Interview: j cutta + definition of fresh + dunn deal promotions

Atlanta rapper/producer J Cutta presents “LTU”, his new single produced by Cutta and King Corn Beatzz. J has produced for the Youngbloodz, the Dungeon Family (click here to hear “Fall Back”), has opened for Soulja Boy and has been featured on mixtapes with DJ Scream and DJ Teknikz. J’s last album was Life, Lies & Luxury (stream on Bandcamp), which spawned the single “Livin” (watch the music video). Last summer he released his single “Summer Of Sam” (listen), and released several songs on Soundcloud as part of his Music Mondays series (Soundcloud). “The idea and the creation of the song came from good vibes in the studio,” J says. “I wrote a few different hooks for this track. Recorded all the different hooks and decided this was the one. I really wanted to create something different from my usual. I listened to this track over a hundred times in the process of completing the record. I get anal from time to time when it comes to a song so this should pay off in the long run.”

Your style deftly balances southern and west coast hiphop vibes. How do you think that came to be?

Influenced by the artists I listened to coming up. Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Outkast, Lil Wayne, T.I. I do like how you described my music, that’s what’s up. I do believe my sound is just my sound I guess. I make music based on what I like and what I feel like the masses would listen to on an everyday basis. Whatever track I’m riding to at that moment or song idea sticking out in my mind, I roll with. So my music ranges thru different emotions to put you in that vibe thru out the day. So press play and let the music take over. 

What’s your opinion of the A3C festival, as an Atlanta rapper?

A3C is a great way to educate yourself as an artist. There are workshops and industry heads you can actually get one on one time with to find answers to music questions. Also a chance to perform and find new fans if possible. As a rapper plus it’s great to be out there and be in an environment of people who have the same interest as you, which makes it a great place to network etc.

Pick one old school artist and one new school artist who are major influences on you and tell us why.

Outkast would be one of my major influences musically. Just going back and listening to any of their albums you will find that their sound was and still is in a place where no other artist could reach. The way they put tracks together and the different vibes that were created as they transitioned from record to record was unheard of at the time. I believe as an artist I will see growth with consistency and listening to Outkast is a prime example and the example I wish to be one day. 

Who has been a mentor to you in this game and how?

My biggest mentor has been experience to be honest. As I continue to learn from my mistakes and progress in different areas as an artist I believe this has been my best guidance in my music career. Things could change at any moment so that could change some day. As an independent artist, it has been a huge learning experience from trial and error. You network and you meet a lot of people but at the moment it stops there. My drive is believing that what I want and how I want to do it is a reality. In these last two years so many artists have reached peaks without a label and I plan to do the same.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of being a solo artist?

Advantages of being a solo independent artist is that it’s all on you and when everything is great, you receive all the praise. The disadvantages are the same because when something goes wrong everything falls back on to you. But when that happens at least you know there are no "what ifs" because did what you wanted to do, you choose the record that you thought was best at that moment in time.