Lil' O (born Oreoluwa Mitchell Magnus-Lawson; November 22, 1977 in Lagos, Nigeria) is a Nigerian-American

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

, raised in Southwest Houston, Texas. He is an original member of

DJ Screw Robert Earl Davis Jr. (July 20, 1971 – November 16, 2000), better known by his stage name DJ Screw, was an American hip hop DJ based in Houston, Texas, and best known as the creator of the chopped and screwed DJ technique. He was a centra ...

's Screwed Up Click. He was also known as O or Da Fat Rat Wit Da Cheeze. His name references his height, at 5 feet tall.

Early life

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 Crack cocaine, commonly known simply as crack, and also known as rock, is a free base form of the stimulant cocaine that can be Smoking, smoked. Crack offers a short, intense Euphoria (emotion), high to smokers. The ''Manual of Adolescent Sub ...

, an act which caused his lungs to collapse. He was put on

life support Life support comprises the treatments and techniques performed in an emergency in order to support life after the failure of one or more vital organs. Healthcare providers and emergency medical technicians are generally certified to perform bas ...

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 Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA) is a Private university, private Historically black colleges and universities, historically black Roman Catholic, Catholic university in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the only Catholic Historically black c ...

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 James Todd Smith (born January 14, 1968), known professionally as LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James), is an American rapper and actor. He is one of the earliest rappers to achieve commercial success, alongside fellow new school hip ho ...

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 A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalation, injection, smoking, ingestio ...

, 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 Destiny's Child was an American girl group whose final lineup comprised Beyoncé, Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams (singer), Michelle Williams. The group began their musical career as Girl's Tyme, formed in 1990 in Hou ...

. The track soon became Lil' O's debut single and went on to be an instant local hit. Regardless, Lil' O eventually found himself out of school and back in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, 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 and majored in

business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for ...

. "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 wit da Cheeze'' sold over 75,000. He collaborated with Big Hawk on the hit single "Back Back", that led him back to a nationwide deal with

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

, which he left in 2003.

Discography

Albums

*1999: ''Blood Money'' *2000: '' Da Fat Rat wit da Cheeze'' *2003: ''Food On Tha Table'' *2007: ''Greatest Hits'' *2011: ''Grind Hard, Pray Harder'' *2021: ''The Greatest Of All Players''

Mixtapes

*2004: ''Neva Lay Down Vol. 1'' *2005: ''Jealous Got Me Strapped (Neva Lay Down Vol. 2)'' *2006: ''My Struggle My Hustle'' *2006: ''South Side Tippin'' *2008: ''Tha Flood (Neva Lay Down Vol. 3)'' *2010: ''Tha Flood 1.5'' *2016: ''The Re-Up''

Singles

References

External links

Lil' O discography at Discogs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lil O Living people 1977 births Rappers from Houston African-American male rappers 21st-century American male rappers Screwed Up Click members Underground rappers Nigerian emigrants to the United States University of Houston–Downtown alumni Atlantic Records artists Songwriters from Texas Gangsta rappers Rappers from Lagos 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American male musicians African-American songwriters 21st-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American musicians American male songwriters American musicians of Nigerian descent