A trendsetter in the Dallas rap circuit, Tum Tum’s creativity commanded attention once again with his recent mixtape release Purp Kobain. Here he talks about the concept, his new projects, and a long-awaited D.S.R. reunion show during Super Bowl Weekend. Give us an update on what you’ve been working on. I dropped that Purp Kobain on Livemixtapes. com and I got copies in stores. I’m really working that right now. I’m also working on my next project TumK11. I’m shooting videos. I’m still with Yums. I’m trying to brand that D.C.C. movement we got goin’ real tough out here. The Purp Kobain tape is definitely all over the internet. How did you come up with that idea? Our click got like little smokin’ nicknames and I just named myself Purp Kobain. That’s my favorite weed, purp. (laughs) I was chilling one day, I think I was watching Courtney Love on VH1, and I was like, “You know what? I’ma name my next tape Purp Kobain.” I ran with it. I got with Daniel Got Skillz to design the cover with the baby with a shag. What are some of the songs that people were talking about when they heard that tape? “Cannibus Club,” “Gas Pipes” with Killa Kyleon, and “Chucks.” Converse even called and wanted to get behind “Chucks.” You mentioned shooting videos. What videos do you have out right now? I did a video with Play-N-Skillz called “Smoke Somethin.” I did another one for “If It’s Fuck Me” and one for “Ode to the Bay.” You’ve been around for a long time and some newer folks might consider you an OG Dallas rapper. Has the game changed a lot for you over the years? Like having to do a lot of videos and internet work. Yeah, that’s crazy they say I’m an OG ‘cause I just turned 27. (laughs) But yeah, it’s kinda different ‘cause you gotta do a lot of videos now. But we was doin’ that when D.S.R. started so we already had a little knowledge of how to do the new age videos. People used to always ask where our new videos were. But I’m still trying my hardest to get it all the way down. A difference I see between a lot of people is they just do the internet and don’t be on the streets. I do both.
Yeah, yeah. You know in Texas they done changed the mixtape game up. In order to sell a mixtape now, you kinda gon’ have to put the CD in there and all the videos you did. I got like 6 of them floatin’ around town. Explain what the D.C.C. movement is. It’s is a lot of my homies from Dallas. We already be smokin’ and recording together so we just put a name behind it and call ourselves the Dallas City Council. It’s me, DJ Q, Tuck, and Mase, we kinda run it – then the rappers are Lil Man, Fat Pimp, Lil Tony, Lil Ronnie, Fat Pimp, Hoodboss, Lil Wil, Doughski, the hot street artists in the D lookin’ out for each other. Marquis Daniels helps us with it too. I started it with Play-N-Skillz so you know they always gon’ look out for me. We’re just tryin’ to make an impact on the city. Does D.C.C. have any projects out as a group? We got 2 mixtapes out right now on Livemixtapes that are gettin’ a good response. So you’re working on TumK11? Yeah, I do one like every 2 years. This year’s theme is Lee Harvey Oswald. I had got Indie Album of the Year at the SEAs last year for TumK9. A couple labels have been calling after Purp Kobain and after they saw I got Indie Album of the Year. What are your thoughts on major labels right now? I’ve been in the game for a minute and I see labels making changes. Universal and Def Jam are changing, and then I read somewhere that Warner was trying to sell so I’m waiting till all that gets done. I don’t wanna go somewhere with one staff and then the people I’m working with get fired and I’m back to square one. I’m waiting that out, continuing to build the streets and build my brand. Do you have any info on your Super Bowl appearances yet? The Yums event is gon’ be big. It’s gonna be me, Martellus Bennett from the Cowboys, and whoever else they got coming down. Then we got the D.S.R. reunion show with me and Tuck, Lil Ronnie, all us gon’ be wildin out. And I think I’m at Beamers with Play-N-Skillz, Lil Wayne and Drake. Where can people find you on the web? Youtube.com/ZillaTV, Twitter.com/Zillaman, and the new website ThaCannibusClub.com.
You actually press up hard copies of the videos, right? OZONE MAG // 23