Lil Rob Looking Hard
Chicano Rap

Lil Rob

Real Name : Roberto Flores
Nickname : Mr. 1218
Born : September 22, 1975
Birth Place : San Diego, California, United States

Roberto Flores, better known by his stage name Lil Rob, is a Chicano rapper and music producer.

Roberto Flores was born in September 1975, in San Diego, CA. He is the youngest of three children. Flores grew up in a Solana Beach, California neighborhood called La Colonia Eden Gardens and was affiliated as a gang rapper, but later let go his gang affiliation. He now considers himself simply a chicano rapper.

Flores made his debut as Lil Rob in 1997, selling as many as 200,000 units. He has since made many songs with artists such as Mr. Shadow, Mr. Sancho, OG Spanish Fly, and a song called “My Lowrider” which included artists Paul Wall, The Game & E-40. Also “Bumber” with Pitbull and Julio Voltio.

The written number Twelve Eighteen, which is tattooed on Lil Rob’s arms, represents the numeric value of the letters L and R which, respectively, stand for Lil and Rob. The number 1218 was used by Lil Rob during his days as a graffiti tagger. In 1994 at the age of 18, Lil Rob’s chin was shattered when he was shot on the jaw. Flores dropped out and quit his gang affiliation after witnessing some of the violence. Since then, he states he is strictly representing “Brown Pride”.

Oldies have been very popular in the Southern California Chicano culture for decades. Flores loves Oldies and it is apparent, as he often remixes oldies into his own music. This is a unique style that was later mimicked by several other Chicano rappers. Flores refers to himself as the one and only “Oldie Man”. Lil Rob songs that use oldies include; “Natural High”, “I Remember”, “Linda Mujer”, “No Soy de Ti”, and “Brought Up In A Small Neighborhood”.

In 2002, Rob was signed to Upstairs Records after having been recording under numerous independent labels, including Familia and Low Profile Records. In 2005, he found commercial success with the release of Twelve Eighteen, Pt. 1, which had been in regular rotation on radio stations outside of the West Coast due to the singles “Summer Nights”, and “Bring Out The Freak In You”. Lil Rob’s latest singles are “Slow It Down” which features Frankie J, “Cortez Shoes”, And “Let Me Come Back” which features Fingazz. The most recent album, Twelve Eighteen, Pt. 2 was released October 21, 2008. He also appears on a song on the mixtape Top Doggs.

On June 29, 2007, Lil Rob made his very first appearance overseas in Okinawa, Japan.

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