Setting New Limits

09/12/2000 2:00 AM, Yahoo! Music
Billy Johnson Jr

"It's a different way for me to do my thing," C-Murder says about the big step of releasing his third album, Trapped In Crime, on his brand-new label, TRU Records. "People was like, 'You learned the business, so handle it.'"

One of the stars of No Limit Records (the label owned by C-Murder's brother, Master P), C learned the ropes of the music business both as a solo artist and as a member of the label's supergroup, TRU (in which he performed alongside P and his other brother, Silkk The Shocker). C-Murder always played an active role in developing concepts for his videos and songs, but now, as the founder of TRU Records, he gets the final say.

First, assembling a team of producers was one of C's top priorities: Instead of relying on No Limit's respected Beats By The Pound production crew, on Trapped In Crime he chose to work with the Daily Sound, a team headed by beatsmiths Keno, XL, and Base Heavy. Aligning himself with the Daily Sound resulted in an album that is more musically diverse than his earlier efforts, 1998's Life Or Death and 1999's Bossalinie, as well as more streetwise.

"I kept it more street," C says of Trapped In Crime when comparing it to his previous album. "I seen what I was known for. C-Murder is straight thuggish. I went back to that. Record sales should increase. When I dropped Bossalinie, I was just on another level. I think Bossalinie was supposed to come out after Trapped In Crime. Bossalinie is really going to catch people's attention after this album."

C-Murder's signature straightahead storytelling is evident on such Trapped In Crime cuts as "Staring At The Walls," "Sad But True," and the first single, "They Don't Really Know You" featuring Master P & Erica Fox, but surprisingly, he offers harder rhymes on numerous other songs. For instance, he sends a shout-out to the New Orleans projects where he was raised on "That Calliope," which samples a snippet of the theme music from the classic horror flick Halloween. There's also the funky party tune "How A Thug Like It" with Jermaine Dupri & Da Brat, and a remake of Snoop Dogg's "Down 4 My N-ggas." Even C's lone production credit, "Uptown Thing," has a bouncy edge to it.

"I just needed an uptempo song," C says of his efforts to give Trapped In Crime a more universal appeal. "You got to have bland, uptempo, serious, funny, street, and hardcore [songs]. That's how I feel putting a record together is supposed to be done."

Music, however, is not the only area of C's career in which he's advanced. He recently signed a modeling contract with Wilhelmina Modeling Inc., and by late 2001 he plans to launch a clothing line called TRU Gear. He's even designing his own tennis shoe. "My tennis shoe is definitely going to be a basketball shoe," he reveals. "They'll be in a lot of colors that I don't get to see. And they won't have any shoe strings." Other projects on C's very full plate include the video release Based On A TRU Story, which will feature behind-the-scenes footage from the No Limit archives, and a screenplay called Street Glory.

Clearly, C's confidence level as a rapper, producer, and entrepreneur has elevated significantly since his 1995 debut as a TRU sidekick. He may have first gained notoriety as Master P's little brother, but today, his accomplishments as a solo artist, record label head, fashion mogul, and actor speak for themselves.