“Some people are going to think it's the greatest whatever. Some people will think it's cool,” says One Be Lo, real name Nashid Sulaiman. “I'm cool with that. I make music for myself, though.”

One Be Lo got his start in the late '90s as half of duo Binary Star. Then going as OneManArmy, he and partner Senim Silla took the underground rap scene by storm, with “Water World” and subsequent releases, earning praise from critics and those in under ground hip-hop circles. After changing his name to avoid legal troubles with a rock band named OneManArmy, One Be Lo kept up the momentum with his solo efforts. His last release, 2005's “S.O.N.O.G.R.A.M.,” won critical acclaim for its detailed narratives, complex wordplay and fitting production. {mosimage}

In the underground rap world, waiting more than two years to release a new project can be hazardous to maintaining a buzz. One Be Lo says he's had music ready to go for a while now, but that differences between him and his former recording home, Fat Beats, prevented them from hitting stores when he wanted it to. “I wanted to put the record out, and from my perspective, they just kept giving me excuses,” he says.

After coming to an understanding with executives at the label, One Be Lo split. His new album, “The R.E.B.I.R.T.H.,” came out earlier this month on his own label, Subterraneous Records. The acronym stands for Real Emcees Bring Intelligent Rhymes To Hip-hop, but the title also holds true to the way One Be Lo is approaching his career these days.

While One Be Lo's music has always been good enough to satisfy his fan base, he feels that handling the other aspects of the business — creating flyers, designing T-shirts, driving tour vehicles, producing beats — takes away from his ability to concentrate on writing rhymes. This time around, things are different.

“People just want to hear me rap, man. … The only thing that I can do that nobody else can do for me is write rhymes.”

With a new team behind him to handle the rest of the necessities, One Be Lo is newly focused on his music. After touring heavily in support of “S.O.N.O.G.R.A.M.,” he put together a home studio in the summer of 2006, which he says has been monumental in his artistic progression.

“When I'm performing, my writing's not getting better, because I'm performing all the time. If I'm always on the road, there's no time to get in the studio,” he says. “… Now I've got five, six albums-worth of material just sitting in the background waiting for me to put it out,” he says.

A problem that has plagued many independent artists is sound quality. Their songs won't play as loud in factory speakers, the drums aren't as crisp as they can be and vocals often drown out the beat in the background. Lo is working to improve the sonic quality of his music in order to reach a larger audience. “In the past, DJs couldn't really play my music. The quality wasn't really up to par,” Lo says. “That's what I really wanted to focus on.”

Last fall, One Be Lo told City Pulse he planned to take over the East Lansing hip-hop store Code of the Cutz and rename it School, but for reasons he won't discuss, it didn't happen (the storefront is now the new home of Replay Entertainment Exchange). But with a new album in stores, music — done his way — should still keep him busy for a while.

“One thing I've learned about all the great entertainers — Marvin Gaye, Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, all of them — is that once you say who you are, you don't have to keep explaining who you are,” he says. “Once you show who you are, they already know that. All you've got to do is play your role.”