Potluck: Budding Prospects

A pot luck is an evolutionary vestige from a time when socialism reigned and everyone was meant to "pitch in." But not everyone is equal, and some (like mom) make terrible food. This results in a mish mash of vittles that yield an unsavory square, often bean casserole or some other holdover from the experimental era in American cuisine called the 50s. To be fair, while sometimes a pot luck has some good offerings, mostly things are on the wrong side of delicious. Variety may be the spice of life, but Tupperware hasn't been an exciting party starter since women wearing cone shaped bras sold it door to door.

Potluck involves the racial diverse duo of 1 Ton and UnderRated. Unlike a pot luck, they present a full square meal in audible form. Given their Humboldt County roots, it should be no surprise that the boys rap a little about the green that should be kept in Tupperware. But, make no assumptions, Potluck are not one trick ponies. While their upbringing may lead them to some weed talk, their newest release, Straight Outta Humboldt, offers mature takes on race, relationships and skill on the mic. Not surprisingly, the diverse duo draws a diverse set of collaborators, from fellow Sub Noize family members Kottonmouth Kings to the legendary E-40. The group has toured all over, rocked shows with Atmosphere, Too Short, Bone Thugs and Living Legends.

Ballerstatus caught up with 1 Ton and UnderRated and asked a few questions. Some are intelligent; some are just for a laugh. In all, the guys were gracious and shed some light on their music, friendship, label and smoking preferences.

Ballerstatus.com: What has it been like being on Sub Noize?

UnderRated: Being on Sub Noize is dope. They took everything we've worked for and took it to the next level. They put us on more tours and put our newest CD on shelves. They also let us do anything we want to do creatively. They are very supportive of the Potluck movement.

Ballerstatus.com: Sub Noize has a strong pro-weed bent. Why do you think that weed culture resonates so strongly with the suburban rap listener?

1 Ton: If you look at KMK [Kottonmouth Kings], which is the big dog of Sub Noize, their whole image screams the suburbs. Just like when you look at The Game, he says Compton, or E-40 screams the Bay Area. And just like all those other artists, KMK keeps it real and talks about the stuff they can relate to being from the suburbs -- dirt bikes, tattoos and weed. So if you're from the suburbs, it is going to hit you strong and really hit home.

Ballerstatus.com: How has association with High Times helped you with promotion and building a fan base?

UnderRated: High Times has always been good to us, even before we teamed up with Sub Noize. They had a couple of our songs listed in their magazine. Plus, they always represent Humboldt for obvious reasons. We have the best weed in the world and High Times knows what's up. They have been talking about Humboldt weed in High Times forever. It makes people more aware that might not of known about Humboldt. Just more people being more aware of Humboldt promotes our music.

Ballerstatus.com: Do you find that outside of a "pothead" niche, that it is difficult to break into the wider hip-hop market?

UnderRated: We love all types of hip-hop, but we are from Humboldt, so we are automatically put in the category of "weed rap." I'm not saying that we don't have weed songs, but there is a lot more than that in our music. The real fans that listen to our music know that we have real subject matter on our CD, not just weed. But yeah, it does make it harder for certain people that don't like weed or don't smoke weed to get past the weed element of our music. We are from Humboldt and we keep it real. Almost everybody around us smoke and it's not a big deal where we live. It's basically legal here. We just rap about what we go through and make the best music we can. Some people hate before they even listen and that is ok, we understand that you need haters to have lovers.

Ballerstatus.com: Are you at all interested in doing that?

UnderRated: For sure. We love some of all types of hip-hop, whether it's underground, mainstream, backpack, gangster, wicked sh--, etc. Since we have the weed thing cracking, it will just take longer for certain genres to catch on and realize that this isn't the only thing we can do. We got songs that represent all types of hip-hop on our CDs, you just have to take the time to listen.

Ballerstatus.com: What was it like working with E-40?

1 Ton: He is the most down to earth superstar we have ever met. He was one of my favorite rappers growing up, so to work with him, doing shows and songs was a dream come true. Now we have worked with him so much, I consider him a friend that is crazy to say, but true.

Ballerstatus.com: Dry pipes or water pipes?

UnderRated: Water pipes. Dry pipes are too dry and you don't get the full hit. But if you stuck without a choice, I suppose we will hit the dry one.

Ballerstatus.com: Swishers, rizzlas, blunts or Garcia Vega cigarillos?

UnderRated: They serve their purpose and it's good to switch it up and have variety in your life. But Royal Blunts is our first choice.

Ballerstatus.com: Why do Europeans mix weed and tobacco?

1 Ton: I don't know. I'm not European.

Ballerstatus.com: Many comedians are name dropped on the album. Who is the most hilarious person on earth?

UnderRated: There are too many to just name one, but I'm liking Kat Williams right now. His new standup was crazy!

1 Ton: Eddie Murphy the best ever, but hot right now, Kat Williams, Bernie Mac, Dave Chapelle... too many to name.

Ballerstatus.com: UnderRated, do you think you will always be that or will people recognize your skills?

UnderRated: I am getting recognition right now and it feels good. My name came about because I was always the quiet dude in class. The dude who never talked, the dude who couldn't even do a speech in school. So when I rapped people were blown away. We've been rapping for 10 years now and people are realizing that we've been putting in our time and paying our dues.

Ballerstatus.com: You have worked with underground artists from a variety of camps, what about your music do you think appeals to different types of rappers?

UnderRated: I think most people respect the skills first and then they realize the realness that we try to bring in our music. If you've been rapping for a long time, you can tell which other rappers have been putting in their time and practicing their craft. I think they have respect for what we are trying to do. Since we like all types of hip-hop, our sound is everywhere. We can do a show with E-40 and his fans, and then turnaround and do the same show with Living Legends or Jurassic 5. Our style is universal, so there is usually something for everyone.

Ballerstatus.com: I am always interested in CD packaging. I really appreciated the descriptions of the songs in your liner notes. What inspired you to go that route?

UnderRated: We thought it would be cool if people could read what we were going through when we were actually making the song. Or see the reason for the song being made. It's just a way to let people know that we are real people going through real situations of life and that inspired each song.

Ballerstatus.com: A Jewish guy and a black guy walk into a bar... this could be the beginning of a bad joke, but instead it is the beginning of a fruitful career in rapping and deejaying for you both. That said, many interracial hip-hop acts hide their individual identities, while you are both very open about how that has affected your experiences. Why is it important for you both to open yourselves completely to your audience?

UnderRated: That is the #1 message we want to send with our music. You might think that all we care about is weed since it is all of the record and it is what we talk about most. In reality though, we are two people from completely different backgrounds that became best friends because of working so hard together on music. We want the world to know that everybody can get along and it's real. If we change the way one person thinks, we made a change for the better and that's the sh--! Hopefully we'll be bigger soon and change the way people think about each other. We gotta share the world, it's not that big.

Ballerstatus.com: What have you got lined up for the future?

UnderRated: We have the biggest weed collaboration in the works right now. It gonna be called the Kannibus Kartel and will feature us, Kottonmouth Kings and Cypress Hill. That should be done in the next couple months. After that, we're gonna release our next Potluck CD and tour a lot when we can in between.

GO BACK TO SITE