Red Rum ran up on DJ Khaled. During the filming of the I’m So Hood (remix) video, Rum made his way onto the set and slid the energetic music man one of his early mixtapes. Khaled said he played it in his car that night and reached out. The two have been linked up ever since. Khaled is getting his new protégé warmed up in the street before the album comes sometime next year.

“He flew me down to Miami, but I wasn’t no artist then,” Rum admits of his initial dealings with Khaled. “I wasn’t ready for this. So it took two years, but I ain’t stop. My fan base got bigger without nobody helping me, but with the Khaled stamp.”

Rum’s nickname, the “Switch Man,” is pure Richmond, Virginia, slang.

” ‘Switch Man,’ ” he explained, “that all comes about because of where I’m from. ATL calls it ‘trappin,’ we ‘catch switches.’ That’s what it is, I was on the block. Now I’m catching switches with the music. I got fans, they’re spending money to see me, they wanna see Red, dummy. 2010 we getting it in. I promise. The Switch Spot just lets everybody know I am an independent artist, as well as a mainstream artist. I’m independently trying to take over this game. I just don’t wanna be no rapper. I’m in here, straight up.”