The road to rap stardom is paved with almosts, should haves and on second thoughts. Rapper/songwriter and J Records/Chameleon Entertainment signee Smitty (Varick D. Smith) seized all the opportunities presented to him since setting off on his road to rap stardom that traces back to Miami, where he was born and raised. 'I been writing forever,' says the 24 year old who started rapping when his age was a single digit and came into his own artistically in his teens. He had the smarts to enroll at Florida A&M University in 1997. However, his aspiration to become a full-fledged artist led him to switch coasts after only two and half years of school. College wasnt panning out for me so I went out to California to try to make this rap thing happen,' reveals the former Journalism major about his 2000 move to Los Angeles. A year or two of grinding out West to find a foothold in the rap industry led Smitty to the movie set of The Wash where Dr. Dre was busy acting. Sneaking on the set was relatively easy but getting into Dres ear for an impromptu audition proved to be an exercise in patience. 'We waited for him about 15, 16 hours, recalls Smitty. When we met him he was like Yeah it must be something cause y'all been out here all day. I finally spit for him and two weeks later I was in the studio with him.'The immediate result was Smitty penning songs for The Wash Soundtrack (Hollywood) as well as ghost writing verses for Dres now shelved Detox album. An offer to sign with Aftermath Records was extended but never came to fruition. 'Everything was going smooth but it just didn't pan out the way I wanted it, recalls Smitty. By the time we got around to something definite I had moved on to something else.'That something else was connecting with Sean P. Diddy Combs, which resulted in penning an assortment of songs for P. Diddy including the smashes Shake Ya Tailfeather (w/ Nelly & Murphy Lee) and B2Ks Bump, Bump, Bump. Again, a record deal offer was forthcoming but Smitty played it cool, only heightening his rep.For the rest of Smitty's story, click here to visit his website!