Me Phi Me Raps to a Different Tune : His debut album fuses hip-hop with an intellectual, folk-inflected approach.

“Now, don’t I look very, very different from everybody else?” rapper Me Phi Me asked during a recent interview.

Definitely. For one thing, the extra-long dreadlocks flowing from one section of his otherwise shaved head aren’t too common.

“Musically I’m different too--that’s what’s really important,” he added.

That’s why his debut album, “One,” on RCA Records, is causing something of a stir in rap circles. Me Phi Me may be the genre’s first folk-rapper, fusing hip-hop with an intellectual, folk-inflected approach, mixing in some jazzy, funky undertones, using acoustic guitar and harmonica. He’s probably the only rapper ever to sample the music of pop-folk singer Michael Penn.

Actually, Me Phi Me, 21, may be more poet than rapper, resembling one of those hip street-corner troubadours who recite, in somewhat conversational tones, probing rhymes accompanied by simple music. But he’s not a big folk-music fan.

“I like people like Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell, but they’re not my favorites,” he said. “People might think I listen to artists like Michael Penn all the time, but I don’t. I just happened to like one guitar part on one of his songs (“No Reply”). I started rapping to it when I heard it on the car radio one day and decided to use it in a song.”

The songs on “One” are somewhat cerebral, slightly psychedelic, often provocative ruminations on mood and emotions. “(Think . . . ) Where Are You Going” is a sensitive, jazzy piece featuring jazz singer Michael Franks. “. . . And I Believe (the Credo)” is both an homage and a guide to individuality. The music on “Not My Brotha,” with its folkish guitar and harmonica lines, might have been composed by Bob Dylan.

“These aren’t far-out, in-some-new-zone flights of fancy,” Me Phi Me explained. “I deal with reality, but in a less aggressive and more poetic way than some of my fellow rappers.”

Naturally, someone with such a passion for originality couldn’t have an ordinary name. He zealously hides his real name, preferring to use the title of his “fraternity”--which, of course, is unusual too. “It’s a fraternity of one--one I created,” he says proudly. “There’s no other like it.”

Me Phi Me, who grew up in the poor section of Flint, Mich., traces his yen for originality back to his childhood. “I’ve always wanted to be different, to be unusual,” he said. “That feeling has been a constant driving force in my life and has shaped my decisions.”

Some of rap’s trailblazers, particularly Public Enemy and Ice Cube, have inspired him, along with such R&B; pioneers as Sly Stone and George Clinton. “All these artists tried something different and made it work, which is the same thing I’m trying to do,” he said.

A longtime poetry lover, he decided to blend that form with another of his passions: hip-hop. Two years ago, he made a tape of his music as part of his effort to assemble a band to back him on a college tour. But an RCA talent scout heard the tape and offered him a contract. The rapper was wary at first.

“I didn’t want to sign with a record company because of the politics and restrictions,” he said. “I didn’t want some knuckleheaded executive telling me I could reach the 12-year-olds by doing this or that on the album. But RCA has left me alone.”

One reason he decided to make a rap album is because he feels the genre needs an infusion of originality. “Standard rap is becoming boring,” he said. “There are too many records out there that sound exactly alike. Rap needs a shot in the arm--and it’s starting to get it this year from a new wave of rappers.

“I want to bring into rap instruments, melodies and a lyrical approach that haven’t been tried before. Rap is really going to diversify in the next few years. It has to or it will die out. I plan to be part of that diversity.”

POP DATEBOOK

The added Guns N’ Roses/Metallica show at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Sept. 27 goes on sale today. Faith No More, which will open for the two bands at the Rose Bowl on Oct. 3, is not on the Coliseum bill. . . . Erasure will be at the Wiltern Theatre on Nov. 17, 18, 20 and 21. Tickets go on sale Monday. . . . On sale Sunday are Al Green and Marilyn McCoo at the Greek Theatre on Oct. 8 and En Vogue with Arrested Development at the Universal Amphitheatre on Oct. 17. . . . Also at the Greek is a second night for Neil Young, Sept. 22, which goes on sale Sunday. . . . Public tickets for the MTV Music Video Awards show at Pauley Pavilion on Sept. 9 will go on sale Friday. . . . On sale today is the Ramones at the Hollywood Palladium on Oct. 14. . . . John Doe will be at McCabe’s on Sept. 12.