Grammy-winner Murphy Lee, St. Lunatics, Twista rap at Arena Building

Hip-hop beats and entertainment will light up the Arena Building on Saturday as Grammy Award-winning rapper Murphy Lee along with the St. Lunatics and Chicago rapper Twista take the stage.

Tenaucah Little, owner of Little City Promotions based in Centralia, Ill., said he wants to offer Cape Girardeau and the surrounding area new, fresh entertainment like this concert.

"I've been studying Cape for a while," Little said. "I was definitely trying to find a town that had the college set. ... I've been asking everybody where a good venue is to do something, and I was told about the big A.C. Brase Arena, so I'm putting this together to give it a try."

Saturday's concert will be all ages, and there is no alcohol allowed. The tickets are $25 and can be purchased at the door that night. Refreshments will be available. Doors open at 8 p.m.

Twista and Murphy Lee have witnessed and continue to see success in their careers.

Twista has been performing and producing for 20 years, and has seven solo albums to his credit. Twista has an eighth album titled "The Perfect Storm" set to release in the fall, and Little said you can expect to hear some tracks from the new album Saturday.

"He'll do something off the new CD, and he'll do some of his big classics that everyone knows," Little said. "Every place we go, once he starts singing, the crowd knows his whole song."

Twista's 2004 album "Kamikaze" debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart, and produced a No. 1 single, "Slow Jamz" that featured Kanye West and Jamie Foxx. "Overnight Celebrity," another single from the record, saw a place in the top 10, and the album sold an estimated two million copies.

Twista's style of high speed and lyrically creative rap is his signature, and he was recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records in 1992 as the world's fastest rapper.

Murphy Lee has attended Southeast Missouri State University, and earned his star status alongside Nelly and the St. Lunatics. Now on album number three, Lee received a Grammy for the song "Shake Ya Tailfeather" in 2003 which appeared on the "Bad Boys II" motion picture soundtrack.

Murphy Lee put out an album and DVD in May. The St. Lunatics album will be out in November.

"I don't know if you've seen Murphy Lee perform," said Little, "but man; he gives a wonderful performance! Tons of energy. His show is good."

Little said his goal is to entertain everyone who comes to an event. "The main thing I look at whenever I book a show is I book an artist who's fan base is white, black, latino -- spans the demographic. As far as Murphy Lee with St. Lunatics, he's got that type of fan base."

Saturday's rap concert is one event, but Little has more in store.

"I plan to do some rock bands, blues, comedy -- a little bit of everything," he said.

Upcoming rap concerts will include some familiar names.

"I'm going to bring Chingy, Little Webbie, and I'm working on Nelly," Little said. "I do a lot with the Derrty Entertainment family."