The Invisible Baller

The story behind every Southern hip hop label CEO is like a movie. (That’s probably why each and every one of them has a movie coming out.) Houston’s Lil’ Troy is no exception. In 1989 he put out the first record by the South’s most legendary emcee: Scarface. Then he spent the nineties going in and out of jail and consolidating his Short Stop Records empire. In 1998 he released his major-label debut, Sittin’ Fat Down South, and sold two million. Now, just like his fellow H-Town entrepreneurial geniuses J Prince (of Rap A Lot records) and South Park Mexican, he’s got more money than he can count. The beauty of it is that this part workaholic, part megalomaniac little big man doesn’t produce or rap on any of the records that bear his name.

VICE: Give us a little description of the Houston rap scene.

OK picture this here: a big flat land, real real flat. 85 percent of the time always hot and pretty. Now picture a bunch of Mercedes Benzes and big trucks runnin’ down the street with 20-inch rims on them. You only see LA and New York on TV and they showin’ off their cars and their platinum jewelry but there’s boys down here wearin’ all of that. It’s like that in H-Town. Shit, we ain’t ridin’ no damn horses.

Now musically, how do you feel it differs from what we’re accustomed to on the East Coast?

Y’all got that lyricism. Y’all want to see who’s the best lyricist and all that. Down here they be wantin’ to see who’s the best freestyle. But I don’t give a damn who’s the best freestyle, the best lyricist, or nothing. It ain’t about who can rap the best, it’s about who got the best marketing plan. I don’t freestyle shit. Can’t write hardly that much. But I can get some dudes that help me write some shit down to get them platinum records.

But since you don’t really rhyme, deejay or make beats, how come you’re on the cover of all those records?

I’m the mastermind. I’m the man behind everything to make it happen. See, they got a little talent, right? They know how to rap on the corner, but I put the whole business plan together as far as going to the studio, the type of songs we gonna do, paying for recording, doing the mix and the mastering, and the marketing. It’s my album: I’m the one putting the money behind it. I’ll tell you what, I’m a close this out with you right here: I’m the Quincy Jones of rap. Do you understand what I mean by that? The Quincy Jones of rap. When you seen the album that Quincy put out called Q’s Jook Joint, he had everybody on there singin’, everybody on there doing music, and he was on the cover. But he didn’t rap on it.

I think he wrote and produced most of those songs.

OK, the same thing I do. I help write the songs, I help produce all the songs, I do all the mixing. I’m the fuckin’ Quincy Jones of rap.

BUSTA NUT

Lil’ Troy’s

Back To Ballin’

is out now on Short Stop/Koch. Quincy Jones has many albums out as well.