When Slim Thug decided to name his major label debut, Already Platinum, the Houston, Texas-based rapper wasn't suffering from a bout of wishful thinking. On the contrary, he was stating a fact: a bold proclamation that even though he was anonymous to most people outside the state of Texas, he had already sold enough records in his home state to be certified a veritable rap star. Now the rest of the country will be able to hear what's made Slim Thug Already Platinum. Slim Thug's major-label debut solo album will be released by Geffen Records through Star Trak, the label founded and fun by mega-star producers The Neptunes. "I felt like I did everything I could as an independent," Slim Thug says about moving onto the national stage. "This is going to take me to different cities and have the people who never felt me before, feel me like they do in Houston." Slim Thug is a towering MC who made a name for himself standing above a crowded fray of southern rappers. Houston's rich tradition of stark, visual and melodic hip-hop includes Scarface, the Geto Boys and DJ Screw, and even now the city is overflowing with a number of talented MCs. Yet with his big, bass-filled southern twang and a versatile rhyming style, Slim Thug has become the city's most preeminent lyrical export. He first made his mark as a mixtape star, dropping rhymes over hot hip-hop instrumentals, honing his verbal lyricism and street tales over whatever style of beat was thrown his way. The mixtapes were a form ...