Small World, birth name Sheldon Bullock, is the latest addition to Ludacris' Disturbing Tha Peace (DTP) Records, and the new face of North Carolina hip-hop. And according to Small World, DTP and other artists from around the Triangle, North Carolina is about to explode onto the national music map. States such as New York, California, Georgia, Virginia and Missouri have long histories (in rap years, anyway) of producing big-time rappers. But besides Greenville's Petey Pablo and the Durham-based, kind-of-underground Little Brother, there hasn't been much hip-hop success in the Tar Heel State. Ludacris -- aka Chris Bridges -- met Small World last year after hearing about the 25-year-old rapper from Free, the former co-host of Black Entertainment Television's video countdown show "106 & Park." He signed the Sanderson High School alum to a recording contract. "Small World is different than anybody else out there. You really can't compare him to anybody else because of his style," Ludacris says. "He's really going to put North Carolina on the map. He's really putting the state out there." Small World has hustle and flow that seem to match Luda's cadence and hark back to the older school days of rap when hip-hop was based on delivery, not beats. "It's hard coming out of here," Small World says. "They don't really respect North Carolina for its talent. And I can't say why." DTP CEO Jeff Dixon, who runs the company with Ludacris, says the Tar Heel State has plenty of talent waiting to be exposed. "We scouted North Carolina, and we found Small World and his [group, Norfclik]," says Dixon, who thinks the Raleigh-Durham area has the talent and grittiness to become the next hip-hop mecca, as Atlanta was 15 years ago. "North Carolina doesn't really have its own sound yet. But there are a lot of talented people here." "North Carolina is untouched, a gold mine ready to get dug up." Also hoping to make it big from North Carolina, Small World's homeboy Derrick "Brolic" Chavez will be one of the next artists DTP will produce. Also a Henderson native and Sanderson alum, Brolic says North Carolina is hot and just waiting to show the world. His album will be released next year. "We love North Carolina and we really think that we should be heard right now," said Brolic as he stood on the side of Raleigh Boulevard during the unlawful portion of the shoot. "Nobody comes to North Carolina to look for talent. But we can make that better for us. There are so many cats out here doing their thing, by us coming out, we're just bringing it to the forefront."