Dangerous Rob

Dangerous Rob


By MATT ELLIOTT World Scene Writer
4/1/2007

Rapper who wins spot in Dogg Pound dreams of sharing success
It's a dangerous world and Dangerous Rob hopes this time he'll get his due in it.

But the Tulsa rapper, whose real name is Robert Daniels, isn't dangerous anymore -- he left that hustle behind years ago, he said.

He's got a new album, "Itz a Dangerou$ World," coming out Tuesday and on Sunday comes his Fifth Annual Family Affair, the free picnic he throws for his old neighborhood at Cheyenne Park, 1622 N. Main St.

"I'm just trying to make history, you know what I mean?" said Daniels, who said he won the Dogg Pound Gangsta Clique Idols competition last year for a spot with the group.

Between taking care of his daughter and his day job at a cell phone company, Daniels collaborated with a host of local artists, including Nitro, Young Hustlas, Chuck Period and Big Man to cut his sixth album, which will be released on his label F.R.E.E.D.A.M. Records.

On his album, Daniels scolds victims of Hurricane Katrina victims who spent their FEMA money foolishly.

"Just put the money in Iraq instead of fixing the levees, man/I spent the money I got from FEMA/Bought

me some doves and a Chevy, man," Daniels raps on the title track, "Itz a Dangerous World," which also features a performance from Tulsa's Coco Jones.

"You see?," he said, laughing. "See, 'cause we sit around and complain about FEMA not giving us the money and all this, then when we get it, we gonna mess it off, buy some rims and a car, you know what I'm saying?"

Daniels, now 35, has been rapping since he was 15 years old. He left Tulsa in 1991 when he was with a rap group that met Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, DOC and had a spot on "The Arsenio Hall Show."

Already a veteran local rapper, he entered the contest to earn a spot with the Dogg Pound in late November 2005, he said. Out of 30,000 rappers he made the top 25, then the final 12. Then the challenges started.

Officials gave him tasks to do: contacting media, doing the legwork of rap, things he was already doing in his own career.

Then Daniels made it to the final six. He outlasted and outfoxed the competition.

Last year, while in Texas with the Dogg Pound, he met one of his influences, Ice Cube, while waiting in a dressing room.

"I think Cube knew that I didn't know what to say to him," Daniels said. "I was standing, waiting on Daz (Dillinger, a rapper with the Dogg Pound) . . . in the dressing room, and (Ice Cube) came by and said, 'Man, you want some pot pies?'

"I'm like, 'Cube talking to me?' I was like, 'Man, you asking me if I want some pot pies because I'm big.'

"He was like, 'Naw man. I need somebody to, you know, help me pack the pot pies, the chicken, up to the dressing room.' "

Daniels said he has about 120 days to sign a contract with Gangsta Advisory, Daz Dillinger's record label. He expects "Itz a Dangerou$ World" to be the last album he puts out independently.

One of his goals is to learn the business side of things so he can bring future success back home.

"I don't plan on ripping and running across the stage forever. I want to be that guy who came back and got all the R&B artists and put them out, start a Death Row (a California music label that featured artists such as Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dogg) movement here, but not as ruthless as Death Row."



Matt Elliott 581-8366
matt.elliott@tulsaworld.com

By MATT ELLIOTT World Scene Writer