Right thurr, right now

The spelling of Nelly’s 2002 sweaty summer hip-hop smash, “Hot in Herre,” seemed like a playful stylistic oddity, an extra “r” slurring the word, making it a bit more dirty, a bit more country. But his homeboy Chingy, the 23-year-old whose single “Right Thurr” looks to become this summer’s booty-conscious party anthem, exploits that extra “r” like Nelly never did, dragging hip-hop’s party slang through a rich and hedonistic St. Louis style that’s definitely more Southern than Eastern or Western.

Anywhere there’s an “r” to be leaned on, Chingy bends it down with a swallowed “-urr,” drawling his way through funny, pimp-hand tracks like “Wurrs My Cash” and “He’s Herre.” The chorus to “Right Thurr” makes it clear that no word is immune from the treatment, rhyming “thurr” (there), “hurr” (hair) and “sturr” (stare). It’s a gimmick but a lighthearted one, and it’s proving the perfect touch for a summer badly in need of a reason to bounce.

And it is bouncing. The irresistible party single drove “Jackpot,” the album, to sales of 243,000 after two weeks. “Jackpot” debuted July 15 at No. 2 on the Billboard album charts. And Rolling Stone magazine called it “the party-hearty hip-hop album of the year.”

The video to “Right Thurr,” like the cut itself, is nothing revolutionary -- boys partyin’ in the club, a lot of thongs, a lot of Courvoisier. But neither does it pretend to be anything more than this, and the second single, “Holidae In,” featuring Chingy’s label master Ludacris and Snoop Dogg, is even better, a cranked-up Atlanta hand-clap track celebrating the time-honored tradition of inviting girls up to a rented hotel room.

“One thing I learned from Tupac is: Make your music for the women, and the fellas will follow,” Chingy says in a lazy purr, talking on a cell phone from the Los Angeles set of the video to “Holidae In,” which he’s shooting with Ludacris and Snoop.

“Ya got to have fun,” he adds. “I’m a fun person. I’m not no hard-head, think-I’m-tough-type dude. I’m real quiet and calm and silent. But I like to go to the club, go to the mall, hang out on the Strip, and just kick it.”

The tracks on “Jackpot” deviate little from this upbeat party plan, despite Chingy’s roots in one of the roughest sections of St. Louis. Growing up in Walnut Park on the town’s north side, Chingy (real name: Howard Bailey) says he began writing his first rhymes when he was 8. He had cousins who sang, but he was in love with the hip-hop he heard on the radio, such as N.W.A, Dr. Dre, DJ Quik, and Run-DMC. At 10, he began hanging around in recording studios, and at 13 he began performing.

The St. Louis scene, though not then as well-known for contemporary hip-hop as other cities, had its own style, best exemplified by Nelly and his group, St. Lunatics: The laid-back delivery is not as aggressive as Atlanta’s Dirty South style (Outkast, Ludacris) and not quite as frenetic as New Orleans’ Bounce movement. In 2000, Nelly put out “Country Grammar,” and the scene was on the map. In 2002, Nelly asked Chingy’s group, 3 Strikes, to open for him on an extensive tour. By then, the style was already deeply rooted, Chingy contends, but he watched Nelly closely. Like Nelly, he knew he had the looks, the personal style and a lyrical style that could get him noticed.

“I got a little from him hurr and thurr,” he deadpans, but adds, “I had my own style and my own little thing. The only thing that I learned from him, I would say, was about being on the road and seein’ how the industry is.”

After the tour, Chingy began working solo with a production duo known as Trak Starz, the team of Alonzo Lee Jr. and Shamar Daugherty, who knew Chingy from St. Louis music circles and had made a minor name for themselves producing acts like Da Hol 9, Paybak and Abyss. They were being managed by Chaka Zulu, who manages Ludacris and is a partner in the Atlanta-based label Disturbing Tha Peace. They cut four tracks with Chingy rapping and sent them on to Ludacris.

“A day or two later,” Chingy says, Disturbing Tha Peace called offering a deal, and they chose “Right Thurr” as a single.

Chingy’s got a lot of partying to do before he runs through the potential singles on “Jackpot,” but he’s started working on the next album, which he says will be more issue-oriented.

“I get into some deeper topics next time around,” he says. “This time around, I just have to introduce myself to the world. I got a gang of things to talk about.” Don’t expect Eminem- or 50-Cent-style self-examination, however. Living the high life and celebrating the “slanguage” is always going to be at the top of Chingy’s agenda.

“‘50s party too,” he argues. “Music is entertainment -- a lot of people say on their music that they’re [gangsta] and then they calmed down and they’re not really like that anymore. Because you have to party sometimes. You can have a hard-core song that can get people hyped. But party songs just really give people energy, and they just feel like kickin’ it to your song.”

Or do we really want politics and consciousness-raising mixed into the nimble phonetics and dance vibe of Chingy’s hip-hop? Things could get vurry, vurry unclurr.

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100.3 The Beat Summer Jam

What: 100.3 The Beat Summer Jam -- the Remix Concert

When: Friday, 8:15 p.m., featuring Nelly and the St. Lunatics; Saturday, 3 p.m., featuring W.C., Ashanti, Chingy, Lil’ Kim, Lil’ Jon & Eastside Boys, David Banner, Floetry, Mya, and KRS-ONE, Digital Underground, E-40, Doug E. Fresh, and Whodini.

Where: Universal Amphitheatre, 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City

Cost: $29.50-$154.50

Info: (818) 622-4440