Soldiers of Fortune

Potluck brings something tasty to the party with Rhymes & Resin

By Jasen T. Davis

1 Ton and UnderRated are Potluck, an independent underground rap duo operating straight outta Humboldt County. This month marks the release date for their latest album, Rhymes & Resin. It’s an album that showcases imaginative beats, countless collaborations and ice-cool lyrics about the delights of cannabis, the reality of hard times and life in the Emerald Triangle.

Potluck has always been an independent group. You even built your own private studio. How has this affected your music?

1 Ton: Being on Suburban Noize (home of Kottonmouth Kings) is great because they really give us a lot of support. If we were on a major label, they would just pick the songs they wanted us to play and we’d have to do what they wanted. Instead, we are lucky enough to have a record label that lets us do what we want. For instance, they’ll give us a big budget for a video and not even know what song we want to do.

UnderRated: We have a hand in everything that happens. Last night we were up working until 4 a.m. getting our album ready for the Internet. You have to make sure you are on top of everything—the way we do it—but that’s why we’re so original.

Let’s talk about Rhymes & Resin. What went into it and what didn’t?

UnderRated: [For t]his CD, we wanted to work with different people we had never worked with. We worked with Tech N9ne, Murs, Mistah F.A.B., King Gordy, Glasses Malone and a whole lot of others. We got so many other artists because we wanted this album to go into new directions with new perspectives.

1 Ton: At the same time, UnderRated and I went over every song and made it 100 percent ours. That means making the beats hit harder and seeing that the album goes to the next level.

How do you feel about cannabis legalization?

UnderRated: Out here, we don’t want it to be legal. I mean, we don’t grow it, but we have friends who do. Up here, we don’t have any idea what will happen if it becomes legal, so we get nervous about legalizing it.

1 Ton: My thoughts are, money rules the world. I just find that every decision in life, governments, whatever . . . it all comes down to money. I know that enough rich people are just going to realize they can make a lot of money, and so weed is going to get legalized. But in our hometown it’s such a part of the local economy, and their biggest fear is that everything they worked for will be gone, and governments and corporations will take over.

Is cannabis such a big part of Potluck because you are both from Humboldt County?

UnderRated: I would assume that’s the reason. It’s been in our family [and] all around us. The type of music is based on what we see. If we grew up in Compton or New York, there’d be a different vibe.

1 Ton: We are what we are. If you try to be something you are not, people know that. If you are real, if you know who you are, you have endless material. We come from Humboldt, so that’s reflected in our music.

www.myspace.com/potluck.

Noises Off!

It’s hardly surprising that the Humboldt through-and-through duo Potluck has been releasing tunes through Suburban Noize Records. Formed, in part, by Kottonmouth King frontman Brad X, Suburban is currently home to other leaf-friendly acts such as (hed) p.e., La Coka Nostra, Subnoize Souljaz and Swollen Members. Punk stalwart band Unwritten Law recently joined the label and released Swan.