Starlito "I'm Moving To Houston" (New Album)

http://uproxx.com/smokingsection/2015/12/starlito-moving-to-houston-new-album/

Starlito’s decided to relocate. Or, to be more accurate, he’s added another zip code to the list of those he’s referenced repeatedly in songs. Besides his Nashville hometown, Atlanta, Las Vegas, and Arizona are all locations he referenced heavily in the past and now he’s added a Texas address to the list, announced by way of his latest release, ‘I’m Moving To Houston,’ available today on iTunes and Google Play.

The new 12-track project is produced solely by H-Town’s TrakkSounds and features guest spots from Killa Kyleon, Propain, Jack Freeman, Sauce Walka, and Sosa Mann as well frequent collaborators Don Trip and Young Dolph. In his own words, Lito talks about his longevity and describes how the LP came together, the city’s influence as well as how ? C’s spirit serves as a guidepost for it all.

I actually move and gameplan remarkably similar to the way I used to when I was first releasing music (late 2003-2004). I warned myself about become stagnant and/or satisfied with accomplishment. There’s always more work to be done. I’ve survived because I developed a very audible voice of reason.

I signed a recording deal December 2004, with Universal Motown, through Birdman and Slim, through Yo Gotti [laughs]. Long story short, there were too many chefs in the kitchen. At 19 years old, I was so impressionable, not to mention happy to be there that I let some of my plans for myself take a backseat to being a team player/follower. I was born a leader, not that great leaders can’t also follow from time to time. But to make it on your own, you have to first define for yourself what “making it” is.

Independence means you “do what you wanna” (shouts to Bankroll Fresh). You control your destiny. You’re either credited or accountable for all successes and/or failures. In music business, It’s more about who’s paying for everything. With me, and my career, nobody dictates anything for me at this point, other than myself and my company. I’ve earned that by default, due to all the losses and lessons along the way. Independence isn’t easy, but reaps maximum rewards.

The lessons learned and experiences along the way prime me for longevity. Regardless of the specifics of how the business arrangement played out, I had some GREAT teachers. Yo Gotti has been putting music out for over 15 years and continues to thrive. Cash Money has been a force in the rap realm for nearly a quarter century. I’ve got friends serving that much time in prison ,for just trying to get some money. Longevity comes from planning your work, then working that plan. And you have to really WORK. My average “work week” is about 60-70 hours active between the studio, office work, travel, community outreach etc.

I’m Moving To Houston, which I’m releasing on the day ? C passed away, is about me paying homage to a place with a strong rap heritage. I LOVE Houston, Texas and could see myself growing old there. I spent a week and a half there this spring prior to SXSW and recorded with quite a few artists and producers from there. One of my frequent collaborators, TrakkSounds, lives there and I typically record in his studios when I’m passing through.

Around September, we decided that we had so much music together that we needed to do something with it. I had just finished reading Sweet Jones: ? C’s Trill Life Story by Julia Beverly and was inspired by the numerous parallels between both our early lives and careers. Losing my uncles T. Amaru Shakur and C. Lamont Butler greatly influenced me and my music. On a personal level, every loss is a lesson and I’ve lost what seems like the majority of my peers I came up with. It’s taught me to take nothing for granted, and I treat every project like it could be my last.

That inspiration led me to complete the project with TrakkSounds scoring it as a soundtrack of sorts. Basically, we had all these dope country rap tunes with live instrumentation and I asked myself “What would my uncle Chad Do?”

? C’s spirit looms over this project for more than just geographical reasons. I always felt like there were parallels between our lives, both musically and personally. For him, he was a musician by nature, and a studio junkie to the point of being reclusive, which I can identify with completely. He was one with the music he made and, when you’re being true to yourself, it’s a strength that contributes to being embraced and ensures longevity.

From a career perspective, a lot of people don’t know that UGK struggled for years financially because of being young and falling into a few bad business deals early on. They didn’t really get what they were owed until after Jay Z’s “Big Pimpin'” caught on, but, by then, I already had four or five of their albums, knew who they were, and started to come up with my own definition of what they meant to me. I was actually more of a UGK fan than a Jay-Z fan at that time. Another cosmically ironic note is the release date for Houston… is also Jay-Z’s birthday and his wife is from Houston, of course. On a real personal level, Beverly’s book highlighted that ? was a momma’s boy and I can dig that. Both of our moms are/were our best friends and they’re gangsta(s).

? C had deep ties to the “streets” of Nashville. Some of his peers were my elders. He dated a female friend of my mother when I was about 10 years old. He had an RIP tattoo of a friend from Nashville that was from my section. The duplex where his friend was murdered was the location for my master performance shot in my music video “I’m Killin’,” although that was purely unintentional on my behalf. The person charged with the murder was my cousin and I vividly remember watching the news the night it happened. To see mugshots of people that I know well published in his biography was extra confirmation that we are kindred spirits.

Plus, I’m into property, equity, and ownership at the moment so this album hopefully will provide a vessel for me to pursue some of my other business endeavors in Texas. I’ve lived in Las Vegas, Phoenix, Atlanta, and Nashville pretty much simultaneously over the last 29 months (since Cold Turkey’s release on July 2, 2013). This is just the first time I’ve themed a project around acquiring a new residence(s).

It’s my plight to spite the establishment and remain underground till I’m underground. I’m tired of writing, I had a show on the good ol’ chitlin’ circuit last night. Did a feature for some cold cash immediately after and now I’m on I-10 and haven’t had a wink of sleep. Let me close this and this app so that I can resume browsing Zillow listings here in Texas. In case you haven’t heard, I’M MOVING TO HOUSTON. Until then, I’m about to smoke something, ? .