P-Duble

Holla'...the Redeemed Original Gangsta' (R. O. G.) is back!

P-Duble
As one of the hottest up-n-coming artists in the industry…and more than 10 years older than most of his comrades, P-Duble has experience and maturity to bring to the table.

P-Duble is thirty-four and was almost 10 years removed from his last release, “Birth Uv A G,” in 1999. The record, and P-dub’s voice—classics in the now popular, but still young, Christian Hip-Hop World—set the stage for his hiatus and allowed him to learn some important life-lessons until the time was right for him to step back behind the microphone.

Thanks to the persistence of such cultural icons as Sup C, Mr. Solo and T-Bone and reinforced by a mainstream culture that loves to occasionally dust off classic adages, P-dub has never really left the game, or missed a meal. He couldn’t be happier that the Lord has continued to fuel his calling into the hip-hop ministry.

“I appreciate that the Lord has allowed me to still stay in this game and I thank Him for the blessings He has bestowed upon me,” P-dub says. “Not talking financially, just talking about my family, life and being relevant in His scheme.” He hasn’t relied on samples alone to stay and get back into the game. He came-back on the scene with a vengeance with his 2006 release, “No One.” This self-produced project tossed itself into more than 10,000 heads and set the stage for what has been a spiritual re-awakening on a major hip-hop scale.

As for the rest of his history, P-dub first formed a group with some of his boys called “Dead on Arrival,” back in 1990. P-Duble dropped himself from the group and saw the remaining duo sign with Philadelphia-based Bodybag Records and release an album…and then…saw it collapse on the shelves. P-Duble (known as Lil’ Pookie at the time) then proceeded to drop his own underground projects, such as “Blak + Wyte” in 1992, “Bottom of my Boot” in 1994, “Pooc OG: tha’ gangsta’ chronicles” in 1995 and then “Birth Uv A G” in 1999.

In between these individual releases, he combined with Michigan-based Luppy to form the “Outsiders.” They worked together and collaborated on one-project that was released in 1996 and opened-up the door for Luppy to jump onto the scene with his own group, “LPOutsiders.”

Lup and P-dub saw a future together, but the business and differing aspirations ultimately took a toll on their relationship. “That relationship got really messed-up for awhile,” P-dub says. “I was so immature that I wouldn’t allow myself to see eye-to-eye with him, which was a mistake, because he was right and he was so talented and was really the heart and soul of what we were doing. The music business is notorious for breaking up relationships because of everything that it entails. Ego, money. Those are usually things that are pieces of the problem, but it never should’ve been, especially with where we were both coming-up from and the fact that we were both Christian artists.”

P-Duble laughs matter-of-factly at the situation, and then turns his attention to today. He’s preparing to enter the game with a thump through his reincarnated Pike Street music, the same company that released the final three of his previous releases back in the day.

“One of the singles off this one is called ‘This Is Why…’ and features Mims and is based on the concept of the old records and MC’s.” The album is titled “If I Die…(…cry no pity),” but P-dub believes that hip-hop is ready for someone to push the music forward creatively. “These topics they talkin’ about. We already covered that in the 80’s and 90’s. You know, ‘I Get Money?’ Why hasn’t the artist progressed conceptually? They’re not diggin’ deep enough. I wanted to on dig deep and come up with neat concepts and things that haven’t been done before.”

The high-pitched excitement that characterized his delivery as an MC also shows up in his speaking voice. In discussing his whereabouts, he’s honest to a possible fault. He admits that he was and still is hesitant to pick up the mic as a mature adult because many may not want to hear a grown man rap.

However that hasn’t been the case at all. The public’s reaction has surprised even P-dub himself.

“The response has been crazy,” he says about his comments in other interviews, which generated a great deal of fan reaction. “They didn’t touch on the age thing. Maybe it’s not as big of a deal as I thought it was, but then again the Lord has a way of over-coming even the most ominous of obstacles…there isn’t any that He can’t overcome. I mean, Jay-Z is older than me. I’m thirty-four. He says he’s thirty-eight. We know Dr. Dre is in his forties. Even 50 is in his thirties. Personally, I would like to forget bout that and listen to the music. If it’s hot, it’s hot.”

ARTIST WEBSITE:  http://www.famecast.com/p-duble

OTHER ARTIST WEBSITE:  http://pduble.bravehost.com

HOME TOWN: 
Indianapolis

GROUP/BAND MEMBERS: 
Eternal Sunshine

Label Head and Rapper ‘P-Duble’ Has Utilized Optimism and Faith in Jesus Christ to make his ‘Pike Street Music Group’ One of the New Hip-Hop Powerhouses.

As the founder and CEO of Ohio based Pike Street Music Group Keith Scarlett has done exactly the opposite of what many Christian Music Entrepreneurs (or ‘ministers,’ as he likes to be called instead) have done. Known as the rapper, P-Duble, Scarlett has firmly planted his feet in a music industry that often catches people slipping.

The thirty-four year old ‘minister’ began his run as a young MC freestylin’ throughout the city of Indianapolis and across the region for anyone that would listen. Seeing that the field held more risk than reward, Scarlett stepped away from a partnership with two childhood friends to start doing things on his own in 1992. But dealing with himself taught Scarlett a valuable lesson. “When you’re with a group, that’s a lot of work,” explains Scarlett. “Since it’s just you, it’s even harder. Because the market was radio-driven and it’s harder to break into rap, it’s got to be something special.”

Something special would come in the form of a “happenstance-meeting” with one of the hottest artists and producers in the Midwest; Ty Wills.

“My wife and I were Christmas shopping in the City Center Mall in downtown Columbus, when I walked into this airbrush shop and saw these flyers advertising a studio specializing in hop-hop for only $25.00,” stated P-Duble. “So, I figured why not…it’s worth checking-out for that price…”

P-Duble quickly realized that Will’s set-up was just right and that Ty Wills had the experience to help re-start what had previously been a dormant voice for the past 7 years. His first release in August 2006, “No One,” has gone on to become an underground staple in the Christian hip-hop market. P-Duble would continue to build a following through shows and appearances and then really developed a buzz with his May 2007 EP, “My Album About Me.” This 6-track joint, including the club hit, “No Trouble” has begun to put P-Duble as a nationwide entity.

Using the blueprints laid by Southern rap CEO’s like Rap-A-Lot’s James Prince, Suave House’s Tony Draper, No Limit’s Master P and Slip-n-Slide’s Ted Lucas, P-Duble and his label, Pike Street Music, has begun to become a force and is even in negotiation for a distribution deal with Koch Records. Powerful chart performances by “No Trouble” and the other hit single from the newest release, “Round-n-Round,” have started to set the stage for P-Duble to take-hold of a post-Babyface and post-Bone Thugs Midwest.

“The success hasn’t really surprised me, because the Lord can make all things happen,” says P-dub confidently. “But I wanted to make sure that it didn’t become a one-hit wonder. Anything you build for the Lord has to have a foundation and that foundation is scripture and being firmly rooted in the Lord’s doctrine. So we made sure the hometown people believed us. We made sure we became the best that we can and let the Lord take it on from there.”

Soon, P-dub had earned a unique reputation as an artist that had a street persona and radio-friendly music. Building on the previous projects, P-dub [on his newest release, “If I Die…”] has chosen to bring an even harder edge to his sound, while still maintaining his mainstream accessibility. P-Duble’s breakthrough singles off the new project may just be the ones that he has been hard at work trying to perfect, and with cameos from platinum hip-hop artist’s Mims and Nate-Dogg, as well as the talented; Ty Wills, T-Huzzie, Luppy and LX – this may set a new standard in the Christian hip-hop world.

P-Duble rates this past year as on the best, but 2008 will be holding its own challenges. While he will be releasing his new and first, full-length release in more than 10 years; Pike Street Music is also branching-off and creating Kaulipeper Klik Productions: the production arm…and opening-up other aspiring artists access to the production and beat-making that has thus-far been only behind the lyrics of P-Duble.

It’s that opportunistic outlook that keeps P-dub from slippin’. “Hip Hop is all about opportunity; opportunity to spread the message of Jesus Christ to those that need it,” he says. “People say it’s dying, but that’s coming from people who don’t take advantage of opportunities.”

INFLUENCES: 
Jesus Christ...that's all I need...

ON MY PLAYLIST: 
Red Cloud, Ty Wills, Cridie-Mac, BW + LX, Angry, Bumps Inf, instrumentals...