Words Julia Beverly Photos Eric Johnson
Where are you from? Bay-Dilla: I grew up in Alaska. A-Sun: I’m from Rochester, New York. Dead Serious: I’m from Augusta but I’ve lived in Atlanta for ten years. How did Out Da Cutt Records get started? Bay-Dilla: In 1999, me and my brother Wookie had a homeboy in Alaska named Banana Red. He passed away a few years ago, and he had bought a beat machine. We always talked about getting a studio, but we were procrastinating. He bought the beat machine and we ended up buying all this studio equipment. We were just learning how to make beats, messing with it, and we came up with the idea to put out this group called Dem Villains in 1999. It was me, my brother, Wookie, our man HC, Little T, Rob Low, and Hot Rod. We were on some West coast gangsta rap shit. Did you release the album in Alaska? Bay-Dilla: Yeah, we put out three albums in Alaska. We were bouncing back and forth to Atlanta, and that’s where we bumped into Magic B. He’s my cousin from Rochester, and he’s a producer. He was like, “Yo, Atlanta’s the move.” In 2001 we moved the studio down here. Then some bullshit happened and my brother, my cousin, and my kid’s mom, they all got locked up. We were getting it how we lived. What was the independent label scene like in Alaska? Bay-Dilla: It’s a lot of haters, but if they love you, they love you. We’ve got Joker the Bailbondsman and the IE clique up there, and Mika and his clique the AK 49ers. My boy Third Wall moved out to Kansas City. What projects are you working on now? Bay-Dilla: I’m about to put out my solo album, Up North D-Boy. Everybody in Alaska’s been waiting for that for a while. My clique The Usual Suspects is behind me, and their album is gonna do way better than the last album. The first Usual Suspects album was a bunch of bullshit. We had to cut some people off to separate the real from the fake. A-Sun: Right now I got a couple joints done for my solo album, which will be out sometime in 2005. It’s gonna change the game. I know they’re tired of hearing everything watered down. Get ready, cause Out Da Cutt 22
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is bringing something new to the game. The streets are never gonna be the same after we get done. Any real street nigga is gonna feel what I got to say, cause it’s all real. Ain’t nothing made up. When I talk about dope it’s because I sold it. When I talk about my guns, it’s because I really bust ‘em. It’s true stories. When do you expect to drop the album? Bay-Dilla: Be expecting a mixtape to promote the Usual Suspects and Up North D-Boy by mid summer. I’m doing it indie, but me and my boy Joker have been talking about doing some things together. We’re both from Alaska tryin’ to get it. We got a lil’ buzz so we’re gonna shoot a couple more videos and stuff. I got a couple people I hollered at once or twice, but I ain’t wanna do nothing til my record sells. I don’t wanna go at a major until we have a tremendous street buzz. How did the Usual Suspects (A-Sun and Dead Serious) meet? Bay-Dilla: A-Sun’s my cousin. He had got released from the Feds about four years ago and my brother told him to come to Altanta. My brother’s in jail, so I had to pick up where he left off. I’m gonna keep my word to him, so I ain’t gonna have A-Sun down here in Atlanta wasting time. We all know what could happen to somebody that’s been in there, trying to get rich quick. They might end up right back in the same predicament. A-Sun: I decided to come down here and try something different. Bay told me it was a chance to talk about what I’ve been through, you know, the same trials and tribulations everybody goes through in the hood. Bay-Dilla: Dead Serious is my man, I met him through Magic B. He’s just do or die, he’s whatever. All he does is rap. That’s his life. Why were you locked up? A-Sun: Possession of a weapon and drug trafficking. Actually the first time I ever rapped was in prison. Bay and them had just dropped their album How We Roll Up North. I did the intro over the phone and it turned out to be the hottest verse on there. I’ve been rapping ever since. Why did you decide to name the label Out Da Cutt Records? Bay-Dilla: When I tell people I’m from Alaska, they’re like, “Yeah, right,