Self-confidence would seem to be a quality that every rapper needs in spades. Still, it’s surprising the number of MCs who don’t have the guts to rap about who they really are. Just don’t count G-Unit Records’ latest microphone sensation, Hot Rod—who will release his debut album, Fast Lane this fall—in that group. Despite being signed to the hip-hop’s most dominant record label, Rod’s not changing for anybody. “Other people try to take 50’s aggressive content, saying that they’ll shoot someone’s head off, or that they’ll do these things they would never really do,” the 20-year-old says matter-of-factly. “That turns them into a biter. I never had to shoot anybody’s head off, so I don’t speak about that in my music. I talk about what I want to talk about.” And if Hot Rod has his way, what he wants to talk about will put smiles on everyone’s faces. “My whole goal is for people to listen to the music, have fun, laugh at the lyrics. I show you my personality in the music.” Repping both his current hometown of Phoenix, Arizona as well as his beloved birthplace, Sacramento, California, Hot Rod started in hip-hop as a teenager in the late ‘90s, making beats. “I have an ear for music,” he explains, “and I was really inspired by those super-producers, people like Swizz Beatz and the Neptunes.” Of course Young Rod had a little ambition, too, so after a year or so of making beats with no vocals, he wanted to start making bona fide songs. Only he ran into a slight problem. “I would have different people rap over the beats, but they were so terrible, so bad, it sounded like they were ruining the beat. I thought, I probably know how to rap over my beat better than anybody else, so I started rapping over them.” Soon Rod was so adept at the rapping that he gave up the producing entirely. After relocating to Phoenix, Hot Rod truly got on his grind musically, releasing his own mixtape and appearing on numerous others, all while working on a full-length album he planned to distribute independently. Those plans went out the window though, after he sent a demo to G-Unit. A few weeks later, Rod got a surprise phone call at work—from 50 Cent. “He asked if I worked and I said, Yeah, I’m actually at work right now,” Rod recalls. “He said, ‘Quit. You don’t need to work anymore. I want to work with you.’ I’m like what the hell. It’s like somebody reading the lottery numbers off and I’m holding the ticket with those numbers on it.” The next day Rod flew to New York, and that night he and 50 started work on what would become “Be Easy,” which became the first single off Fast Lane. The first thing 50 noticed about Rod is the same thing the world is sure to hear, too—that Rod sounds a lot like his boss. Like the guy who signs his checks, Rod has the unique ability to ride any beat. “You’ll hear some rappers that sound the same on every single song,” he explains. “But me and 50 actually listen to the beat and adjust the flow to the beat. My flow will change with every single song, it changes to match the beat.” But what really impressed 50 was Rod’s confidence in his own lyrical content. “He heard the similarities, but he said, ‘It doesn’t sound like you’re copying me, it just sounds like you’re doing what you’re doing.’” What Hot Rod is doing is bringing his infectious party and bullshit raps to the world’s most dangerous record label. “I talk about the partying, drinking, girls, cars, stuff like that. When I come out and rap, I say those things that make you smile.” With a smile and a co-sign from rap’s biggest star, it’s guaranteed that this Hot Rod is going places fast.