Lil' Flip

Amid Houston’s thriving underground rap circuit, Lil' Flip achieved swift commercial success once his self-released 2000 project The Leprechaun reached listeners across the country, which quickly led to a contract with Universal Records. Known as the Freestyle King, the teenage rapper caught the ear of the late DJ Screw and became part of the loosely organized Screwed Up Click. That connection earned Flip immediate credibility across Texas and throughout the South, allowing The Leprechaun to sell strongly despite its independent status. The album’s gradual yet widespread impact, combined with the artist’s youthful energy, drew Universal’s interest; the label signed the twenty-year-old in 2002 and issued Undaground Legend before the year ended. Powered by the single “The Way We Ball” and a remix of the earlier Leprechaun track “I Can Do Dat,” the release broadened Flip’s reach nationwide and positioned him among the South’s most promising young rappers of the early 2000s.

In 2002 Flip followed with the polished second album Undaground Legend, which attracted little notice. Two years afterward he resurfaced with the broader double-disc collection U Gotta Feel Me. That project yielded notable hits including “Game Over (Flip)” and “Sunshine,” delivering the national recognition Flip had pursued. The newfound visibility also sparked rivalry, as he soon clashed with T.I. over the title King of the South. Flip maintained visibility through ongoing drama and a series of mixtapes, most prominently the Freestyle Kings installments that reached volume six in 2005. Plans for his next studio album that same year collapsed when Sony declined to release it, leaving him without a label for the subsequent three years. I Need Mine surfaced in 2007 as a double CD via Asylum. Two joint efforts followed: 2008’s All Eyez on Us paired him with Outlawz member Young Noble, while 2009’s Certified teamed him with Young Money’s Gudda Gudda. The long-delayed Ahead of My Time arrived in 2010 on his own Clover G’s Records, featuring material recorded as early as 2007. The same imprint later put out 2013’s The Black Dr. Kevorkian. For 2015’s El Jefe, released through SoSouth, he included the single “In My Pimp C Voice.”