Skeem of things: Rising rap star aims to run it all

If grit and hard work paid off as they should, local rapper RI'm Skeem would already be a star.

The 24-year old Whitehaven native has patiently spent the past four years forging connections within the music industry and running a custom glitter T-shirt and CD duplication business, even as he has toiled at a day job that eats into the scant time he has available to fine-tune his skills as an MC.

Whitehaven native RI'm Skeem is mixing his talent with serious scrutiny of the music business to advance his rap career. "I want to run the whole thing," he says.

"Honestly, I feel like I spend 70 percent of my time on business and 30 percent of it on music," says Skeem (real name: Courtney Aldridge).

"It's cool: I do whatever I have to. No one gives you anything in this industry, and nothing is free. The bottom line is money."

Fortunately, Skeem, who is slated to perform at the Crystal Ballroom on South Third this weekend, has talent that matches his determination, as proved by his latest mixtape, My Own Competition, which pairs him with stars such as Baton Rouge, La., rapper Lil Boosie and Nashville MC Young Buck, as well as up-and-comer Young Capone, a recent signee to Jermaine Dupri's So So Def imprint.

Because of the buzz created by My Own Competition, Skeem is steadily building a solid foundation.

Armed with beats generated by Atlanta producer Mike Da Rockman, who has helped fashion a sonic canvas that runs the gamut from Jamaican dub ("Umma Soldier") to college marching band music ("Touchdown" and "Obama 08"), he delivers bravado-infused, thought-provoking rhymes like "Ready to blast like a rocket/ If profit ain't in my pocket/ Call me cocky, yeah I'm ready to load it and lock it" and "I want 'em to hate me/ They hated Jesus, and he was God's baby."

"Nobody can beat me doing what I do the way I do it," Skeem says of his lyrics. "My message is basically, 'Go through life and do you. Be yourself.' A lot of rappers reflect their environment, but I'd rather be inspirational to my environment. Look at Barack Obama; he could easily go around saying, 'This is where I came from, so this is what I'll do,' but instead, he's saying, 'This is where we need to be, this is what we should do.'"

The second part of Skeem's master plan -- to scrutinize the workings of the music business, gleaning important details from his compatriots' successes and failures -- is deceptively simple.

"RI'm Skeem's been grinding," Jacksonville, Fla., promoter AB the Whiteboy says. "He's found ways to develop himself. As he continues to work hard, he's dealing with people at higher levels and upgrading his own career."

"I've been watching him for a long time," says the veteran promoter, who handles road promotion for Young Capone and Crime Mob.

"He's a talented artist, and he knows that he's got to learn the music business inside and out."

Lessons, says Skeem, are everywhere, whether he's opening a Seattle, Wash., club date for Young Buck or laying down tracks for a new collaboration with Atlanta rapper Bohagon.

"When you're actually with a star and you can kick it and watch how everything goes down, it's a phenomenal experience," Skeem says.

"Tasting that makes me work so much harder -- not just as an artist, but because I want to run the whole thing. In literary terms, the phrase 'rhyme scheme' references the patterns at the end of a line. So with 'RI'm Skeem,' I look at it like this: It's my plan, my plot, for success. If you build something from the ground up, it's hard for it to crumble."

RI'm Skeem at the Crystal Palace

Performing with OJ Da Juiceman tonight and with Yung LA on Sunday. The Crystal Palace is at 3364 S. Third. For each show, doors open at 6 p.m.; performances start at 9:30.

All ages. $10. For more information, go to www.MySpace.com/ RimSkeem.

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