Twenty-five years ago this week, on November 6, 2001, Greenville, North Carolina’s own Petey Pablo released his debut album, Diary of a Sinner: 1st Entry, on Jive Records, according to Wikipedia. It gave the Tar Heel State something it had been waiting on for a long time: a rap anthem with its name all over it.
What It Was
Petey Pablo, born Moses Barrett III, came out of Greenville with a gritty, preacher-like delivery and a story to tell. The album leaned on production from Timbaland, who handled “Raise Up,” “I” and “I Told Y’all,” along with Chuckie Madness, Punch, Buddah, Shamello, Eric Sadler and others. Petey even produced some of it himself.
The Song That Made a State Take Its Shirt Off
You know the one. Built on a sample of Hossam Ramzy’s “Enta Omri,” Timbaland’s “Raise Up” was Petey’s love letter to North Carolina, shouting out town after town while the whole crowd spun their shirts over their heads. It peaked at No. 25 on the Billboard Hot 100, No. 9 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and No. 1 on Hot Rap Songs, and it went gold, per Wikipedia.
Then came the “All Cities” remix, which started in North Carolina and took the chant to South Carolina, Atlanta, Virginia, New York, Houston, L.A., Chicago and beyond. Some radio stations played it instead of the original, and local stations even commissioned their own versions.
Charts and Certification
The album debuted at No. 13 on the Billboard 200 with about 103,000 copies sold in its first week and reached No. 7 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. It was certified gold by the RIAA and earned a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Album, losing to Eminem’s The Eminem Show. Second single “I” followed in early 2002.
The Legacy
In North Carolina, “Raise Up” never left. The Marching Tar Heels play the chorus after third-down defensive stops at UNC football games, and in 2018 the Carolina Hurricanes made it their official goal song. Every wedding, cookout and homecoming in the 919, 252, 704 and 336 still knows what to do when that beat drops.
Petey kept it going, too. He hit No. 7 on the Hot 100 with the Lil Jon-produced “Freek-a-Leek,” his biggest hit, and his second album, Still Writing in My Diary: 2nd Entry, reached No. 4 on the Billboard 200 in 2004. He’s also on Ciara’s chart-topping “Goodies” and appeared as himself in Drumline.
Before the Carolina wave of today, Petey Pablo made the whole country say “North Carolina.” Where does “Raise Up” rank among the greatest state anthems in hip hop?
Related: On This Day in 2011: Wale Dropped ‘Ambition’
Sources: Wikipedia: Diary of a Sinner: 1st Entry | Wikipedia: Raise Up | Wikipedia: Petey Pablo
