Thursday, May 01, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Mercury

Music: It's a bling thing

Local rapper Revenue on money, fame and money

By Newt Briggs

No matter how cool you play it, when you're blowing up and living large, some hater's inevitably going to step up and try to disrupt your game. For proof, look no further than local rapper-preneur Revenue, who got sucker-punched last Friday at the Hard Rock Café while trying to give props to a "homeboy from back in the day"--a sneak attack that left him laid up in the hospital with a nasty cut and a wicked eye infection.

But kicking back in Gucci pajama bottoms and velvet slippers in the Boom-Boom Room of his 7,000-square-foot, $1.8 million crib on the west side of Las Vegas, Revenue seems less concerned with the assault than with the score of the Lakers game. "You got to expect this kind of nonsense every now and then," says Revenue--the only evidence of the weekend's altercation a fading scratch above his right eyebrow. "Some fools just can't stand to see a brother making ends."

If his posh digs are any indication (his next-door neighbors are the Maloof brothers, owners of the Palms and the Sacramento Kings), then making ends is something Revenue knows a lot about. More than a month away from the release of his first full-length album Turbulence, the 25-year-old former baller has already hustled his way from the projects to the penthouse and beyond. A strip club bouncer in Miami less than five years ago, Revenue's most recent single "Up in Da Club 2Nite" peaked at No. 3 on Billboard's Hot Hip-Hop Singles chart in February--a ranking that put him ahead of Missy Elliott's "Work It," Fabulous' "This Is My Party" and J-Lo's "Jenny from the Block."

Of course, Revenue admits that much of his success is predicated on the exploits of his former life--a life, according to a recent press release, consumed by "slingin' and other under-the-table endeavors." "I was gangbanging," says Revenue, who shuttled back and forth between Miami and L.A. (with God knows what in his carry-on luggage) as he honed his trade. "I wouldn't want to say anything to implicate myself, but I was definitely running around, acting like a knucklehead."

Nevertheless, Revenue is far from your typical hip-hop thug. Unlike rapper du jour 50 Cent--who sports his gangster legacy as a badge of hip-hop legitimacy--Revenue is reticent to talk about his past, not only for his fear of self-incrimination but for the fact that he's moved on from life in the streets.

"Right now, my main objective is to make this work and take care of my family, because I know that they love me a lot more than the guys in the 'hood ever did," he says. "Now, if those guys want to stop by my studio and lay down some tracks, that's cool, but I'm not fittin' to go do a robbery with them."

That said, Revenue clearly shares at least one similarity with today's thugged-out Everyrapper: a predilection for the bling. Even lounging in his pjs, he's covered in ice from head to toe, ornament highlighted by a pair of nine-stone diamond earrings and a Jacob & Co. sportswatch crusted in so many diamonds that they defy counting. "The thing about it is, the bling-bling and the jewelry and all that stuff really help," Revenue says. "Somebody tells you that image in hip hop doesn't matter, they're either lying or else they don't know what they're talking about. You got to have image, because--like it or not--hip hop isn't just about the music anymore. It's a way of life, a kind of code that people live by."

If material excess is in fact a prerequisite for hip-hop celebrity, then a quick cruise by Revenue's ritzy bachelor pad is all that's required to see that he's destined for mega-stardom. Besides a brand new yellow Hummer H2, Revenue's wraparound drive also boasts a $135,000 Mercedes V12 coupe and a year-old Cadillac Escalade--a seemingly unprecedented exercise in automotive decadence. Jacked up on 23-inch rims, the Escalade is decked out with six TVs, a video camera in the license plate, monogrammed headrests (they read "Revenue") and a trunk full of 12-inch woofers. The funny thing is, the Escalade (like the Mercedes) rarely leaves the driveway. Instead, it sits on display by Revenue's front door--a shiny metal sentinel announcing his newfound success.

And the inside of Revenue's crib proves just as fly, from the state-of-the-art recording studio in the basement to the second-floor kitchen that looks out over the waterfall pool and the backyard lake (a synthetic lagoon that Revenue swears he eats the catfish out of). Naturally, the house is also tricked out with all the predictable appurtenances of wealth: stocked bars, big-screen TVs, bathroom fireplaces and walk-in closets bigger than the average bedroom (Revenue's currently houses at least five-dozen pairs of sneakers and Timberlands).

Strangely, this may be only the humble beginnings of Revenue's hip-hop odyssey. Tightening up his rhymes and toning up his six-pack (he's lost 25 pounds since he quit smoking "an ounce a day"), he's slated to open for Nelly at the Palms on June 29. He's also got things in the works with his label Stack A Grip Entertainment, including the signing of R&B up-and-comers Jeune Fille ("the Spice Girls for the new millennium," he says).

So, no matter what the haters have in store, Revenue seems immune to the slings and arrows of their petty jealousy. Besides--as even his name reveals--he's not really interested in all the drama. "I'm in it more for the money than I am for the fame," he says. Amen to that.