Freecreditreport.com guy to work with Kanye, Timbaland on debut album
Eric Violette, a.k.a. the Freecreditreport.com guy, inked a five-album deal with Roc-A-Fella/Island Def Jam earlier today — ending an intense, three-month bidding war by several labels for hip-hop’s hottest free agent.
Nicknamed the “Next Great White Hope” by XXL Magazine, Violette said a healthy stream of bootylicious stripper ass and Cristal almost convinced him to sign with Cash Money, but that a personal guarantee to work with Kanye West and Timbaland was too good to pass up.
“Those are my (sensitive n-word)” said Violette, the star of heavily-played Freecreditreport.com commercials, including one in which he dons pirate garrrrrrrrb. “When business-savvy (sensitive n-word) knock on your door and tell you they got mad love for your work, well, you can’t disrespect real (sensitive n-word) like that.”
Though one-hit wonder status is a concern, West said he’s been around enough legit talent to know that Violette isn’t going to fall into the same creative funk as the music industry’s most well-known TV commercial cautionary tale — the two dudes who ripped off the “Gilligan’s Island” theme for Applebee’s ‘Shrimp Sensations’ ads and battled subsequent writer’s block at Virgin Records.
It’s undeniable, West said. No matter what club he goes to, people can’t stop bangin’ to “F-R-E-E that spells free/Credit-report-dot-com, baby.”
“The minute I heard that shit, I was like, that’s the truth. That’s fucking raw,” West said. “I mean, ‘Gold Digger’ be tellin’ it like it is. ‘Stronger’ be tellin’ it like it is. But nothing I’ve heard, my work included, explores ‘the struggle’ like EZ E’s joint.”
Specifically, West said the line about Violette’s credit “being whack,” which causes him to drive “off the lot in a used subcompact” is resonating with African-Americans in a way not seen since Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five’s groundbreaking hip-hop anthem, “The Message.”
“It probably would have hit home for me if I was still dirt poor, ‘cuz shit, now people be droppin’ Bentleys in my lap like its Halloween candy,” West said. “But back in the day, I had no idea how to check my credit. If my broke-ass had to be flossin’ in a Toyota Celica or something, I’m glad people would have my back so I couldn’t be dissed.”
Violette becomes only the second Canadian born rapper to sign a major hip-hop album deal, following in the footsteps of Snow, who had a hit in 1993 with “Informer.” However, some hardcore hip-hop historians also count comedian Tom Green’s “Bum Bum Song” as part of the country’s proud lineage.
Hip-hop fan Jamal Wilkinson of Detroit said he’s been listening to Violette’s rhymes on a bootleg recording for months now. He especially appreciates how Violette uses authentic street lingo to connect with his “real hip-hop base.”
“A lot of white boys would be all phony and try to capitalize on the commercialization of hip-hop culture,” Wilkinson said. “You can tell E’s from the streets, though. The way he says, ‘Now instead of looking fly and rolling phat/My legs are sticking to the vinyl and my posse’s getting laughed at.’ I mean, we say stuff like that all the time. Just recently, me and my fly, phat posse were all like, ‘Damn, how’d he know that we roll like that?’”
Financial details of the deal were not immediately released, though Violette said he’d likely follow the Freecreditreport.com single with a “grittier Eminem-style rap interpretation” of his jingle about marrying a credit-crushed dream girl — “only this time, I bust a cap in the bitch for making me live in her mom and dad’s crappy basement.”
I understand that it’s satire, but this could be (and probably frequently is) believed to be fact by the casual observer.
Wow, the song really is stuck in my head now, thanks a lot G. Gordan.