Rising rapper doesn’t bother with bling

“People ask me, ‘Are you a gangsta? A pimp? A don?’ ” says Rhymefest, the new Midwestern rapper whose work with Kanye West has caught the pop world’s ear. “ ‘How are we gonna market you?’ ”

It’s only natural that people want to define this MC whose debut album will be released in March: He co-wrote West’s Grammy-winning song, the anthemic “Jesus Walks.”

‘Fest, as he calls himself, laughs at the notion that everyone in the image-conscious rap world has to have a gimmick.

“I am blue collar,” he proclaims, the hopeful leader of a new hip-hop classification: noble proletarian. He even favors factory-worker garb.

Yet he clearly shares some of West’s cockiness: “When people ask, I say, ‘I’m not just ordinary. I’m extra-ordinary.’ ”

At a bling-wary moment when hip-hop’s conspicuous consumption can seem at odds with wartime culture and economic uncertainty, Rhymefest’s incisive storytelling and tart wit document and elevate working-class struggle. His new album is even titled “Blue Collar” (due from Allido Records in association with J Records).

On the CD, the 27-year-old rapper (real name: Che Smith) fills the tracks, much like West, with images drawn from everyday life -- down to such matters as shopping at Home Depot and driving a badly dented car.

“I grew up in Chicago, a blue-collar city, in the Midwest, which is a blue-collar region,” Rhymefest says by phone from a Virginia studio while putting the final touches on his album. “To me, this is the real streets: You can go outside your door and find three people selling dope in a bad neighborhood. But you might see six people at the bus stop going to work! That’s a story that’s not being told in hip-hop.”

Before music became a full-time job, the rapper, who also has also lived in Indianapolis, worked in a laundromat and as a bailiff, a court reporter and a preschool teacher.

But he popped up on the rap cognoscenti radar in 1997 when he famously defeated Eminem at Cincinnati’s Scribble Jam MC battle. Rhymefest has since appeared on numerous underground mix-tapes.

Still, he’s best known for “Jesus Walks,” one of 2004’s most memorable singles and the soul-searching hit most responsible for West’s commercial breakthrough.

Although West and fellow Chicagoan Common have done much to mitigate hip-hop’s consumerist streak with their heartfelt, often plaintive rhymes (even if their wardrobes come straight out of the Barneys New York catalog), neither rapper has mixed B-boy braggadocio with a Tom Joad-ian value system quite like this guy.

Mark Ronson, son of rock guitar hero Mick Ronson and owner of Allido Records, likes to tell the story of taking Rhymefest on tour to Britain last year, where he opened for pop singer Justin Timberlake:

“The first day we were in London, ‘Fest went up to someone and asked, ‘Where’s the ‘hood? Where’s the [messed]-up part of town?’ ” said Ronson, a superstar DJ in his own right. “He went straight there on the bus and started [MC] battling people on the street.

“In a neighborhood where he had never been, in a different culture -- that could be a dangerous thing. Now he has great friends there, guys who run barbershops in London. ‘Fest interpreted that ‘On the Road’ Kerouac thing for hip-hop.”

Given Rhymefest’s close ties to West, many were surprised to learn that his album won’t be coming out on West’s own, Sony-affiliated label, already home to R&B; sensation John Legend.

“There was an awkward time of two months when Kanye was very angry with me and angry at ‘Fest a little bit,” Ronson says about the signing.

Rhymefest says he signed with Ronson because he wanted to keep separate his friendship and business relationship with West.

“At the end of the day, Kanye is not a blue-collar guy,” Rhymefest says, laughing. “Kanye and I will spend a week together, and then we gotta get away from each other. Although we’re the same people, we’re on different sides of the spectrum.”

But the friendship remains deep.

“Kanye is part of my team,” says the rapper. “He helped me write records for this album. We counsel each other. This is what we’ve done for each other growing up.”

But Rhymefest scoffs at rumors that West bought “Jesus Walks” from him rather than co-writing the song.

The Mindset Army, a loosely organized coalition of hip-hop fans, even circulated an online petition urging the Grammy organization to drop West from being honored as a writer of “Jesus Walks.”

“What hurt me the most was the group never contacted me,” Smith says of the incident. “Because of whatever their agenda against Kanye was, they could have hurt a business relationship, they could have hurt a friendship.

“Kanye called me up and was like, ‘Yo, what the [heck] is this?’ ” he recalls. “I was like, ‘I don’t even know who these nuts are.’ ”

For the record, Rhymefest said he “collaborated” on the song’s chorus and first verse with West and brought him its primary musical sample.

West remains a visible supporter. He worked with Rhymefest on part of the album, and the duo taped a recent appearance together for AOL Live.

Considering West’s nearly alchemical ability to finesse hits for almost everyone with whom he collaborates, the connection is significant. He has worked, as producer or writer, on hits by such varied artists as Alicia Keys, Jay-Z, Twista and Legend. West’s own “Late Registration,” a Grammy nominee for album of the year, has sold more than 2.2 million copies in the U.S.

How, then, does Rhymefest reconcile his blue-collar identity with the possibility of platinum success?

“When my next album comes out, am I gonna be blue collar even though I’ve made a million dollars? No,” Smith say. “You can’t. You can still be in touch with the people. But you’re white collar.”

He pauses to ponder the near future.

“My next album’s gonna be called ‘Enron’s Revenge,’ ” Rhymefest says, laughing again. “ ‘Halliburton Strikes Back!’ ”