Chances are that few people in Utah have ever heard of the artist known as Oowee. But the 19-year-old rapper from Atlanta hopes to change all that beginning tonight.
Oowee has landed a spot on one of the summer's biggest rap tours, "How the West Was One" featuring Snoop Dogg and The Game. The tour begins tonight in the E Center in West Valley City.
The busy schedule of the up-and-coming Oowee was evident as he tried to balance making his way to rehearsal, conducting a telephone interview with the Deseret Morning News and apologetically breaking away several times to answer his cell phone, which was constantly going off.
Originally from Asheville, North Carolina, Oowee moved to Atlanta at age 14. "I came up in the streets. I didn't have a lot of guidance." What he did have was music, something he said has always been a part of his life.
Oowee will bring a Southern flavor to the otherwise California-style tour. He said he never got into gangsta rap growing up. Instead, his influences came from the South's own Scarface, Run DMC and the soulful sounds of Curtis Mayfield. "My mother listened to (Mayfield) all day long around the house. That was my favorite."
The "How the West Was One" tour features two big names in gangsta rap. Snoop Dogg (a Crip) and Game (a Blood) announced at a press conference last week that the tour is as much about uniting West Coast hip-hop and the community as it was about the music (Game's on-again, off-again feud with 50 Cent notwithstanding).
Oowee also gives a lot of credit to Snoop Dogg for helping him get where he is today.
"Me and Snoop got a really good relationship. I've known him for a couple of years," Oowee said. "I felt like I've grown up around him. He's always shown me a positive attitude. He's shown me another way. There's more out there than runnin' the streets."
The Doggfather first worked with him on Oowee's debut album "Mannish," on the track "Why Cry." The album is scheduled to be released in June. "This kid's the real deal," Snoop Dogg said of Oowee in a press release. "He's going to be a star." (The first single off "Mannish" was "Chain Swingin'," featuring fellow native North Carolinian Petey Pablo.)
Now that Oowee is on the brink of achieving his dream of a nationwide tour, he encourages other young up-and-coming artists to always keep their dreams in sight. "Be focused and keep thinking positive. As long as you think positive, things are going to happen."
If you go
What: Snoop Dogg, the Game, Oowee
Where: E Center
When: Tonight, 7:30 p.m.
How much: $37
Phone: 467-8499 or
800-888-8499
Web: www.smithstix.com
E-mail: preavy@desnews.com