Like all successful friendships, the affection is mutual. The city of Columbia has provided Spits with a lifelong home and venue while, in return, he entertains it with his raps. He feels that this lengthy partnership has provided him with a leg-up over many of Columbia's local musicians.

"It's a privilege," he said scratching his chin. "I've been going to the Blue Fugue and doing the open mic there since I was fifteen. It's about connections, and I've got all the connections I need."

And those connections have served him quite well as of late. In February of this year, Springfield's LemonDrop Records officially made Jimmy Spits its first signed artist.

"Now I don't necessarily have to press my own album, or even record my own album, or pay for tours," Spits grinned. "But at the same time were all small and just getting started."

Today, he joins two other signed bands on the LemonDrop roster and says that several other groups and individuals are in negotiations. He calls getting signed to the label a "storybook" occurrence and "lucky" because of the way it happened.

"A friend of mine handed them my CD and said, 'Hey, this is my friend from Columbia and he's really great.'" Spits explained.

The next thing he knows, Spits is face-to-face with Kevin Ehlers, co-owner of the label, negotiating the deal.

Spits began has quest as a rapper during his days as a student at Hickman High School where, as he explains, "The talent show and assembly were just as important as math class. It was a beautiful thing."

While enrolled there, Spits participated in and won four school-wide musical competitions. This success is what prompted him to seek a career as a hip-hop artist. In 2004, under the more intimidating moniker "J-Murda," Spits released his first album backed by a band "J-Murda and the Musicians." He claims that this album is his finest to date. The next year, he released his first solo album, "Sober People Unite." This one, he says, he's not so proud of. "I released this solo record and it was terrible," He chuckled. "At the same time, I was just eighteen and I really tried my best."

Dejected but determined, Spits began attending "Mad Real Mondays" at Columbia's Sapphire Lounge. It was here where he watched and learned from some of the best hip-hop artists Columbia has to offer. He says he received useful advice from the likes of Mr. Tivis and Mel B., but learned the most from a local rapper named Steddy P. Perhaps the most active and recognizable of Columbia's hip-hop artists, Steddy P taught Spits "a lot about being a rapper, like the 'swag'--you've gotta have a swagger. Without him I'd still be in J-Murda mode. I owe a lot to Mad Real Mondays. Without them I'd just be some lame rapper."

Spits says he performed at Mad Real Mondays virtually every week for two years. "Once I started going there my music began to make sense," he says.

In 2007, using his brother in-law's basement and equipment, Spits recorded an album with producer Ryan Sublette titled "Suburban Myth." He calls this album "a big step from the J-Murda days."

Suburban Myth is the album that got him noticed by the owners of LemonDrop Records.

Since signing his record deal, Spits released "Leaps and Bounds" on LemonDrop, an album he says is "very good."

In the future, Spits foresees an "epic" album featuring the help of at least seven different producers. For now, you can catch him at Mojo's in Columbia on August 18th.