Rap’s Paperboy: Will He Deliver? : Pop music: The 20-year-old, whose ‘Ditty’ is No. 27 on the charts, has plans beyond his just-released debut album, ‘The Nine Yards.’

The road from L.A.’s underground rap scene to stardom is a lot rockier than it used to be.

Just ask Paperboy, a 20-year-old rapper whose real name is Jay Johnson.

“There’s roadblocks, giant holes, land mines--you name it--all along the way,” complains Paperboy, who is nicknamed for his love of paper--slang for money.

But he’s maneuvered the turns well.

Paperboy started building a name for himself early last year when his infectious single “Ditty” became a hit on the underground scene, eventually attracting enough attention for it to be picked up by PolyGram’s Next Plateau label.

With that company’s added promotion and distribution, “Ditty” became a mainstream hit in Los Angeles--unseating Whitney Houston’s mega-hit “I Will Always Love You” last month as the biggest-selling single in Southern California.

The record’s success has now spread across the country, and “Ditty” ranks No. 27 on the Billboard magazine pop charts. Paperboy’s debut album, “The Nine Yards,” has just been released by Next Plateau.

“Man you don’t know what I’ve gone through just to get where I am--and this ain’t stardom,” says Paperboy during a breakfast interview in Westwood.

In the early days of the West Coast rap explosion, in the mid-’80s, newcomers had an easier time because the stakes weren’t as high and the competition wasn’t nearly as heavy. There were fewer of the small independent companies searching for talent back then, but there weren’t nearly as many aspiring rappers. The business, Johnson said, has gone from “low-key to cutthroat.”

“These little labels promise you the world, keep you under contract and then don’t do nuthin’ for years,” said Johnson, whose generally casual manner flared into anger over this topic. “There are tons of horror stories about young rappers getting stuck in these rotten deals.

“Rap is so big and there’s so much money to be had that more and more of these greedy people have moved in, looking for a fast buck. They don’t care about the music or the rappers--just the money. And some of them think because you’re young and black, you’re stupid.”

Another difficulty these days is the absence of a major rap radio station in Los Angeles--an equivalent to KDAY, which in the late ‘80s was a big booster of rap, helping break such acts as N.W.A.

“If you’re a rapper trying to get started, getting some radio play helps,” he said. “A rap station will play new local stuff, which gives you half a chance. Now it’s tough to get heard. And there are so many rappers trying to break in you’re lucky to get to first base.”

Johnson powered past the local competition because of the strong appeal of the jaunty “Ditty,” which is gritty but not hard-core. It’s not about much of anything, just stream-of-consciousness, fairly self-aggrandizing chatter hopscotching from point to point-- mindless fun with a crackling backbeat.

On his album “The Nine Yards,” Johnson, in his punchy, machine-gun rap style, spins hard-edged tales of life in the ghetto, riddled with clever, insightful observations, floating on funky beats.

You can’t always understand his speed rapping on the “Ditty” single, but one controversial part--about smoking marijuana--comes out loud and clear. Johnson is a walking ad for marijuana. “I love weed,” he said bluntly. “I helps me think, and it really helps me write.”

But so does being in a bad mood.

“I write out of frustration at lot,” explained Johnson, who writes lyrics but not music. “That’s when I write best. I also write when I’m anxious and really upset. If I’m in one of those foul moods, the words really flow.”

Johnson didn’t want to talk much about his background, revealing only that he’s from a large family and started rapping in his early teens while a student at Washington High School.

“Kids in the black community rap for fun--just like riding a bike or playing basketball,” he said. “That’s how I got into it. When I started doing rapping, it was as natural for me as breathing.”

But he didn’t get serious about it as a career until after high school. “That’s when I started to work as a rapper--writing and doing some clubs--and trying to deal with those small record labels,” he recalled. “I know I’m a good rapper, but there are a lot of good rappers and writers in L.A. who never get anywhere. I needed some luck on that road out of the rap underground--and I got of big dose of it.”

Now that he’s plunged into the pop mainstream, Paperboy has some really big plans: “I want to go on tour so I can make an impression all over the country and really build up an audience. Then I want to go on to become the best rapper around.”