A preacher's son, a Caucasian guy from rural Georgia and a convicted felon make up one of the most unique acts in hip-hop, the Cunninlynguists. Sampling everything from blues to Polka in their music, the guys know what it’s like to be loved and hated, praised and dissed, accepted and shut out. It’s all in a day’s work for the group that has been described as having the most hated name in hip-hop.

Compared to Outkast and UGK and having worked with legends like Cee-Lo Green and Immortal Technique, as well as lending their production talents to rap luminary, KRS-One, it’s fair to say these guys are far from your average rap group.

With talent to spare and a fan base that would follow them to the end of the earth, it’s no wonder they have gained the popularity they have. 2008 promises to keep the momentum going for the trio. Sixshot.com sat down with the guys to talk about their name, being diverse, and growing up Southern.

Sup fellas, how's life?
 
Natti:  Shit's beautiful.  The hustle goes on.

Deacon:  Life's pretty good.  Haven't had to shoot or stab anybody lately.

Kno:  I have, but that only makes life that much sweeter.  Ah, random violence.

< STRONG>How does it feel to be hands down, the most diverse group in hip-hop?
 
Deacon:  It'd feel better if more people realized that. [Laughs]  Nah, thanks for the compliment.  Being the most diverse group in hip-hop rubs some people the wrong way sometimes.   Some people want us to re-make the same song 15 times every 2 years and call that an album.

Kno: Trying not to pigeonhole ourselves just gives certain people more things to bitch about. [Laughs]  We're a shining representation of the fact you have to have an angle to sell records, because people honestly don't know what to make of us.  Horrible name.  Too white for black people, too black for white people, too mainstream for backpackers, too underground for mainstream rap fans, too southern for people outside of the south, too "hip-hop" for southerners.  Too many rock samples for Common fans, too much soul for Sage Francis fans.  I've witnessed it with my own eyes and ears over 6 years. 

I've watched us get booked with Cee-Lo and Nappy Roots and turn around and get booked with Aesop Rock and Blackalicious and have to work our asses off to win over both crowds only to have them completely on our team by the end of the night.  Of course there are exceptions or else we wouldn't have a fan base, but those exceptions are simply people with no hang-ups.  People we reach are people who simply love good music and don't give a shit what anyone else says about their tastes.  I always thought making undeniably excellent music would be enough, but I'm not sure anymore. [Laughs]

You guys get compared to legendary acts like UGK and Outkast, is that an honor for you?

Deacon:  Definitely.
 
Natti: Hell yeah, that was my heavy rotation all throughout high school on into my adult life.  I remember skipping school to buy Outkast first album.

Kno: It's an honor, and rest in peace to Pimp C.  Too Hard To Swallow was one of the first CD's I ever owned.  But it definitely exposes random hypocrisy in some media outlets.  I'll be reading a review and sometimes those comparisons will be the main point of contention with our recent music.  To illustrate, and these are my people, but a group like Little Brother came out pulling no punches about how their aim was to recapture the vibe of the music they grew up on, even naming themselves Little Brother in homage to the Native Tongues and the Pete Rock's and those types of people that shaped that type of sound.  Critics championed it, ran with it, exclaimed how they were the "Next Tribe" and all of this.  But play some blues guitar on a track and get Big Rube to do a piece and now it’s a problem to nod to your influences?

Whats funny is Okayplayer reviewed our record, gave us a mediocre rating and spent most of the review talking about how our sound was too "influenced" because we "tend to sound too much like the early work of Outkast and Lil Brother".  That’s just hilarious to me.  They didn't even spell Little Brother's name right.  I don't put that on Okayplayer as a whole because otherwise they usually show love.  That was one writer's opinion, but it’s still pretty funny all things considered.

I don't know if its just a bias against the vibe we're culling from or what, but I will say most of these criticisms come from people who don't seem to have a very vast background in southern rap music. So it might be a "point of reference" issue.  Rolling Out, Ozone Magazine and Wordofsouth.com don't have an issue with it.  Cee-Lo and Devin don't have a problem with it.  It'd be different if the music was wack but none of these critics say that.  They can't say that.  It isn't true.

What was it like for you guys growing up in the South?
 
Natti:  Beneficial.  It gave me a better sense of family than I think is promoted in alot of other places. From your third cousin to your first cousin, it's family.

Deacon:  Besides the whip marks on our backs and the cotton pickin', it was generally pleasant.  Extremely calloused hands have alotta of extra benefits.  We can bake without potholders.

Kno: That joke made me terribly uncomfortable.  Which I think was the point. [Laughs]  My experiences growing up were interesting, and alot of that had to do with race issues.  I generally caught more flack from white people than anyone else because I listened to rap music.  Gotten in fights with my own extended family over ignorance, fought rednecks because I wore Cross Colours.  Apparently racial unity wasn't what was poppin in rural Georgia when I was growing up.  I was myself, stood my ground and knew my shit so open-minded people respected it.  My dating history is very random from a racial standpoint too, so I've seen some ignorant shit there as well.  It is what it is.  I will say it takes a strong person to be outwardly open-minded in many parts of the south.  I'd never complain though, it makes you strong.

Were you heavily influenced by Southern Hip-Hop or Hip-Hop in general?

Deacon:  I'd say hip-hop in general.  Though I love the south, I grew up listening to just as much West Coast, Midwest and East Coast rap.

Kno: There was never a point in my life when I only listened to one type of rap.  I bought Tela, Common, Westside Connection and Kilo records all around the same time.  I literally remember going from "Love In Your Mouth" to "Retrospect For Life" in the CD player for a few months back in the day.

You're style is so eclectic and unique. What is the creative process like for the Cunninlynguists?

Kno: I normally come up with skeleton beats first.  Just rough loops, see if Deacon and Natti like them or not.  Try and come up with concepts.  Then I might call in session musicians and layer some things to the loops and then incorporate that into the beat as the song moves along.  I oversee most songs top to bottom but I don't really do too much lyric "coaching" except for catching errors or hitches in delivery.  Deacon will record all the vocals in the main studio and I'll mix on my own set-up.
 
Natti: Do what we feel, not what people want.

You've produced for Lil' Scrappy and KRS-One. What were those experiences like?

Deacon:  Producing for KRS-One was very unexpected.  Domingo had flown me to NY to drop a joint on the Game Over projects he used to do with Yosumi Records.  They didn't even know we produced at the time and I accidently left a CD of our beats in one of the studio rooms. 

The next day Domingo calls me up and I hear KRS rhyming excitedly in the background over one of our tracks and he's like, "Yall make this beat? Kris is buggin!"  Mike Jones actually picked the beat that Lil' Srappy ended up doing a track too.  I guess Scrappy got it from him somehow.  They're label mates at Warner though, so I guess that type of shit happens all the time.

Kno: Scrappy also wanted to buy "Georgia" and "Valley Of Death" from our new album, but the details didn't get worked out in time and we just kept the tracks.  Scrappy is good people though, and Warner Brothers sent us the check in 2 days flat. [laughs].  Shoutout to Naim over at WBR.

Why have you guys been described as having the most hated name in rap?

Deacon: Our name is terrible.  It picks on children, is disrespectful to elders and spits in your food when it serves you at restaurants.

Kno: Our name suffers from behavioral problems.  Thats what happens when nobody wants to address you or look you in the eye.   Actually, I think people make a bigger deal out of our name because we're dope.  If we weren't constantly putting out quality material, the gripes would be fewer and far between.  As long as Shorty Shit Stain or XOLOLANXINXO exists we should be in good company.

You touch on everything in your lyrics from politics to death. Is that something that's missing from hip-hop today?

Deacon:  Yeah.  But many people are dumb nowadays and they don't want to think.  Most people prefer a rapper that doesn't talk about shit.  "Lynguistics" is still our most popular song.  That's just a hot beat with me and Kno rapping about absolutely nothing on it.  We mention Harry Rehnquist in that song. [Laughs]  Who the fuck is that? [Laughs] It doesn't matter and that's my point. 

You guys are veterans. What's your view on the politics artists have to face in the game?
 
Natti: It's the same as any other game.  Just a lil more clique-ish.  As far as who co-signs for who or who is helping what artist.

Deacon:  We've just learned that there's politics in every facet of life.  I don't care if you sell shoestrings for a living and you're still waiting on Footlocker to cut you a check for shoestrings they sold 2 years ago or an artist waiting on royalties, life is life.  There's no avoiding the bullshit.  It's everywhere.

A Piece of Strange was a successful album. Was it a success in your eyes?
 
Kno: Absolutely.  Alot of people hated it at first because they felt it was so different from our prior stuff, but it’s now our best selling album by far and most heralded.  People that said they disliked it at first now feel like its some sort of pinnacle to our career that can't be outdone.  We've reached that point in careers where everything is a comparison, though.  So every album from now on won't be judged on its own merits, it'll be "is it doper than Will Rap For Food?  Is it better than A Piece of Strange?"  Its hilarious how predictable rap fans are with that shit, more than any other genre I've found.  Rap is the ultimate "I liked their old shit better, they fell off" genre of music.  Name one hip-hop artist with more than 3 albums out whose most recent one is their most widely praised by fans.  Don't worry, I'll wait. [Laughs]

Your latest album,  Dirty Acres, is in stores right now. What can fans expect from it?

Natti:  Soul.  Honesty.  A genuine love for music.

Deacon:  An album that's more Kentucky than any album we've dropped before.  But that's what was bound to happen with Kno moving here from Georgia.  It's been 3 or 4 years now, so it's an official.  He got a KY drivers license to prove it. 

You tour extensively, any favorite spots?
 
Natti:  Yeah. Cali, Alaska.  I like Seattle alot.  Generally the whole west coast region. Denver and central Colorado, too. I love Scandinavia.  It grew on me real hard. 

Deacon:  I really like the West Coast.  My first times going there I couldn't stand the place, but it's grown on me.
 
Kno:  Canada's energy is great, but they don't buy shit.  They'll get crazy during the set then walk right past your merch table, fast as fuck. [laughs]  Knowing they downloaded the music in the first place because the shit costs $21 CAD in stores.  I don't blame em' but damn, you can't support now?  We're right here! [Laughs]  Seattle, The Bay, Los Angeles, Colorado and Boston are all very supportive.  Europe is hands down the best in terms of energy and supporting through merch sales and whatnot.  They love to show love. 

I appreciate the fans in New York, but those are some of the worst shows ever.  Too many rappers, everyone's so jaded.  I could understand if we sucked, but we just rocked for 700 in Boulder and Boston doing the same set and people lost their shit.  Atlanta shows have gotten real bad, too.  I have no idea what happened to the scene since 2002, but shout-out to the 52 or so people left down there that even go to shows anymore. [Laughs]

I know you're producing for a lot of people in the future. Can you tell us who some of them are?

Deacon:  We try not let the cat out the bag when it comes to future productions. But we definitely got some big things popping here shortly!
 
Kno: Yeah, so much in the hopper but I just can't discuss anything until I have contracts and checks.

What projects can we expect to see from you guys?

Deacon:  Maybe solos, maybe not.  Definetly more Cunninlynguists.  I'd really love to see a Natti solo.  Plus I can't wait for Tonedeff to finish writing Chico and the Man.  I've been listening to those beats for so long I'm gonna steal em!
 
Kno:  Whatever we feel like.  Expect the unexpected from now on because we're getting bored. [Laughs]

Anything you'd like to say to the fans at Sixshot.com?

Deacon:  Tell somebody that we're dope.  Just don't tell them our name.  You'll lose them. [Laughs]  Just say, "Listen to Dirty Acres."
 
Kno: Burn our albums on CD-R and tell people our name is "Pimp Trick Gangsta Click".  They'll fuck with us then.
 
Natti:  Cop this album.  Love it.  Do like it says on the mayonnaise jar.  Keep cool, don't freeze.