Were you born in the 90s? Well, Darius Bell (12) was, as he proudly proclaims in his hit single. Though, chances are you don’t know him by this name.

“A lot of people don’t know my real name,” Bell said.

Bell is best known as Lil Scooter Tha Best— his rapper name and the name by which most people call him.

Bell is working his way up from obscurity as a rapper through YouTube, iTunes and tours such as Memphis Finest. However, his story does not start with wanting to be a rapper but rather with wanting to be a DJ.

In 2008, Bell discovered his passion for rapping rather than being a DJ when his mom brought home a microphone for the computer. He began to rap over instrumental tracks on the Internet.

It started out as just freestyle rapping but later developed into written songs in 2009. Since then, Bell has written over 100 original songs.

“All my raps are 100 percent original from me. I don’t ghost write. I never will ghost write,” Bell said.

Bell first got his music onto iTunes as Lil Scooter Tha Best through TuneCore, an online music distribution service. So far, he has four songs uploaded with over 300 downloads.
Lil Scooter took another step towards fame by creating ring tones, previously available on a website called Mixer which have gotten 10,000 downloads. Because the website was shut down in 2013, Bell is now working to make his ring tones available on iTunes.

His soaring statistics also extend beyond iTunes. His total views on YouTube are well over 68,000 and are continuing to rise daily. Much of this success is owed to the videos that accompany many of Lil Scooter’s songs. With the help of Moe Nunley, a director from A Plus Films, Bell has been able to successfully produce high quality videos filmed on the south side of Memphis at his childhood homes. He prefers filming at his former homes because of the memories and “good spirit” (Bell) that he associates with them.

“When I go back, I just feel so good. Its just crazy to see how far I’ve come… not just music wise but just life period,” Bell said.

However, there is more to Darius Bell than just rapping as Lil Scooter Tha Best. Rap is merely the advertised portion of Bell’s passion.

“I’m more than just a rapper. A lot of people don’t think that or know that. Not only do I know how to rap, but I can record myself. I know how to edit it, mix it, and master it, and that’s what I’m going to school for, to be an audio engineer,” Bell said.

Bell plans to attend Middle Tennessee State University or The Art Institute of Nashville to obtain an audio engineering degree. He was born in the 90s. Maybe he will rise to fame in this decade.