Petey Pablo's going to have to change the spelling of his moniker to Petey Pablow. The Greenville, North Carolina, native has been blowing up for the past few months with his debut single, "Raise Up," which pays homage to his home state.

While in New York last summer, he quipped that his label and management weren't showing him enough love because he didn't get the big birthday bash he had hoped for. Today, in Richmond, Virginia, amore is in abundance. Fresh from getting mobbed by fans at a mall, the MC checks in while he's jetting off to an in-store to promote his debut LP, Diary of a Sinner: 1st Entry, which dropped November 6.

"It's crazy, man," says Pablo of the reception he and his heavily rotated single have been getting. "But it's what I expected. I ain't gonna say it's nothing no different. I got my eyes on them Michael Jackson tours where they're shaking your bus over there in Tokyo. That's what I want."

Pablo's latest stab at being like Mike means writing songs that not only make you want to dance, but also inspire. After the attacks on America, Pablo authored a "USA Remix" for "Raise Up" featuring the same Timbaland string-filled track and expressing his flag-waving patriotism: "USA, c'mon and raise up/ Take a flag, put in the air/ Spin it like a helicopter."

"I've always been an individual that's been before my time," he says. "I knew it was time. At that time, Jermaine Dupri was going into the studio [to record the charity single "What's Going On"]. It wasn't a hip-hop song. It was a remix of Marvin Gaye. I needed to step forth for the hip-hop community and do that thing."

Firmly embraced by his peers, Pablo will spew his Southern twang on upcoming albums by the Ruff Ryders, Fat Joe and, of course, his close friend Timbaland's group album with Magoo.