Pleasure P Is On His Own Thang!

If you are a Pretty Ricky fan then you know who Pleasure P is right? Sure you do! He's the one thing that the group had going for it because Lord knows ain't nothing else working for them. But now, P is gone and he's on his own.

Pleasure -- who is slated to release "The Introduction of Marcus Cooper" in January via Atlantic Records -- plans on embarking on his solo career with a clean slate. "The reason I named it that is because Pretty Ricky introduced you all to Pleasure P, but now Pleasure P is going to introduce you to Marcus Cooper, which is my government name," says the 23-year-old, who left his post as lead singer of the group last year.

"This time, I'm in my own lane musically -- I'm grown up now. I'm talking about things that average R&B guys don't talk about but that average people can relate to. Pretty Ricky was overly raunchy, young and with no direction... (is it me, or are you all glad that he could admit that too? Anyways...) Now, my music is classier and I'll tell you exactly how it is."

Interstingly enough, Pleasure tapped songwriters like the late Static Major (who he cites as one of his inspirations) to help him out with this album. His first single "Did You Wrong" currently sits at No. 26 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Other tracks on the album include the regretful "Rock Bottom,"(<-----love that song!) about a man who is down on the dumps about a failed relationship, "Patience," about taking your time with a female, the unfaithful "Boyfriend No. 2," and "Shorty My Girl," which finds Pleasure P singing, "I wish I can call Shorty my girl, 'cause I ain't with that creeping no more." "The whole album is like one long relationship, where you contradict yourself a lot and say you won't do things you do end up doing," says Pleasure P. "All the songs tell a story, from doing a girl wrong to falling in love."

In addition, he recently launched a women's clothing line called Jean Addicts, which is available online and will be in 142 stores nationwide in coming months, and runs his own independent label, Swagger Entertainment."My solo career is phenomenal -- this is the best time of my life," Pleasure P says. "I can do the things I want to do and say the things I want to say. It's my direction now, this is me. I've been waiting for this my whole life and now I'm living the dream."