Philly's Most Wanted
Photo: Atlantic

"Excuse me, bitch, what's your name?" isn't the world's suavest pick-up line by a long shot.

For the duo of Boobonic and Mr. Man of Philly's Most Wanted, however, these confidently delivered lines from "Please Don't Mind" have maintained anticipation for their debut LP, Get Down or Lay Down, which drops Tuesday (August 7) after several delays.

"We keep it real," replied Mr. Man when asked how he and his nearly lifelong friend approach girls in real life. "'You already know my name. What's up? Either you dealing with me or not,'" he added by way of example. "It ain't that hard. We could have our deep conversation, but at the end of the day you know what all men want. I'd be a liar if I told you something different."

With their rigorous performance schedule, however, the guys don't have to worry about picking up girls. The ladies come to them.

"You be dead asleep and somebody is standing over top of you," said Mr. "'I just said hi to you. What you doing in my room?'"

Philly's Most Wanted, whose moniker derives from being wanted by women, not the police, moved recently to Atlanta, and are a little homesick.

"I miss home because my daughter's there," said Boobonic, who finds Atlanta "crazy."

"This is like a vacation," Mr. added about the temporary move. "The ATL vibe is like back in the day. It ain't slow, where they don't know what's going on. They just laid back. That's how they roll down there. People are cool, everybody speaks, hold doors for you."

The group remains allegiant to its hometown but seeks to expand its reach.

"Every move we make is a business move," explained Boobonic, who said he and Mr. also plan to rent an apartment in Los Angeles. "We don't have the South on fire like we have the Northeast on fire. We've already been hollering at Outkast and all them. We're ready to make music. It's gonna be a good situation for us musically and businesswise."

The duo hopes to rub shoulders with producers such as Just Blaze, Rockwilder, Dr. Dre and Scott Storch on their next album. The Neptunes, who produced their debut, will be onboard as well.

Boobonic said their next single, "Radical," would hit the audience with the unexpected.

"It features Kelis. It's like a rock song with a Neptunes interpretation," Boobonic explained. "It's crazy, we just spitting. By the time the song comes out, it will make perfect sense. Anything people are saying bad about us, we just coming at you, letting them know to stop it."

"It gets the message straight to everybody," Mr. chimed in. "That shuts you up like, 'Uh-uh, don't you do that!'"

Philly's Most Wanted hope their fans don't shut up after the album's release. They want feedback.

"The excitement is crazy," Boobonic said. "We put sh-- out 'cause we want to get the response. We're anxious. We wanna see how people feel about it."

• Philly's Most Wanted

Philly's Most Wanted (l to r, Mr. Man & Boo Bonic)
Photo: Atlantic

Unlike their soon-to-be-former Atlantic Records labelmate Cuban Link, the duo of Philly's Most Wanted — as in "most wanted by the ladies," not the authorities — seem to think the delay of their debut album is doing more to help their careers than hinder it. "It was a thing at first, but we learned the game," PMW's Mr. Man said. "It's all about patience." "It's a business regardless of what you want at the time," Mr.'s partner, Boobonic, added. "Putting out an album is one thing, but putting out a successful album is another." Originally scheduled for release last year, Atlantic chose to hold up PMW's Get Down or Lay Down in order to help build the group's following. Now with a summer release almost etched in stone, the two Southwest Philadelphia natives are continuing to do what they have been doing: traveling across the country shaking hands, signing autographs and doing shows to promote the LP as well as their hit, "Cross the Border." Produced by the Neptunes (the production team laid tracks for 12 of Get Down or Lay Down's 15 songs), the party banger garnered heavy rotation, though as Boo said, "We ain't want people to think we just got one record." Up next is "Please Don't Mind," and the video for the cut, which displays PMW's game-spitting techniques, is scheduled to be shot on April 16 and 17 in Philly. "It's a house party type joint," Mr. Man said. "We're gonna have stars coming through." "Somewhat reminiscent of [Notorious B.I.G.'s 'One More Chance' video], but the Philly way," Boo added. Sunshine Anderson, Ray J and Trick Daddy are all scheduled to appear in the video as partygoers, with Beanie Sigel slated to play a bouncer at the front door. The bulk of Get Down or Lay Down was completed two years ago, with the guys tweaking ever since by adding a song here and there, switching some choruses, and changing some beats. They're confident that even if the album gets pushed back again, the LP will be loved whenever it drops. "Our album was timeless," Mr. Man said. "We had all the stuff people are loving the Neptunes for now two years ago."

• Philly's Most Wanted