You'd best get familiar with Philly rapper Gilbere Forté.

We'll come right out and say it: You're gonna want to thank us for introducing you to Philly rapper Gilbere Forté. You might remember the kid from his much-buzzed about 2010 single "Black Chukkas," or maybe you saw his face bouncing all over the internets today since he JUST SIGNED WITH EPIC RECORDS. (And yes, that's Epic Records chairman and former "X Factor" judge L.A. Reid standing next to Gilbere, NBD.)

Listen to Gilbere Forté after the jump.

So, why all the fuss? Aside from his Drake-esque flow, the dude's already got a massive following (he's just shy of 25K Twitter followers *COUGH*) and recently finished a successful run of dates at SXSW. Couple that with his BET Awards feature and a few high-profile collaborations with top rappers like Pusha T, Tyga, and Big K.R.I.T, and there's really no anticipating the heights this dude's star will travel, especially now that L.A. Reid's on board.

And speaking of co-signs, have we mentioned that Fiona Apple is a fan? Gilbere's lead single, the AGGRO-yet-vulnerable "PRAY," samples Fiona's "Every Single Night." And since everyone isn't a music publishing whiz kid here, we'll just inform you that Fiona rarely allows her songs to be sampled, yet she personally cleared her song for Gilbere's "PRAY." Seriously, need we say anything more?

Be on the lookout for Gilbere's debut project, PRAY, dropping in May.

+ Listen to Gilbere Forté.

Photo credit: Nikko La Mere