Rapper Lil' P-Nut centered despite success

Photo by Katy Winn/Associated Press

Memphis 9-year-old Lil’ P-Nut has a featured voice role in the new animated movie “Happy Feet Two.” Last month, he was in Los Angeles for the film’s premier.

It was Benjamin Flores Jr.'s uncle who gave the budding prepubescent rapper and actor from Memphis his handle Lil' P-Nut.

"His uncle said his body looks like a peanut, but we thought he said his head looked like a peanut," says P-Nut's mother, Ursula Flores. "We just stuck with it."

Legume-like or not, one could hardly blame P-Nut for having a big head. Just 9 years old, the Ross Elementary School fourth-grader has in two years gone from Internet sensation to national television celebrity. And now, with his featured voice role in the new animated movie "Happy Feet Two," he's become a young movie star, rubbing elbows with Brad Pitt and Robin Williams.

But back home, Lil' P-Nut remains his parents' little peanut.

"We try to keep him grounded," says Flores of her and husband Benjamin's parenting style. "At first I was going to put him in private school, but I wanted to keep him grounded. I want to keep him interacting with his peers. Also, when he's around other kids they don't treat him like a star. I want to keep it like that. I don't want him to think that he's all that. I want to keep him just like he is, humble."

Far from throwing star tantrums or even asking for much for Christmas, says his mother, P-Nut is actually most excited about his upcoming chance to help others.

On Saturday, P-Nut will host his 2nd Annual Toy Drive at Incredible Pizza in Hickory Hill. Admission to the event is $10 and includes a buffet, a $5 game card, and a performance by Lil' P-Nut. In addition, a donation of a new, unwrapped toy to the Salvation Army will receive another $10 game card. "We thought about coming up with a charity event because so many kids on Christmas, they really don't get a lot of presents," says P-Nut. "Last year I raised over 500 toys, and they went to Toys For Tots. So I can't imagine how it's going to be this year."

It says a lot that given the events of the past few years, P-Nut can stay so centered. He started rapping when he was just 4 years old, something that caught his parents by surprise since neither they nor anyone in their immediate family ever displayed much musical ability.

"It just kind of came to me," says P-Nut, who cites Eminem as his favorite rapper. "My daddy used to take me to grocery stores and everything and I used to just rap and people would stand and look dazed and be like, 'You need to do something with this kid.' "

P-Nut's parents began entering him in talent shows, and he began winning. That led two years ago to Fox 13 News doing a story on him. The piece was picked up nationally and was soon a viral sensation on YouTube.

One of the people enthralled with the tiny rapper was talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, who has since featured him on her syndicated show several times.

Those appearances caught the eyes of producers at Warner Brothers, who were casting about for a young actor to voice Atticus, a young penguin in the sequel to the 2006 hit animated film "Happy Feet."

"I got to meet Common, Robin Williams, Elijah Wood, Pink, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, so it was fun," says P-Nut of flying to Los Angeles to record his voice part.

Last month, P-Nut returned to Los Angeles for the film's premier. After the holidays, he intends to work on his second record; a single, "Choosin'," is already available on iTunes with an accompanying video on YouTube.

And he may be going the West Coast more often in the future. "It's something we need to talk about, but I like him doing movies," says his mother, who goes to school for accounting while P-Nut's father, Benjamin, manages his career.

Currently, P-Nut has a development deal with the Cartoon Network. But if you ask him, all the rapping and acting are merely diversions from his true career path of being a chemist, a profession he likes because he likes how "you mix liquid with other liquid and make stuff explode."

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P-Nut Cares Foundation 2nd Annual Toy Drive

2-5 p.m. Saturday at Incredible Pizza, 6020 Winchester Rd. Admission: $10, includes buffet and a $5 game card. Bring a new, unwrapped toy and get a $10 game card. For more information, e-mail simplyorganized@gmail.com.

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