R
atchet is more than a Louisiana dance and slang Lil Boosie introduced Southern Hip Hop to on the underground hit “Do The Ratchet.” For Shreveport indie label Lava House Records, ratchet is a way of life. “Ratchet is a culture, it’s the way we live,” says Mandigo, Lava House CEO and founder of Ratchet music. “We might wear the same clothes for two days. Rent might be due and you can’t pay that bill, or car note or electric bill. It’s a swag.” The Ratchet movement began in 1999 when Mandigo formed Lava House records and released the independent album Ratchatified in the Ghetto and a follow up album United We Stand Divided We Fall. “Do The Ratchet” featuring Mandigo, Lava House artist Angie Locc and Lil Boosie, quickly became a regional smash hit. With Boosie’s already growing popularity in the South, Mandigo gave Boosie the go ahead to launch the ratchet movement by allowing the Bad Azz to remake the song with Lil Webbie, which took the Ratchet movement to new heights. “I created Lava House in ’99,” Mandigo a.k.a. “the Ratchet King” says. “We dropped the first Ratchet song in 2000. Remixed it with Boosie in 2004 and everything’s been Ratchet ever since. That was a movement that I stuck with, that people that knew about it tried to own it and couldn’t, because we started it.”
And now that Hurricane Chris has put Shreveport (a.k.a. the Ratchet City) on the map with his hit song “A Bay Bay,” it’s a perfect time for the five member group Ratchet City to take the sound they birthed to the proverbial next level. Ratchet City, which consists of Mandigo, Angie Locc, Big Poppa, Untamed Mayne and in-house producer Phunk Dawg has already begun making it’s presence in the game felt. Phunk Dawg, the man behind the Ratchet sound, has produced tracks for Lil Boosie as well as Hurricane’s breakthrough hit “A Bay Bay” and second single “Hand Clap.” And Angie Locc recently made her national debut rhyming alongside the Game, Baby, Boosie and Jadakiss on Hurricane’s “A Bay Bay” remix. The group’s first single “Pass Me Sum Wata” is starting to spread more of their Ratchet sound across the South and build anticipation for the group’s Lava House/Polo Grounds album. “‘A Bay Bay’ and the ‘Hand Clap’ and all those things are all good but that’s really just the tip of the iceberg,” Phunk Dawg says. “The Ratchet City album is gonna be bananas. It’s something that’s coming new to the music industry.” // myspace.com/2lavamuzic Words by Randy Roper Photo by King Yella
t e h c t Ra City Shreveport, lA
patiently waiting
Atlanta, GA
Sporty O H
ustlenomics must be a College Park thing. Just like Mr. “Coffee Shop,” College Park resident Sporty-O invested his money wisely. He sold his cars and used the money to open up a record store on the eastside of Decatur, GA. But the underlying benefit from owning a record store was the relationship the business owner/rapper built with local DJs and industry insiders. “Me and my boy Gold Mouth, we used to make mix CDs ourselves and sell them out the store and we started getting a buzz,” he says. But when an opportunity to visit L.A. to work with producer Justin Trugman arose, Sporty took his rhymes and packed CDs and found himself on the next flight headed west. His time in Hollywood would land him much more than a couple beats for his next mixtape. Through his relationship with Trugman, Sporty landed a spot on Jamie Kennedy’s comedic MTV reality show Blowin’ Up. Before Sporty knew it, his songs where being played in episodes and he had a reoccurring role on the MTV reality series based on Kennedy’s attempts to pursue a rap career. “I got to meet a lot of cool people out here,” he says. “I was on the episodes with Ice T. I was just networking. I was in the heart of Hollywood. I was an employee of MTV. I never thought I’d get on MTV before I made it to BET. I still ain’t been on BET yet.” While living the MTV life in Hollywood, Sporty didn’t lose focus. His first priority was music and he used every opportunity to shop his music through all his newfound connections. After recording a song entitled “U Not Beyoncé” he realized Atlanta was the place he needed to be to break his new single. “Atlanta, that’s my home,” he reasons. “I just came to handle my business [in L.A.]. But I had to come back home with my record to blow it right. I couldn’t be born and raised in Atlanta and come to L.A. for nine months and drop a record in L.A. I had to do it right. I had to go back home.” When he arrived back home, his relationship with DJs through his record store paid off. Once in the hands of local DJs, “U Not Beyoncé” gave Sporty his first credible single to impact the streets and radio as he prepares to release his album SuperSport II through his own indie label Home Team Entertainment later this year. No matter if it’s ATL or Hollywood, this bicoastal rapper is still about his business. // myspace.com/sportyo Words by Randy Roper // Photo by Jared Milgram OZONE MAG // 93