R ight now Shawty Lo is blatantly breaking the law. He’s a block away from his beloved Bankhead Highway, on an abandoned street, home to dope fiends and hood urchins—-and he is standing on about 40,000 bricks. His everpresent army of white-tee clad soldiers are all paranoid that the police are on their way, but Lo doesn’t muster an ounce of concern. “Man, calm down! The police ain’t worried about us!” yells a defiant Shawty Lo, motioning the photographer to continue with the photo shoot from the remains of a recently bulldozed building. Lo’s voiced disregard doesn’t ease the anxiety of his nervous crew (seconds earlier, the owner of the demolished building threatened to call the police for trespassing on private property), but when Shawty Lo gives an order, his generals follow, so they remain quiet. “They just wanna be around they king,” Lo later says about his loyal laborers. And right now, Shawty Lo certainly feels like a king. It’s late afternoon on the west side of Atlanta and even though the sun is hiding beneath the overcast sky, Carlos “Shawty Lo” Walker is basking in the bright lights of a flashing camera. It’s no secret that Carlos Walker was a once prominent drug lord who served time in prison for his dealings, but now he’s paid his dues, and done his time. He and his “generals” have been moving units in this city since 1993, and today is no different. Lo’s Units In The City still come packaged in plastic, but now they’re distributed through Asylum and peddled by pushers such as Best Buy and Sam Goody. Shawty Lo maintains that he never intended to be a rapper, but that’s exactly what he’s become. Like it or not, his hit single “Dey Know,” which samples the classic 1970 Edwin Starr hit, “War,” has undoubtedly become one of the hottest songs in the South, and if you add that to his growing resume including tracks such as “Dunn Dunn” and 2005’s “I’m Da Man,” it becomes apparent that Shawty Lo is quickly becoming a staple of the ATL music scene. Hollowell Parkway. The official name was recently changed, but is still referred to by natives as “Bankhead Highway.” “I don’t need no security guards or nothing out here,” says Lo. Even amidst his growing fame and success, he refuses to relocate his D4L studios and bounce from Bankhead. “All you see is me and my homeboys.” The Bowen Home hero adds, “No matter what kinda money I get, I’ll still be right here.” Minutes after his photo shoot in the demolished building, Shawty Lo sits in the backseat of his chauffeured Cadillac Escalade outside of his Bankhead studio. He has a fresh order of Chinese chicken wings and a lingering hangover from the night before (Rocko’s album release party), but for Shawty Lo, life doesn’t get much better than this. He is making his mark on the world from the very same street he grew up on, surrounded by lifelong friends and a comfortable setting. Shawty Lo is in his element, and there’s Lo Limit is sight. You get a lot of love in the streets. How were you able to acquire so much respect around the hood Look around you. We’re right here on my street, Bankhead... For the full interview, log on to ozonemag. com or pick up the April issue of OZONE <strong>Magazine</strong> featuring double covers with Shawty Lo and B.o.B.! Lo’s life is essentially similar to many of his predecessors who transitioned from trapper to rapper, but one element that makes Shawty Lo truly unique is that if you want him, you really can find him in the A. He’ll be on the west side, more specifically, right in front of his studio at 2610 Donald Lee OZONE | 15
RAIN FAYETTEVILLE, NC Words // Randy Roper 16 | OZONE
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