Arriving with rhyme

Charles HAMILTON sits back on a couch at a Los Angeles recording studio, marveling at the pink security wristband he received earlier in the evening while backstage at "Jimmy Kimmel Live," where he accompanied Pharrell Williams and his band, N.E.R.D. It's impressive company for the 20-year-old performer, who's been hailed as one of the most important new rappers to emerge in years.

But Hamilton, who loves the color pink and video game character Sonic the Hedgehog, says he doesn't lay claim to any particular genre. "Don't call me a pianist. Don't call me a guitarist . . . a bass player," Hamilton says. "Call me a musician because I communicate via music. And if there's a word for somebody that communicates with sound, I'd be that."

Hamilton's progressive production style, mixed with witty compound punch-line raps, is earning him a following in the music industry. Executives at Interscope Records not only signed Hamilton to a deal in March but also gave the performer his own imprint, Demevolist Music Group. Super-producer Williams, in a May radio appearance on New York's Hot 97, gave a shout-out to Hamilton, calling him a "monster."

The term might have something to do with Hamilton's ability to free-associate rhyme for what seems like an endless amount of time, as he did as a guest on L.A.'s Power 106 radio station recently. A popular Internet video shows him holding his own in a cipher -- a circle in which rappers test one another's rhyming ability -- with Kanye West and the Game at the Record Plant recording studio near Hollywood.

"He's the best artist I've found in five years," says Joe "3H" Weinberger, the Warner Music executive who helped usher in the careers of 50 Cent and Soulja Boy. "Charles excited me because he's sincere, extremely talented and doesn't do anything but be himself."

Hamilton has spent the last few years building up a fan base, regularly blogging on MySpace, which he says is a great deal like rapping in terms of telling stories in as few lines as possible. He's also released the same sort of self-produced mix-tapes that helped Lil Wayne cultivate the kind of following that can propel an artist to platinum status.

"Even if it's just 12 people [downloading the music], those 12 are big mouths, and they go spread it to other people, so a lot more people hear the music than people in the industry would believe," Hamilton says.