Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

"It's all just happening so fast," he continues. "Like it's only been a couple months ago that we were sitting at this very same spot [Circle House Studios], talking about working together, and now we already have a single out and are shopping it around to majors. It's just crazy."

Lou can't agree more: "You know when you get that feeling like, yeah, that's the one! Well, that was the feeling we got when we met Casely. He was the real thing. I was just so amazed by his professionalism and how focused he was at such a young age. I was really impressed."

What's more impressive is the small amount of time it took the Diaz Brothers and Casely to form a serious musical relationship. Acquainted with Casely for only five months, Lou confesses he's learning more about the young man through this New Times interview. "We've been so busy in the studio we haven't really had a chance to get to know each other's lives like that," Lou concedes. "But what really matters right now is that Casely has a lot of talent to share. He's truly gifted both as a musician and a performer. He has the full package and has what it takes to beat out guys like Ne-Yo and Chris Brown. He's that good!"

"I see cats right now that are doing stuff and I'm like, I can do that, if not better! That's how ready I am," Casely declares. "I wanna make sure that Miami is not just the capital of hip-hop, but R&B as well. And if I'm the first to prove it to the world, then so be it."

As this article goes to print, Casely is now major. He just signed a lucrative contract with Epic Records.