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”
