As his ten digits were called on a Thursday for one of his first and most important interviews, the phone just rang and rang, no answer. The same ten digits were called on Friday, and still, no answer. What in the world could this Lil’ L guy be doing? On Saturday, a break was taken hoping that he may call the strange Dallas number back on his phone, but no chance there. On an unusually cold day in Prairie, View TX., Sunday marked the day when he would answer the phone with surprise and, “Hello! Yes, I have time for an interview.”Although he goes by the name Lil’ L among his friends because he was always the smallest guy in his crew, he was born as LaBrandon McDaniel in Texarkana, TX. on June 8, 1985.
At age 20, as a health and human performance major with a minor in business at PVAMU, Lil’ L believes firmly in a solid education to back up his aspirations of becoming a rapper. “After the rapping is gone, it is important to get a degree to fall back on.”
Born of a two-parent household, when Lil’ L was at the age of nine his parents divorced, therefore he, his mother, and one only sibling moved to Sulfur Springs, TX. where his mother raised them single-handedly.
Upon moving to Sulfur Springs, Lil’ L and his family felt like outcasts. They had no other family in this small town, and he attributes his drive in the rap industry to this life experience. “In Sulfur, if you were not family people were not going to see you the same” he says.
In the Sulfur Springs middle school, Lil’ L was introduced to the game of rapping at a party where he and his friends got on stage and performed in front of the school. “Everybody liked what we did, and that’s how it all started,” he says. Even before that middle school party, Lil’ L says that his father was a DJ and would always keep him around that atmosphere as a youth.
These influences along with many others that came along later in his career is what helped him mold the rapping style that can be heard today.
With his family backing up his dreams, Lil’ L says, “I’m not a gangsta,’ I just like to rap and tell people my story.” Lil’ L writes his own lyrics, and many artists such as TuPac, Zero, UGK, and NAS help him to formulate his style of rapping. “By listening to different artists, I can hear how they talk about their struggles, how they rhyme, and the personality they use behind their rapping,” he says.
Although he’s still young in age, Lil’ L’s laid back lyrics talk about the struggles of coming from a poor single parent household and how his mother had to work two jobs to give him and his sister the things they needed. “By watching my mother, that taught me how to grind to get what I wanted,” he says, “And to be happy after the struggle is over.”
Since he has been attending PVAMU, Lil’ L says that being near the Houston area has helped him to network with various artists and DJs, which has in turn helped him to get his name known. “Grinding,” is what Lil’ L says he does on a daily basis. On top of promoting himself through word of mouth, myspace.com, and facebook.com, he is featured on many mix tapes and CD’s that he passes out for free so people can hear what he has to offer. “I will do whatever it takes to get my name out there, even if it means giving away free music,” he says.
Lil L’s production team consists of manager, Ken Gibson who is responsible for production and promotion, entertainment producer/ beat-maker, Rodney Wimberley better known as “Skinny-Scoop,” lawyer, Pat Strong, director, Kevin Sorrell who is responsible for two videos and a DVD to be filmed this April, and Robin, who has allowed his team to make CDs and be the ears of what may or may no be good music. All of these people have been by Lil L’s side in the production of the summer classic The Takeover, and his upcoming release titled Taking Over To Expand by the Sothowed Click. Currently, Lil’ L is in negotiations with Strait Biz Records to get signed by a major record label.
As Lil’ L goes back to his normal chill mode, he turns on his favorite rapper Zero and says, “People have what they want and say what they have. I speak things into fruition. If I say it, that means it’s going to happen. There’s nothing I can’t do.”
For all of Lil L’s contact information and about upcoming CD’s check out: www.soundclick.com/dasus.