Talent: Rapper, Writer
Single: "Lil Haiti"
Label: J Records/Close Rangel
Contact: www.smittyonline.com
               www.myspace.com/smitty

The road to rap stardom is paved with almosts, should haves and on second thoughts. Rapper/songwriter and J Records/Chameleon Entertainment signee Smitty (Varick D. Smith) seized all the opportunities presented to him since setting off on his road to rap stardom that traces back to Miami, where he was born and raised.

"I been writing forever," says the 24 year old who started rapping when his age was a single digit and came into his own artistically in his teens. He had the smarts to enroll at Florida A&M University in 1997. However, his aspiration to become a full-fledged artist led him to switch coasts after only two and half years of school.

College wasn't panning out for me so I went out to California to try to make this rap thing happen," reveals the former Journalism major about his 2000 move to Los Angeles. A year or two of grinding out West to find a foothold in the rap industry led Smitty to the movie set of The Wash where Dr. Dre was busy acting. Sneaking on the set was relatively easy but getting into Dre's ear for an impromptu audition proved to be an exercise in patience.

"We waited for him about 15, 16 hours, recalls Smitty. When we met him he was like Yeah it must be something cause y'all been out here all day.í I finally spit for him and two weeks later I was in the studio with him."

The immediate result was Smitty penning songs for The Wash Soundtrack (Hollywood) as well as ghost writing verses for Dre's now shelved Detox album. An offer to sign with Aftermath Records was extended but never came to fruition. "Everything was going smooth but it just didn't pan out the way I wanted it, recalls Smitty. By the time we got around to something definite I had moved on to something else."

That something else was connecting with Sean P. Diddy Combs, which resulted in penning an assortment of songs for P. Diddy including the smashes Shake Ya Tailfeather (w/ Nelly & Murphy Lee) and B2K's Bump, Bump, Bump. Again, a record deal offer was forthcoming but Smitty played it cool, only heightening his rep.

His songwriting success is only part of the ingredients that have led to Smitty's deafening buzz. Before meeting Dre he rapped for and became personal friends with veteran Hip-Hop legend Scarface. Then while dealing with Puff, Roc-A-Fella Records showed interest after his lyrical barbs impressed Jay-Z who became acquainted with Smitty since he was a member of Face Mob (Malice, Big Gee and Scarface with Jazzy Pha on production).

Now a solo artist, his Life of a Troubled Child debut album is sure to be only the beginning of a stellar career. Diamonds on My Neck has proven to be a bonafide club banger and was proclaimed the anthem for 2005's Memorial Day Weekend by Miami DJ Irie from the Heat and WEDR-FM. Ghetto is a horn driven heater that features his buddy Scarface and Kanye West along with John Legend's soulful crooning. Top shelf producers that include Timbaland, David Banner, Swizz Beatz, Kanye West and Manny fresh have been recruited to administer the forthcoming album's production and properly match Smitty's poignant lyricism.

Coming up in Miami, besides listening to local staples like 2 Live Crew and Jam Pony Express or his Southern icons like Geto Boyz and 8-Ball & MJG, Smitty consumed a steady diet of East Coast flavored rap music, which in turn influenced his own style. A lot of people say Iím like Biggie mixed with Scarface and I have lot of lyrical content, explains Smitty.

But there's no denying Smittyís southern roots. A lot of Down South music is about the feel; grimy dirty music, says Smitty, before describing his own work. You're going to hear lyrics, you're going to hear melody, you going to hear samples, you going to hear passion in my music. The griminess I do have in me is from where I'm from. It's Dirty South. Then I went out to LA and they just sprinkled me with their flavor. It's a great combination, how could you lose?!.'

Since "Diamonds on My Neck", what have you been up to?

I've just been on the grind.  Its been up to me not to become a one hit wonder.  Since then I put out four mix tapes.  I put out two mix tapes in the same month. One with DJ Ideal and the other with DJ Khaled.  I’ve been critically acclaimed in Ozone.  I got a new single out called “Lil Haiti” produced by The Runners. I just have been recording.  I’ve got a song call "Natural Hustla" with Akon.  I got a song with Pimp C.  I got a song coming out with Jamie Foxx.  We gonna drop the album Life of a Troubled Child.  I don’t wanna be like any other rapper.  I wanna be on my third and forth album and then put other people on.  I wanna make myself important in the game. 

When is the album due to drop?

There is no exact date right now.  Life of a Troubled Child.  I got Cool & Dre, Timbeland, Kayne.  I got a lot of people on there.  A lot of these people I knew from my writing days and not just producers that I meet after I got a deal.  Once we realized the songs were hot, thats when we cut the checks.  It’s not that type of album when you try to go out there and get everybody that’s hot.  It was like I was already doing music with people that were already superstars. 

Why did you choose "Life of a Troubled Child" as the name of your album? How did the picture come about of the boy crying?

It was more that I looked at life at a different prospective and I was just trying to explain that to a lot of my fans and my future fans, that we are men in our lives.  Some people become men after their married or after they have a kid or after death experiences or things of that nature.  I kind of grew into the person that I was gonna be today during my childhood.  Those are the things that kind of made me who I am today.  You listen to my music and who I was, who I am and where I’m trying to go and all of those are experience of what I went through as a child.  I’m not asking you to cry for me but these are the things that made me and it’s the life of a troubled child and makes me the individual that I am today. When you hear my music its just that  things that I went through at a younger age.   The picture reminded me of myself when I was that age. The picture accomplish what I was trying to do as far as getting my shit played at that time.  Trying to be a prominent figure is what I’m crying about.  That might even be the album cover.  When people see it, they get captivated by it.  

What are your thoughts on the comments that Pimp C made about your diamonds not being real?

Well if you look on the internet now, he already re-tracked the statement.  We just did a record together.  You almost gotta interview him but he has done three or four interviews and has re-tracked  the statement to let people know that we are cool and there is no hard feelings.  You can’t really ask me cause I didn’t make the statement.

Do you think the fact that your signed to J Records and right now they're not huge contenders in the hip hop game, kind of hindered your album from coming out?

Well absolutely that’s the problem they're trying to fix over there now.  Being that I’m one of the figures that they are trying to work, it all comes together where I have to do my part as well as they have to do theirs.  I’m not saying that’s the reason it didn’t take off like everybody anticipated but at the end of the day it’s a grind. The same way Sony started off with Nas, Def Jam started off with Run DMC and LL Cool J.  It takes time to develop that particular department.  Having an individual like me who understands that we both have to bring it to the table, its gonna be a long haul.  We're getting closer and closer everyday by me grindin and being on the road.  Like I’m on a promo tour right now in Detroit.  Meet and greet DJs and let it be known that this is the future of what J Records is going with their hip hop.  When the album drops, we’ll definitely see a difference where J Records was then and where they are now in their rap department.  

A lot of people don't know that you started off ghost writing for people like P.Diddy and Dr. Dre.  Why do you think that you are not signed to either of them right now?

Absolutely, but with Dre it’s a different story.  He and I knew I wasn’t ready to be signed with Aftermath.  He offered me a deal but at the end of the day it didn’t play out like it should but I’m glad cause I wasn’t prepared to be over at Aftermath or to be working with a mobile like Dre.  Puffy did offer me a deal but it wasn’t enough to what everybody else was offering me.  I am in at such an entry level position that they didn’t feel comfortable giving me a million dollars but the people that didn’t know me called me a future star.  Am I upset that I didn’t signed with them, no cause they got the people who did look at me to believe in me.  What they did for me is priceless.   The label gave me a million dollars for what Dre and Puff did. 

The is a lot of controversy in Miami about how hood you are or how Lil Haiti doesn't respect you.  Do you think its because you choose to go to school and then you entered the rap game by writing?

It’s not even that.  I can four or five artist that are going through the same situation.  It’s that neighborhood and it is what it is.  With me I came out of no where.  I wasn’t trying to do the independent thing.  I wasn’t trying to stand outside of clubs and pass out cds.  The controversy to me is more of people that’s not from there.  When I’m in the hood with people that’s from there, its no controversy. 

Right now Miami has a good chance of being the next big city, what do you, the artist, the djs, the radio need to do to secure that Miami becomes the next big city. 

It can't be one sided.  They have to let other DJs come in. There has to be other artist to come up and start poppin.  It can’t be just Pitbull, Rick Ross, Smitty, Cool & Dre and Khaled.  Lil Flip has been doing his thing for a while but until Mike Jones and Paul Wall came around, that’s when the movement started.  Its up to the DJs to break new artist.  It can't be one or two artist because that’s not a movement. 

How come you're not on the DJ Khaled’s album?

Khaled is my dude and I fucks with him but his excuse for the situation is that he couldn’t get the clearance.  What can I say?  At the end of the day that’s still my dude and he still fucks with me.  If he said that he couldn’t get the clearance, I have no choice but to believe him. 

I was reading where DJ Drama said that if he could redo any mix tape, it would be yours because he didn’t think people appreciated it enough as a classic.

Of, course.  People don’t appreciate me until they come see me at a show.  They don’t appreciate me until they find out everything that I’ve done in the game or the moves that I’m making as far as shoe deals and drink deals.  But I think that I’m prepared for that type of situation. I just went to Chicago and people were telling me that, that’s one of the most classic mix tapes that they ever heard.  It’s up to me that when my album comes out to re-release that mix tape if Drama can make a comment like that.  You have to understand that this is the man that helped break Jezzy and T.I.