The Ultimate Dirty South Rap Collection
Lil’ O
Lil' O
Biography
Lil' O (born Ore Magnus Lawson; November 22, 1977) is a southern rapper, born in Lagos, Nigeria and raised in Southwest Houston, Texas. He is an original member of DJ Screw's Screwed Up Click. He was also known as O or Da Fat Rat Wit Da Cheeze.
His father was a doctor and Lil’ O and his four brothers and one sister had a middle class upbringing. His mother died from ovarian cancer when Lil’ O was 13 and suddenly his father’s strict Nigerian upbringing began to chase him to rebellion.
Soon after his mother’s death, Lil’ O began hanging in the streets with friends who were in the drug game, and he became addicted to the fast money that drug dealing brought in. “I got street fame, women, and a lot of money quickly and easily,” he says. Eventually he got collared. After his arrest, his father kicked him out of the house and Lil’ O fell deeper into the lure of the drug game. While out on bond, he continued to sell drugs and was caught again. This time he attempted to swallow the evidence before the police could arrest him. He swallowed an ounce-and-a-half of crack cocaine and his lungs collapsed. He was put on life support and his father was told to prepare for his death. “It’s really a miracle that I woke up at all,” says Lil’ O. “I was breathing through tubes on my deathbed and I looked down and saw that my ankles were cuffed to the bed. I realized, if I recovered I was going to jail, and if I didn’t I was going to die.”
He went to Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans, where he studied business. Away from the drugs and the street life of Southwest Houston, Lil’ O also began to dabble in one of his first loves – hip hop. “Man, when I was growing up, LL Cool J came out with ‘Radio’ and that was it, I was hooked. I never thought about rapping as a career because I was making so much selling drugs, plus the money came faster than it does in the rap game,” says O. While at Xavier, in 1997, he recorded “Can’t Stop” – featuring vocal contributions from the ladies that would go on to earn renown as Destiny's Child. The track soon became Lil’ O’s debut single and went on to score an instant local hit. Regardless, Lil’ O eventually found himself out of school and back in Texas, again exposed to the same lifestyle he’d tried to leave behind. In 1999, he then signed with the Houston-based indie label Game Face Entertainment, but also began selling drugs again. His debut album, "Blood Money", sold 20,000 copies but he was unable to promote it due to spending time in jail.
After being released from prison, Lil’ O left the drug game behind for good and focused on his music completely. He also enrolled at the University of Houston–Downtown ("UHD") and majored in business. “Some days I wouldn’t feel like going to class, and then I would look across the street at the county jail and remember how I felt when I was in there. That would be all the motivation I would need to get myself to class,” says Lil’ O with a hearty laugh.
In 2001, his album "Da Fat Rat With The Cheeze" sold over 75,000. He collaborated with Big Hawk on the hit single "Back Back". "Back Back" led him back to a nationwide deal with Atlantic Records, which he later left in 2003.
Discography |
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Lil' O - Blood Money |
Game Face Entertainment | 1999 |
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Lil' O - Da Fat Rat Wit Da Cheeze |
Game Face Entertainment, Atlantic | 2001 |
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Lil' O - Food On Tha Table |
Game Face Entertainment | 2003 |
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Lil' O - Blood Money: The Retold Story (Deluxe Edition) |
Bar None Entertainment | 2006 |
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Lil' O - My Struggle My Hustle (The Lost Tapes) |
Bar None Entertainment | 2006 |
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Lil' O - Greatest Hits |
Bar None Entertainment | 2007 |
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Lil' O - Grind Hard, Pray Harder |
Bar None Entertainment | 2011 |
Guest Appearances |
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Southside Playaz - You Gottus Fuxxed Up |
LafTex Records | 1998 |
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Yungstar - Throwed Yung Playa |
Straight Profit Records | 1999 |
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Big Pokey - Hardest Pit In The Litter |
Chevis Entertainment | 1999 |
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Big Moe - City Of Syrup |
Wreckshop Records | 2000 |
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E.S.G. - City Under Siege |
Wreckshop Records | 2000 |
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H.A.W.K. - Under H.A.W.K.'s Wings |
Dead End Records | 2000 |
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Southside Playaz - Street Game |
LafTex Records | 2000 |
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Papa Reu - Xcuse Me! |
Reuster House Records | 2000 |
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G-Low - The Last Man Standing |
Worldbound Entertainment | 2000 |
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E.S.G. & Slim Thug - Boss Hogg Outlaws |
S-E-S Entertainment | 2001 |
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Woss Ness - The Only Way To Beat Us To Cheat Us |
Woss Ness Entertainment | 2001 |
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Archie Lee - 8100% |
Reliant Entertainment | 2001 |
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Godfather - Before It's Too Late |
Chevis Entertainment | 2001 |
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Southside Pentagon - Money Over Everything |
SoSouth | 2001 |
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Z-Ro - Screwed Up Click Representa |
Presidential Records | 2002 |
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Rebel - Hit'n Every Stang |
South World Records | 2002 |
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H.A.W.K. - HAWK |
Ghetto Dreams Entertainment | 2002 |
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Key Players (G.T. & Steve Nice) - Key Players Vol. 1 |
Key Players, SoSouth | 2002 |
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Trae & Dougie D Of Guerilla Maab - Year Of The Underdawgs |
Resurrection Music Group | 2003 |
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Mike-D. Aka Bosshog Corleone Presents His Greatest Flows: My Gift To The World |
Corleone Family Entertainment | 2003 |
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Woss Ness - Texas Dream Team |
Woss Ness Entertainment | 2003 |
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Ice Water Slaughter - T.H.U.G.S. |
Dead Game Records | 2003 |
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Key Players (G.T. & Steve Nice) - Key Players Vol. 2 |
Key Players, SoSouth | 2003 |
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Kottonmouth Jesse - Authentic |
Fortune Funk Entertainment | 2004 |
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The Screwed Up Click - Making History |
EQ Entertainment LLC | 2005 |
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Mr. 3-2 - Over The Law |
Street Game Records | 2005 |
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Stay Down Click - N Da Game |
SoSouth | 2005 |
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Z-Ro - Z-Ro And The SUC |
Tru Blue Entertainment | 2006 |
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50/50 Twin - Ounce 4 Ounce Vol. 1 |
Roc 4 Roc Records | 2006 |
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HAWK - Endangered Species |
Ghetto Dreams Entertainment | 2007 |
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Big Jokka - Sleepin' Light & Grindin' Heavy |
Not On Label | 2007 |
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Ronald Vaughns - Entertainment Business |
Briargate Records | 2007 |
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Big Moe - Unfinished Business |
Wreckshop Records, Koch Records | 2008 |
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DJ Screw - 11 • 16 • 00 Volume 3 |
Screwed Up Click Entertainment | 2008 |
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Big Pokey - Evacuation Notice |
Doc Music Group LLC., Koch Records | 2008 |
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Big Unk - Tolerated But Hated |
Unk Records | 2008 |
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Doc T. - N.V.I.S. (Nevertheless Vision Is Superior) |
Insight Records | 2008 |
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Mr. 3-2 - Fatt Domino |
Down South Records | 2008 |
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Slim Thug - Boss Of All Bosses |
Koch Records | 2009 |
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Young Problemz - Da Problem (How's My Rapping?) |
Unauthorized Entertainment | 2009 |
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Rally Boys - Rally World Vol. 2 |
Music Access, Inc., Fortune Funk Ent. | 2009 |
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Z-Ro - Cocaine |
Rap-A-Lot 4 Life | 2009 |
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Macc Grace - Guess Who's Bacc!!! |
SoSouth | 2010 |
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Point Blank - Pick Ya Poison |
Wreckless Entertainment | 2010 |
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Papa Reu - Da Original |
Screwed Up Click, Reu Muzik Inc. | 2010 |
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Tiny T - Put My $$$$ In My Hand |
Tiny Ent., SoSouth | 2010 |
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Bun B - Trill OG: The Epilogue |
Rap-A-Lot Records | 2013 |
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Grit Boys - Grit 2 |
G-Boy Entertainment | 2013 |
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Da Grace Boys - #ScrewDaWorld |
Grace Boys Commission | 2013 |
Compilations |
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Various - D.A.P. Presents Certified Mackin |
Hitman Records | 2000 |
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Various - Platinum Thugs: Straight Ghetto |
Zereh Entertainment | 2001 |
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Various - Screw Tape: A Tribute To The Legend |
Ghetto Brothers Records | 2002 |
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D.J. Screw & The Screwed Up Click - Soldiers United 4 Cash: The Soundtrack |
TJ Music, Reliant Entertainment | 2002 |
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DJ Screw - All Work No Play Vol. 2 |
Reliant Entertainment | 2002 |
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Various - Platinum Players: The Game Is To Be Sold Not Told |
Irie Productions | 2002 |
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Wreckshop Records - Hitlist Vol. 3 |
Wreckshop, SoSouth | 2004 |
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S.L.A.B. - Slow Loud And Bangin' Vol. 4 |
Guerilla Maab Entertainment | 2004 |
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Shunny Pooh - 3rd Coast Finest Volume 1
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SoSouth | 2004 |
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Various - Plastic Crack |
SoSouth | 2005 |
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Southern Playas United - Stanken Up The Highway |
Woodfiggaz Inc. | 2005 |
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Various - Lil Keke Da Don Presents Undaground All-Stars: Da Texas Line Up |
Commission Music Group | 2005 |
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Various - SoSouth - Texastonez, Vol. 3 |
SoSouth | 2005 |
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Various - Heavyweighters: Tilting The Scales |
Wreckshop Records | 2006 |
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Various - Since Day One |
3rd Degree Entertainment | 2006 |
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Various - Seven Eight Compilation |
7even 8ight Entertainment | 2007 |
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The Original Screwed Up Click - Straight Wreckin Vol. 1 |
Express 1 Stop | 2007 |
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Big Moe - The Best Of... |
Wreckshop Records | 2007 |
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Lil Keke - The Don Ke Chronicles |
Hustletown | 2010 |
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Harvey Luv - I Got Beatz On Lock Vol. 1 |
SoSouth | 2010 |
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Various - Point Blank The Bull Presents Ganxstaz Only 2 |
Wreckless Entertainment | 2012 |
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Lil C - Best Of Lil C |
Brickmade Entertainment | 2013 |