“Organic” is a term that’s tossed around quite frivolously in Hip-Hop. But it’s truthfully the only way to describe what The House, a bubbling movement based in the unlikely city of Chattanooga, Tenn., is doing.
The crew’s name may not resonate with you now, but that will soon change. Especially with two of their founding members being TDE’s Isaiah Rashad and TUT (known to some as Kev Adams), the focus of this Certified Fresh piece, being founding members.
The sounds of TUT’s music first permeated the Hip-Hop Wired offices back in January with the release of Preacher’$ $on, a reflective free album that compiles the rising MC’s existential thoughts. At 23-years-old, he admittedly has a lot to learn and much to improve on. But, if anything, he’s asking the right questions now and ensuring a place in Hip-Hop for years to come.
Who: TUT (formerly known as YGTUT, the YG stands for “Young G and King”), born Kevin Adams, is a Chattanooga, Tenn. resident and a hell of a MC. His first project, Preacher’$ $on, is a 16-track opus that’s inspired by his struggle with being, well, a preacher’s son. On one hand he had the church, in the other the struggles of being an adolescent and lure of the streets.
Credentials: TUT is a newcomer, but steel, more often than not, sharpens steel. That friendly competition resonates throughout The House camp, which includes Isaiah Rashad, fellow rapper Michael Da Vinci, producer Ktoven, The Antydote, Danny Dee, and more. Isaiah set off a promising career with Cilvia Demo EP back in 2014. On the same month, one year later, TUT did the same with his debut.
Fun Fact: TUT can be seen in his college friend Rashad’s “Ronnie Drake” video. He’s on the right hand side, sporting a Nike t-shirt.
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Photo: Instagram
Hip-Hop Wired: What was the mission statement for Preacher’$ $on?
TUT: The main message was to give a little insight of my personal life and my family. But it’s also a story of me trying to find good while in a battle between good and evil. I know that there a lot of people my age, from teenagers to people in their late 20s, who can relate.
HHW: Was it difficult to bring listeners into the world of a Preacher’$ $on, where the line between hypocrisy and appearing to be perfect are a constant battle?
TUT: It’s not difficult at all, because it’s something that I’ve lived. I’m not a writer; I don’t write lyrics down, I kind of just go for it. When a certain producer is making something, and I’m feeling it, I think on it for a minute and go for it. Sometimes I may say things in an animated way, but it’s all a true story.
HHW: Was there a moment of clarity when you went from a boy raised in the church to an aware adolescent?
TUT: Honestly, I always believed in God, but I just didn’t want to be a pastor. Even as a kid, my mom used to ask, “Do you want to be a preacher when you grow up?,” and I’d say “No!” I didn’t know if that was my calling after seeing all of the stress my family went through. I didn’t know if I wanted to put that kind of stress on myself, and things of that nature.
But I was always into music as a kid; I played drums in the church. When I got older, and started to hang around certain ni**as, I got more intrigued with rap. And my pops, even though he was a pastor, he’d play OGs like Pac and Biggie, and Nappy Roots. I went to my first studio at 14, and around 14 or 15 I built my own studio with equipment. Then I ran into Ktoven in high school, and we’ve been rocking ever since.
HHW: Do you think you’re giving away too much of your story too early?
TUT: You can’t worry about that. We just want to create good music for the most part. Me and K, we’re always working in the studio and recording. If you make good music, the people will support you. That is, if music is what you’re supposed to be doing. A lot of ni**as go into this music sh*t, and they just don’t be cut out for it. It takes a certain kind of ni**a to actually say something.
HHW: This project is technically sound, sonically. What artists did you listen to during its creation?
TUT: A lot of what inspired Preacher’$ $on was us just sitting in the car, smoking out the whip bumping everything from Outkast to Jay Z’s Reasonable Doubt to Juvenile. All the sh*t, even the Hot Boys, Erykah Badu and Jill Scott. Good music is what inspired my own. A great thing is always inspired by another. Like Kanye West’s Late Registration inspired me, ‘cause that’s a good ass album. Anything that I listen to all the way through is probably what I was listening to while creating Preacher’$ $on.
HHW: I also noticed that the sound of the project is unapologetically southern, but not in a trap way. Was this intentional?
TUT: It really just kinda came together, I guess. We had a whole band, which brought that live instrumentation feel. But as far as the production, that’s really Ktoven, my engineer. We live together, so our method to working may not be the same as other artist.
K may already be producing, and then I’ll come along and hear some banging sh*t come out of the speakers. That’s when I say, “Damn, can a young ni**a get on this?” Then we end up making some sh*t. Since I don’t write, I already know where I’m trying to go on a record. So everything that I write is kind of leading into the next song. If I write 2 3 songs in a week, they may sound similar because of the time when I recorded it.
HHW: What does The House look to achieve as a whole?
TUT: Be legendary. Between us, there’s a lot of stuff that we want to do. But we really want to make epic projects and continue to stay tight knit. We started out as friends, and ni**as shouldn’t let money get in between them and their friendships. Money is gonna get spent, and we’re gonna die regardless.
HHW: How has Isaiah Rashad’s early success affected The House?
TUT: It’s basically sink or swim. Ni**as ain’t trying to get left behind, so we all have to be on our sh*t. Everyone has to make good music. Not just the rappers, but the producers too. That’s what it really comes down to.
We all believed in each other and have a great support system within our movement. We communicate and push each other. That’s the method to the madness.
If Zay (Isaiah) comes out with a good project, sh*t, I’m trying to drop something better. If Mikey D releases after me, his project should be better than mine. The same for if Ktoven produces something crazy. The Antydote or any of our producers gotta f*ck it up even better. We’ve been knowing each other for years, so we have to push each other.
Essentials:
“Highs & Lows”
“2 Milli”
Preacher’$ $on
