A talented young Bermudian hiphop artist is aspiring to "put Bermuda on the map'' through his latest CD.

Nineteen-year-old Roddy Nesbitt, aka "Chubby the R?ddla'' released his second music single last week entitled "Another World''.

The CD features four different versions of the song -- including a Radio Edit, Omega Mix featuring J-Mizza and T.I. and a JT Underground Mix -- as well as a remix bonus track of his first single "Kids Havin' Kids''.

And as an avid East Coast hiphop fan myself, I can tell you that the quality of the lyrics and the beats -- especially on the JT Underground Mix (Dirty Version) -- is as good as anything I've heard.

In an interview with The Royal Gazette , the R?ddla talked about his balancing act as a performer and a student as well as the response for his latest effort.

He stated: "Adults liked the message of my first single, "Kids Havin' Kids'', which was about teen pregnancy -- but this one's a little bit more loose.'' "It's basically biggin' up Bermuda -- internationally, it's informing people about the life we live.

"And "Another World'' also reminds locals about what we've got. A lot complain, but they don't realise how good we've got it,'' he added.

Chubby the R?ddla is no stranger to the stage -- the former Elliott Primary student wrote his first rap at the age of ten for a primary school variety show, and gave his first professional show when he was 13.

"Me and my boys Triple Threat opened for Kid N Play -- since then, we've done various shows,'' he noted.

Local audiences may remember his performance last month as the artistic son of a Caribbean schoolmaster in Nobel laureate Derek Walcott's play "Remembrance''.

His most successful performance was at the "Jack the Rapper'' Music Festival in Atlanta in 1996 where he place third out of more than 300 entries from all over the US.

The R?ddla said he and a few of his friends have been responsible for most of the distribution for his CD while his manager, Jonathan Talbot, attempts to market the single abroad.

"Hopefully he'll link up with the right people. Of course, the ultimate goal is to go international and put Bermuda on the map -- and make it a big dot instead of a little dot,'' he added.

"So far, the response has been pretty good. They like the message because they can hear about Bermudian culture in a fun type of way,'' he said.

"Usually if they hear anything about Bermuda, it's calypso or reggae. To get it in hiphop is different,'' he noted.

The R?ddla said the album production took a few months from start to finish -- but emphasised that the process was "difficult and time-consuming''.

"A couple of months sounds like a short period of time, but I was there every night recording and mixing down,'' he said.

"But as soon as the beats started coming, the mixing and recording process was easy.

"It's one of the only things I could actually be happy doing for a lifetime,'' he said. "Performing is my love -- it's what gets me out of bed in the morning.

"But you have to have a serious commitment and serious drive, or you won't make it through the recording process.

"As with anything, you have to have a passion for it -- if you don't, it won't see you through the trying times,'' he added.

The Bermuda College student is currently juggling his musical and educational career along with jobs at Sports Locker, Heddington Insurance and helping out at his family's Court Street Liquor Store.

The R?ddla said he planned to leave Bermuda next September to attend college for insurance studies so he did not suffer the fate of a "starving artist''.

But he said his choice of university would also factor in exposure and proximity to performance venues.

"I prefer to go to school near a metropolitan city on the east coast (of the US) to have access to theatre and musical avenues,'' he said.

Chubby the R?ddla's "Another World'' is available for around $10 at Music World, Dub City, Sound Stage and Sports Locker.