Master P: raps about his rapper son, his $500 million empire and why he cleaned up his act - Interview - Cover Story

Ebony, June, 2002 by Kevin Chappel

Being so much a part of his family's life has helped cultivate Master P's relationship with son Lil' Romeo. The first father and son in hip-hop, both understand the importance of education (Romeo is an A-student at a Los Angeles Catholic school); each has an undeniable passion for music and basketball. In fact, Master P, who made it to the final cut with both the Toronto Raptors and the Charlotte Hornets, coached Romeo's basketball team to second place last year at the national Junior Olympics.

Master P says he has never pushed Romeo to do anything he didn't want to do. "You can feel if a kid has natural, raw talent. He has a special star quality about him. He's outgoing," Master P says. "If he didn't have it in him, we would have never put him into the business. If he didn't have that glow, it wasn't going to happen. He caught on to stuff quickly. He was a natural."

Master P, who says he has put $1 million in the bank for each of his children, believes that Romeo can achieve even greater success than he has--if he plays his cards right. "He has opportunities that I don't have. I started out on the streets. My music started out hard-core. I had to clean up my image," Master P says. "Romeo is a role model right now. If I could have been a role model with my music, I would be on a whole different level right now. It took time to get to where I am. He has a better shot at life than I did. He's starting off living in a good house because we've sacrificed."

While Master P doesn't give his son advice about music, he does give him advice about the music business. "I want him to be able to take the business and run it successfully one day," he says. "Just to have him educated and business-minded enough to know that your talent is what sells the music, but your business is what keeps it financially independent. I want to give him enthusiasm, and occasionally put him in the position where he can make decisions so he won't be afraid to make decisions once he has to run the business."

Running the business includes managing the New No Limit Records, No Limit Films, No Limit toy company, the wireless communications company, Internet ventures, the P. Miller clothing line, and an active charitable foundation that, among other things, has provided more than 7,000 jobs for inner-city kids nationwide.

All business decisions are made jointly between Master P and his wife, who serves as his company's vice president. Master P, who puts total trust in his wife's decision-making abilities, met her in high school in New Orleans. He lived uptown in the Calliope projects; she lived nearby in low-income housing. He was the star of his school basketball team; she was a cheerleader at her school. He was running for king of his school; she was running for queen of her school. They met at a high school party. "We ended up talking and exchanging telephone numbers," he says. "She was just different from everyone else. She looked good. She had good conversation. That first day I was like, `This girl is going to be mine.'"