Need a Limo? Need a Lug? Call the Boo-Yaa Brothers

All in the family.

It’s a perfect motto for the Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E., the six beefy Samoan brothers who are part of the increasingly broad Los Angeles ethnic rap scene chronicled March 4 in Calendar. Thanks to an infectious rap single (“R.A.I.D.”), which is a heavy-rotation fave on KDAY-AM, the Boo-Yaas have become one of hip-hop’s new underground sensations.

The group’s leader, Ted (The Godfather) Devoux, has helped steer the brothers away from gang affiliations and toward a burgeoning career in popland. The Boo-Yaas, whose current album is titled “New Funky Nation,” were scheduled to appear on “The Arsenio Hall Show” Friday night. But if their bid for rap stardom falls short, the Carson-based clan will have something to fall back on.

Call it rap capitalism. While his brothers work the hip-hop beat, Devoux has taken advantage of the Boo-Yaas’ image as rough and tumble heavyweights by putting his extended family to work as bodyguards, security men and limo drivers. Called Godfather & Sons, the bodyguard-limo service has been in full swing the past few months, providing limo-bodyguards for 35 to 40 private clients as well as several area dance clubs, including Spice, Rhythm Nation and Papa Willy’s.

“Not everybody in the family is a good musician, but they’re great at other things, like weightlifting or the martial arts, so this was a way for them to get involved,” explained Devoux, who said he has 200 cousins in the L.A. area. “We’ve had the bodyguard business for a year, but now we’ve started a limo service so we can give people a package deal.

“So far, we have a lot of happy customers. When you get out of a limo and go into a club or restaurant with one of my family as your bodyguard, you get respect .”

No kidding. As one local club staffer puts it: “Those guys are intimidating. They’re real hulks . Beefcake on beefcake. Mega-beefcake.”

According to Devoux, the cousins congregate every morning at 5 a.m. for calisthenics, weightlifting and martial-arts sessions (overseen by Ted’s uncle, Tino, a martial-arts pro).

But the Godfather insists the Boo-Yaas don’t simply rely on bulk alone. “Size isn’t enough,” explained Ted, who said his cousin, Sagg, has worked as a bodyguard for the late John Belushi and other Hollywood stars. “You need a good, quick brain. Anybody in my family who’s hot-headed can’t work in the bodyguard service.

“That’s what I like about martial arts. It teaches you to be humble. I tell the boys they have to present a positive image. You want to be the solution, not the problem. If you hit people or lose your temper, then you just encourage people to strike back.”

The Godfather also keeps morale up with group therapy sessions. “Everybody comes over to the house twice a week where they can talk things out. Then I get them pumped up.”

Devoux is eager to turn a profit with the Boo-Yaas’ bodyguard-limo business. But he also sees it as a way for his streetwise clan to make money without turning to drug-related hustles. “We grew up poor--we were evicted from three houses--but it’s not true that the only way for kids to make money is by getting involved with drugs,” he said. “We live in the land of opportunity. And what counts is the person, not the environment.

“My mother thought my brother Red needed a new environment when he got involved with gangs, so she sent him to Hawaii. But he just started a gang there. When he got killed, I had to do something to get my brothers on a new track. That’s why we do these things as a family, because when you’re a family, you can watch out for each other.”