastically rocked their hips to the insistent beat, and a promotional YouTube video dance contest let the nation see them doing their thing. The track, also featured in the movie “Stomp the Yard,” is a staple on BET and MTV and is now making inroads on the pop chart. “I was just making a song that females could dance to,” says Huey (aka Huey Lawrence Franks), whose debut album, “Notebook Paper,” is just out. “But there wasn’t an actual dance [called the G5] until after I wrote it.”

A different sound of St. Louis: Huey says his rhymes aren’t reminiscent of Nelly, who put the city on the hip-hop map; rappers such as Chingy, J-Kwon and the St. Lunatics followed in his wake with more party music. But though Huey’s first hit is aimed at the dance floor, he says that “Notebook Paper,” recorded largely in Atlanta, has more to offer. The album takes its name from the 20-year-old performer’s habit of writing down his impressions of life experiences, a practice he hopes to parlay into money through his music. The rest of the tracks are “conscious records, club bangers and gangsta records,” he says.

“It’s a sound that people don’t expect to come out of the Lou,” he says. “You can’t tell it by the way I’m spitting, unless you hear me say ‘herre’ or ‘thurr.’ ”

The new single is the smooth, Jazze Pha-produced “When I Hustle” featuring Lloyd. The album also features appearances by R&B stars Chris Brown and T-Pain.

Shifting gears: Huey started making beats when he was 15, but he didn’t take writing rhymes seriously until he hooked up with manager Angela Richardson, who helped him gain a toehold in St. Louis clubs. That’s how he got heard by TJ Chapman, CEO of TJ’s DJ’s, a network of DJs who break new music in the clubs and streets before it hits radio. Chapman brought him to the attention of Jive executive Mickey “MeMpHiTz” Wright, who signed him to his HiTz Committee imprint.

“Everybody kept saying that I should be doing this for a living,” Huey says. “It was a gift.”

Staying on the grind: The album came together so fast, Huey didn’t have time to make beats for the project. But he says he’ll get to show his versatility on his next album. In the meantime, he’s honing his stage skills and traveling to promote “Notebook Paper.”

“We’re on the road every Thursday to Monday,” he says. “It’s not even work, really. It’s fun. There’s never been a time when I felt like I was working hard.”