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It goes without saying that reality television can turn the average person into a star, but it wasn’t until the first season of VH-1’s “For the Love of Ray J,” that a celebrity was created without ever having been on camera. For years, the celeb photographer simply known as Chicago Larry has enjoyed local renown, but thanks to a girl named Caviar and one angry Ray J, the virtuoso has landed his own YouTube-based reality series and is preparing for a career in music. Rolling out caught up with Chicago Larry at Soundscape Recordings in the Windy City where he opened up about his VH-1 experience, producing his own show and why he’s not a pimp.
–gavin philip godfrey
Who is Chicago Larry?
Chicago Larry is basically flamboyant, unusual, different, unexpected, able to sustain [and] expected to live up [to] the five minutes of fame.
What is the biggest misconception about Chicago Larry?
Biggest misconception?! We had one big misconception because of the way the controversy went with the show ‘[For the] Love of Ray J.’ [I was the voice] telling Caviar to watch her back, trying to help her along, so because people only heard my voice the biggest misconception was that I happened to be her boyfriend or ‘maybe he’s a pimp because he’s got a lot of models.’ I’ve cleared that up. Why? Because I’m full of humor. All you’ve got to do is look at Chicago Larry live and you’ll see what I’m talking about, and from what I understand, ain’t no such thing as a funny pimp.
What was the inspiration behind your YouTube series, Chicago Larry TV?
Chicago Larry TV came from the whole concept of me making it to the next level to a VH-1 and having my own reality show. The show is like my training ground, my practice court. I can make all my mistakes, do all my bloopers, prepare myself for when I make it to the next level, at the same time realizing that I want to be a role model for a lot of other photographers out there, and hopefully, one of them follows [in] my footsteps and I can be able to encourage one of them to go in that direction.
