Petey Pablo

Petey Pablo, born Moses Barrett III, is an American rapper, singer, and record producer from Greenville, North Carolina, who emerged in the early 2000s as one of the more prominent voices to bring national attention to the North Carolina hip-hop scene. His style blends Southern rap and crunk energy with gritty, direct delivery, often built around anthemic hooks and club-oriented production.

He broke through with «Raise Up», an ode to his home state that became a regional and national anthem, before achieving his biggest crossover success with «Freek-a-Leek» in 2003, a Timbaland-produced single that reached number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified platinum, becoming one of the defining crunk-era club hits of its time. The song’s popularity led to a widely played remix and cemented Petey Pablo’s place in early-2000s hip-hop.

While his commercial peak centered on those two singles, Petey Pablo’s work helped put North Carolina hip-hop on the national map at a time when the genre’s mainstream attention was concentrated on other regional scenes, and his raw, high-energy style influenced the sound of Southern club rap in the years that followed.