Until he finishes the thought: People that listen to my music will know more about me than they would ever know about me by my talking to them. And I get it. Girls like Intuition because he appeals to their deepest junior-high-school day-dreamiest selves: He writes songs for them.

Granted the song might be the jingly-jangly country-tinged Main Ingredient-sampling Lonely an ode to the girls? who never refuses his late-night invitation to offer ministrations but you gotta give him a little credit for honesty. Hes not trying to pull anything but their shirts over their eyes.

Girls love a challenge though and songs like that serve only to re-up their efforts to wrestle the slightly jaded rambler-by-birth Intuition to a commitment. Born in Texas the Air Force landed his family in the North Pole shortly thereafter and he couldnt wait to get out. There are no shows in Alaska. Not just no rap shows. The three concerts I went to in Alaska were Weird Al Los Lobos and Great White.

He chose the diametric opposite of course when he made his escape. He knew hed live somewhere in Southern California and by 2000 he found his way to Pomona. He gorged on the shows hed been missing growing up and gained a reputation in the ciphers that broke out between acts.

In 2003 Intuition was living in Santa Barbara and had dropped off copies of his demo in a record store with instructions for the employees to give a copy to anybody who came in and bought some underground shit. Mark Pawlak better known as Equalibrum Intuitions primary producer was one recipient. He liked the demo and the first time they met Intuition told him Yo we should make an album- were gonna be famous.

Something worked with the pairing or musical fucking soul brothers- Lee had been trying for a year and a half to book a show in Santa Barbara and within two weeks of meeting Mark got his first.

He started writing Girls Like Me two years ago when he moved to Los Angeles. While his first album Stories About Nothing relied heavily on inspired fabrication theres not a single lie on Girls Like Me. If someone doesnt like this album that person wont like me.

Besides being forthright the album reflects Intuitions ethic: work smarter not harder. He writes for a reason and that conservation of energy produces lean records ready to pounce. His rhymes and vocal control are meticulous; even his relaxed flow on the Al Bundy and Dont Try hooks is deliberately so. I have a tattoo of a brain over my heart. Is my heart my brain; do I only think with logic? Do I even have a heart?

Girls Like Me is indeed why girls and guys grudgingly or admiringly like Intuition. And plenty of them are praying he not only has a heart but that itll be theirs. I imagine hell loan it out at least for the night.

Intuition's record release party for "Girls Like Me" is tonight at Low End Theory. Change up the game and go hit on him on MySpace or Twitter.

After all it made sense that hed suggested In-N-Out despite the fact that hes newly stopped eating beef It was makin me feel slow. His next and last free project is entitled Animal Style a slight nod to In-N-Outs secret dish of fries swimming in Thousand Island dressing cheese and grilled onions. Though El Prez has been around earning his name since the early 2000s hes still not listed on the main menu. You gotta be in the know to ask for the good stuff.

Thats all about to change however. My main focus with Animal Style was to make sure it beat in the truck and I could perform every song. Ive never had thateverything was dark or slow; I wanted some shit you throw ya hands up! to. I felt like people werent respecting my live show.

De Andre Harvey better known to his constituents as El Prez will get a chance to test out his new tactic soon: Hes the first act listed on one of the first highly-anticipated concerts of the new year Leaders of the New Cool. Diplomatically El Prez doesnt just robotically recite but details the other acts in depth.

No surprise really when he elaborates on his peace policy. Most of us get along. We have our scene but we got Glasses Malone Bishop Lamont Jay Rock Nipsey Hussle the more mainstream; they fuck with everybody. I know all of them real good dudes helped me out a bunch of times. My homegirl is one of The Bangs; couple of them jerk cats fuck with couple people I know. All of our scenes are together. Our little rivalries are off record cause I dont want people thinking we not united on this. The more everybody sticks together the more everybody comes up. A lot of these fans like ALL the artists so why you trying to make them pick a side?

He cant confirm Curreny the Big Easy-gone-Big Apple rapper on the New Cool bill. But be real probably the one artist I look forward to hearing right now is Curreny. Im a weed-smokin rapper; I like clothes.my regular background is a retail stylist and merchandiser. I saw you modeled I interject. Whered you see me model? El Prez asks and his tone is such that I expect those groupies to materialize out of thin air.

Its in these moments that El Prez radiates Southern charm on par with another president Bill Clinton but he was born and bred in Inglewood CA. Being a mixed family his mother is white; father black living in the hood was heightened reality enough but they were living off Florence and Normandie during the riots of 92. I remember when what you see in the movies was real lifeI think all that helps me be the person I am because I never wanted to be that. I always strived to be different do betterbut you cant forget you cant think of yourself better than your people and where you come from.

While that humility seems innate its also been hard earned. I ask about his business savvy. Shit I done did everything wrong. For example putting a record out. We was straight from the Pro Tools got an external cd player burn it on the cd write on it with a Sharpie stand in front of 7-11 across from our college Cal State Northridge slangin cds five dollars. I aint even have no case half the time! Im not checking the cds so people was gettin blank cds; track listing would be wrong. Be prepared cause this is your first impression. Some people may get that first cd from you and they run into you again and I might have a whole package now- shrink wrapped cd case Im comin at you the right way dope music- and you aint gon give it the time of day cause you remember I got this cd from this dude named El Prez and it aint even have the music on the cd! That shit goes a looooong way.

Although his dad worked in multimedia at EMI Capital and presciently warned him of the disappearance of the golden-ticket label deal he never had the connections of an older person schoolin him. Prez was out on his own using the fact that he used to be a little nerd and shit to study others game. I used to run with a couple of cutthroat homies from Project Blowed and they would just crash your stage. These motherfuckers would take a cordless mic with transmitter and just be buggin the promoter and whether he say yeah or no its a little break in that show? Oh they on there and they rock it so hard you cant stop it!

We used to play games like Lyrical Knockout. You could direct a verse at anybody and if that person doesnt in enough time direct somethin right back at you he out. It causes you to think on your toes instead of I got these four lines Ima say when it come back around. I consider myself an MC and that means move the crowd master of ceremoniesa lot of people these days dont do that and thats kinda why the culture suffers as a whole cause you not takin it back to where it started.

In 2005-06 El Prez was in a group called The Empire and after pressing up cds his partner dropped out.By himself Prez got the record on the shelves at many major outlets- Tower Best Buy Amoeba. As excited as he was to see his record in the same bin as Eric B & Rakim many copies went unsold. I wasted all that money and just at this time the Internet started to pop. I just hopped on the train at the right stop. I have that street mentality of pushin a record but I also have this sensibility on how to take as much advantage of the Internet as I can. Cant nobody name The Empire album but everybody can name that Prezanomics or the video for Uaintuponthis!

As any PR-polished representative of a new school of thought El Prez is optimistic about the future for not just him but the whole city. This new scene is totally different from what you expect L.A. to be. And thats what I love about it the most its changing the perception that all of us out here gangbang and wear khakis and Chucks. We do intelligent different music. Not the West Coast g-funk music you used to.

As for the state of hip-hip on a national level Prez is actually happy the game has entered a recession. By the late 90s hip hop led by Pied Piper Diddy was parading gold-dripping wrists and a glittering smile attracting everybody on the block who ever accidentally created a couplet. But now you cant make no fucking money. A lot of the drug dealers a lot of the nggas who didnt want to get no 9-to-5 who just wanted to be famous they getting out of the game. The people who are still bein creative and resilient are still gon be here and they gonna end up shinin. You getting all the people half-assin shit out.

Its rare and refreshing for such a public figure to speak so candidly. Then again I suspect this is why El Prez has gained the reputation he has; people always know where they stand with him. That and theres no red tape no hoops to jump through when it comes to reaching him.

Im always politickingin a good way. If I got a connect you got a connect. Now if you do me dirty or if I need something and you aint trying to fuck with me thats a lesson learned. But Im not gonna act like you. They can call Prez if they need some help; they know that from the young to the old.

Spoken like a man whos on his way to making the history books.

El Prez drops Animal Style Presidents Day Febuary 15. Catch him live next Tuesday at the Leaders of the New Cool concert at Echoplex or hit him up online onMySpaceandTwitter.