Episode 113: Lil Slim

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Mikel “Lil Slim” Pettis began his rap career as a teenager in New Orleans in the early 1990s, performing in nightclubs around the city. He was discovered by a then brand-new record label called Cash Money Records. Slim signed with them and became a key part of the first generation of artists on that label - acts like UNLV, PxMxWx, Pimp Daddy, Ms. Tee, Mr. Ivan, and many more, who would quickly turn Cash Money into a regional powerhouse just as the city was inventing a rap style of its own, a raunchy, call-and-response based approach called “bounce.”

During his tenure on Cash Money, Slim discovered a young kid from his neighborhood who, despite being only 10 or 11, already had a notebook full of memorable raps. Slim hooked that kid up with his label, and thus began the career of Lil Wayne.

Lil Slim left Cash Money after his 1995 album Thuggin and Pluggin, citing concerns over his label’s business practices that sound like they could be ripped from today’s headlines. He’s released several projects since then, including most recently the third volume of his Platinum Edition EP series.

Tracks featured in this episode:

1. Lil Wayne, “Hollygrove”
2. Lil Wayne, “La La La”
3. Birdman f/Lil Wayne, “I Run This”
4. MC T. Tucker and DJ Irv, “Where Dey At”
5. UNLV Yella Boy Live at Newton’s on a (Sunday) Night
6. UNLV, “Another Bitch”
7. DJ Jimi, “Where They At”
8. DJ Jimi f/Juvenile, “Bounce (For the Juvenile)”
9. Mia X, “Da Payback”
10. Soulja Slim, “M.A.G.N.O.L.I.A.”
11. Q93 Wild Wayne and Mic Fox Quenig with Cashmoney and Local 580 (1994)
12. Lil Slim, “Bounce Slide Ride (Street Version)”
13. Gregory D. and Mannie Fresh, “Buckjump Time ‘Project Rapp’”
14. Lil Slim, “Gangsta Day”
15. Ice Cube, “It Was A Good Day”
16. Lil Slim, “Hands On My Gun”
17. Lil Wayne Explains Why He Stopped Writing Down His Lyrics
18. Lil Slim f/B-32 & MC Heavy, “Niggaz Ain’t Nothing But Niggaz”
19. B-32 f/PxMxWx, Lil Slim, Ms. Tee, & MC Heavy, “I Need A Bag Of Dope”
20. Lil Slim f/B-32, “Cold In The Game”
21. The Showboys, “Drag Rap”
22. Lil Goldie, “Act A Donkey On A…”
23. 2 Blakk, “Second Line Jump”
24. Kilo, “The Ward Song”
25. DJ Jimi f/Juvenile, “Bounce (For the Juvenile)”
26. Mr. Ivan, “187 In A Hockey Mask”
27. Pimp Daddy, “Got 2 B Real”
28. Lil Slim f/Pimp Daddy, “Blunt After Blunt”
29. Cheeky Blakk, “Twerk Something”
30. Lil Slim, “Self Made Nigga”
31. Lil Slim, “Bounce Slide Ride 3”
32. Lil Slim, “My Indian Suit”
33. Lil Slim, “Stop Reppin”
34. Big Tymers, “Number 1 Stunna”

Show notes:

1. Forbes.com, “Baby Money: Inside The Early Years Of Birdman’s Cash Money Records
2. Complex, “Mannie Fresh Tells All: The Stories Behind His Biggest Hits”
3. Offbeat Magazine, “Cheeky Blakk: Queen Be Hustlin’”
4. Inside Treme, “The Legendary Cheeky Blakk”