Tut Elohim | God In The Gulag

 As much as hip hop is marked by constant innovation, it's heavily reliant on trends and borrowing and outright copying. From samples to styles, the culture is entrenched in reinvention. The artists themselves are almost entirely studio creations of someone's imagination. Nothing's authentic as advertised, with little ever truly being sacrificed outside the oft told struggles of chasing stardom. 

       Then there are individuals like Tut Elohim who are really and truly unlike anything we've ever seen in this, this rather uniquely American thing known as showbiz reality. In this category, like so many, King Tut reigns supreme. A cocaine-white-uniform-wearing, coffee-sipping pop villain that fellow prisoners either fear or envy and true hustlers admire, Tut Elohim is, among other things, the boogieman of the entertainment industry. A controversial convict and castaway who currently exists under a cluster of black clouds, so much so that this surprisingly handsome felon is often hidden behind a face mask and character in which his alluring personality and aura no less shines through. Though the willieearlscott.com domain doesn't mention the artist (or at least not this particular persona), the site does give the closest thing to a fair and balanced assessment of the actual man behind the clever masquerade. Hip Hop Nation recently put him on its cover, shirtless in rather thin pajama bottoms and a super snazzy prison-made mink coat (though it was labeled partial nudity and the site's commercial status threatened until the issue was pulled), while the more mainstream online southern newsmag Dixie Digest published a flatteringly upclose cover story on Alabama's penitentiary-spawn Inacell Records and the state's wild and rich music history, as well as a second, more in-depth and critical analysis of the hotly debated native son likely behind its sudden, newfound attention.

       To give context: Released in 2018, Tut Elohim's official debut as a recording artist, Hell Fie Hot was instantly pulled out of streaming and social circulation due to an FBI investigation into the admittedly brilliant man's finances that would last for close to three years (a federal entanglement that found little malfeasance yet many believed was launched simply to throttle "Hell Fie Hot" in its upward trajectory), yet the album soon cracked the Top 10 in France and Holland and Nigeria, of all places——foreign lands where he would not only gain followers but find artists and financial investors as well as a foothold in the fashion industry——and would eventually go on to sell a combined 500k download units, virtually all in countries where English was not the first language. This is probably the most important Q&A person piece by anyone in years.

The following interview was conducted by New Orleans' 4th Ward Lil Fleet, on Hip Hop Nation SiriusXM radio.

LF: Whaddup! Whaddup, HHN and the forever fam locked in with me right now across the country and around the globe! This ya man with the plan, Lil Fleet from the 4, ya heard, gettin' at you live over the wire, and today I got my dude, my main round, my—I guess you can say—my bossman, Tut Elohim, King Tut, the last real godfather, here live via—what is this, Zoom? No, ChumCity Messenger. We doin' this over ChumCity fuckin' Messenger!! Brought to by ChumCity.xyz , the only social network—a super site—owned by a Blackman anywhere in the world. Bro, we looking into the future here and now.

TE: Ion know, and I kinda feel like George Jetson right now.

LF: Give it up for my man... (applause sound effects)... Say whaddup to the people, bro.

TE: What's up, people.

LF: I just downloaded the ChumCity xyz Messenger app onto my phone just this morning, too. Hit the download button on the site and it installed outside the Play Store.

TE: Yeah. No, Ian for being extorted. Apple want 30% of every sale on their corner, like the mob.

LF: Damn. They can do that?

TE: If a sumabitch let 'em. I don't use 'em, so, they ain't doing it to me. But forget about them.

LF: Which do you prefer I call you—King Tut or Prophet Elohim? Yeen think I knew that one, did you?

TE: (laughs) Tut or Elo is cool.

LF: How 'bout Bossman.

TE: Definitely not that. Start callin' me B anything and bad shit go to happening. I wish I was yo bossman. If the past three years did anything, they proved that I couldn't do everything, and definitely not by myself. Yet ironically they also proved that everybody's for self.

LF: Which is where the Silent Partners comes in, huh?

TE: Hell, it was either that or jeopardize the holdings. I mean niggas in the bing can't exactly file for bankruptcy. I had been financing everything more or less out of pocket since first conceiving the company, which I wouldn't advise, particularly if you got family and huge responsibilities, so losing any part of my enterprise is equivalent to death for me.

       When you're running a business of any caliber, you have to find the funds to keep operations going just as sure as the sun rise and set everyday.

LF: Big Meech is, or was, an investor, right? Birdman?

TE: Well, ah, they're called silent partners for a reason. I mean, because, look at me. But I wrote Demetrius some 6 or 7 years ago, on some G shit. His folks actually the ones that introduced me to Pop. I networked with a buncha cats in fed, matter fact, when I first started ruminating on the whole idea of it all and didn't have any allies. Bruh, Ian have shit, but barriers and a lotta bustas plottin' on my burial. I think I wrote Bill Gates, Buffet, the Mercers, uber rich muhfuckas, show you how desperate and determined I was.

LF: To work it is to manifest it into existence, I think the saying goes. Look at all you've accomplished, bro. I heard a cat say the other day that if you keep it up you might in the next five or ten years be one of 5 or 10 black billionaires in America.

TE: (laughs incredulously) And you believe that shit.

LF: (laughs) I mean it didn't sound all that crazy to me, with what you doing. Even yo haters have to be a little impressed. In the exposé by this Dr. Bob Skinner in Dixie Digest, I'm sure you read or heard about it at least...

TE: Um - hm.

LF: ...He called you, hotdamn, a cultural Godzilla, or a Godzilla in its infancy, and even he's an admirer. What do you say to that?

TE: Run, Tokyo, run.

LF: (laughs) Awesome. I love it.

TE: Nah, but seriously. Did I see the Dixie Digest bit, yeah, but I kinda wish I hadn't. Bruh, Ion even read my comments on the socials, so as to keep my mind clear of muck. The cover story on Inacell and the music was all dank, but then down below that is a whole different article by this ninja, filled with backhanded compliments but in actuality is nothing short of a hit piece. I should go fullblown Trumpian and sue that muhfucka.

       I'm dope, okay? And everybody can't handle dope. They wanna flush it, ban it, disparage it or destroy it altogether. But then there are those who can't get enough of dope, only they fuck with me on the low... I get it though, but don't none of that stuff change my flow.

LF: I know quite a few status folks, politicians that fucks with you hard in secret. What's that feeling like?

TE: (thoughtful pause) There are certain people in society who love you but can't touch you. Celebrity types and the like, I understand, but muhfuckas back home and in the city, I do not, nor do I forget, but I won't fester.

       Over time the wrongness of my situation, coupled with the injust punishment of prison, has given me something of a turtle philosophy: hard on the outside, soft on the inside, and willing to stick my neck out to foster ideals and an individualism that generates a desired income, and wolves be damned.

LF: Speaking of wolves, I see you kinda got the Predator vibes going with the hair, which looks cool as ice, by the way.

TE: Does it really? Both the coons and the crackas down here in the country tryna make me cut my dreads. Cutthroat niggas jealous so everybody hate Redd. Even B'ham be backbiting like a bih hoes that can't get enough. But I swear Ion give two fucks.

LF: Do you think the Redd movies has a little something to do with that, bro, about Birmingham hatin' and else? Becus DAMU GODDA is some dynamic and revealing film reel, of you personally as well as yo city. Niggas fighting about that. It's one of the biggest documentary films on Amazon...

TE: Big in France, yeah. Yet you'd never know it because the press don't mention how good it's doin', ever. (laughs) Why is that? You can't even post a review.

LF: I did just read somewhere that it's doin' gang numbers on Germany's boards, called dolly digital downloads, or something like that. Number one, even. Did you expect that kinda success, and why Europe?

TE: Did I expect it? Well, you know, not necessarily but a part of me probably did. We all see ourselves in the stars at some point and time, and you know I shine, even here, in the dark and when Ian tryin.'

       I chose Europe first because the US market gave me difficulty, content and business wise. Plus, the alphabet bureau was on one. Heck, they tryna find a way to ban a nigga even now, hoping I screw up so they can jam me wit the bull. I told you I'm dope, almost literally to them, and they don't want me mainstreaming it. This why fools in here be feeling some typa way, why Ion expect any the coochie niggas out there to root for me. They never did, even before the cases. Young niggas and old bosses love me though. They reaching out all the time.

LF: But you don't expect them to root against you, either, I know. Does it hurt, even a little, to know that you might be the best urban novelist since Donald Goines, probably the best ever, with the HEAVEN AND HELL ON EARTH book. But also this great erotic wordsmith that's redefining a genre, like a Nin or de Sade. This profound rock and rap musician, designer, artist, etc., etc.—and yet have people attempt to block or stop your rise?

TE: Hate's a common emotion in our cultural environment—heck, in human nature. It doesn't bother me like it perhaps would your average Joe. It would probably bother me more if they didn't feel anything. An old throwback B'ham hitta, name Fat Tootie, from Pratt, he used to tell me when I was younger that if the streets ain't hatin' you then you ain't doin' it right. I feed on the enmity now, understanding that fools are ridiculously petty and jealous hearted, peers even more so when niggas peek you on a predestined path to somewhere like paradise or prosperity. And my generation, you know, we were sorta like programmed to perish and flame each other. I'd find it strange if they weren't hatin'. Luke 4 and 24 says that we conditioned to reject our own, and I can true dat from experience.

LF: Speaking of Scripture, I don't know if you know it or not, but, you mention Jesus a lot in your art. Songs like "Black Jewels," "Answers," and I think "Martyr" was even classified as a "threat to the pious harmony of Iran" or something like that by that country's cultural minister, which actually made you, or Tut Elohim, hella popular over there. Which of these lil boys rappin' now days even does that?! Yet you started yo own religion, the Deity Federation, or Demigods, which I believe was certified in 2000. Are you very religious?

TE: Nah, not particularly. I just find it hard not to admire a man like Christ Jesus, who was ostracized by the public and executed by the state, at the behest of his own people. 

       Quick story: when I was young, maybe 18, some gangstas kidnapped me off my couch, asleep, sick with the flu. Took me past Bessemer Alabama, to murder, of course, way out in these swampy woods where shit gets lost to nature. I wasn't necessarily scared but I knew these particular niggas weren't playing. But I remember having a come-to-Jesus moment, and I told the Lord that if he delivered me from these killas that I'd never deny him, even at my worst. And he did. So I don't. True story.

LF: (quiet) Damn, bro. You probably the deepest, most boss nigga in it right now, definitely the truest we ever had on this show.

TE: Now, as far as the gods go, we ain't certified in the sense you meant. That's government shit, and faith don't need Sam's approval. I simply believe in an Almighty, All-Knowing and All-Supreme  God—whether you call Him Jehovah or Yehweh or Allah or Ja or whatever the name—and we are all children of that God, i.e., Demigods, as was written in law, Psalms 82:6.

LF: Straight up.

TE: (laughs) Face of a skeptic.

LF: (laughs) No, no, bro! Not at all. You just never heard entertainers nor street dudes kick it on this level. Ain't built like that. You know well as I do that south folk hear you call yourself a god and the first thang they say is you blaspheming.

TE: Facts. A muhfucka can be murked for spittin' the real in many countries, not excluding our own. 

       You know, in John 10 and 34, when Jesus told the people they were gods, with a lowercase "g," the crowds even back then actually threatened to stone him to death.

LF: Forreal?

TE: People naturally fear what they don't understand, and hate what they can't conquer. And while I'm sure I give fools nightmares, I understand my position, taking the first name of a mortal king and the last name of a deity, i.e., Tut Elohim, because I'm so far removed from the bullshit that my own behavior becomes eccentric and biblical. But whatever.

LF: That's nice, bro. Very smooth. I always wondered about the name. 

       You have a variety of acts. Different balls in the air at once, with the books and the films...

TE: Got more stuff that's been banned or pulled than actually published, too.

LF: Bro, you locked in what I can only imagine is hell, man, and the way you still be helping fools. I hear everyday about you publishing this person's book or producing that person's song. My sister tryna get me to get you to give her a tech job right now as we chop...You really are the shit right now, King Tut, and you making it look easy. And with all the crap you dealing with, I can't imagine yo mind state.

TE:  Oh ye, if it was easy, everyone would be following you—Surah 9:42. Trust and believe. But, a long time ago, in my day—like the old folks say (smiles)—I was kinda a big deal. Or at least I thought I was. But as you grow, you realize that that's just ego, and ego is sorta like have a hot girlfriend—lotta high maintenance in that shit. So now I keep it simple, just focus on output and outcomes, and let the Almighty do the rest. I figure if I build and build while staying positive and maintaining my boss negus position, then I'll eventually garner stature as a pillar of my state and country even, God willing. Because I do want His help and not particularly concerned with His forgiveness.

LF: But the people's forgiveness... Is that something you're interested in... One day maybe?

TE:  Who? Me forgive the people? Surely not the other way around?! Bruh, I'm guilty of a lotta stuff, but this ain't one of'em. Folks left me high and dry, to die, and with absolutely no explanation why. Muhfuckas wanna see me cry like a disgraced televangelist, and that simply will not happen. I swear I use it all as rocket fuel.

LF: But what's that about? Why this seeming ingrained jealousy and dislike, you think?

TE: Probably because they feel like I never really loss. I mean even on death row, hatas feel like I'm dealt a winning hand.

LF: But the federal probes, the bank busts, yo wife who you lost in 2020—

TE: But people don't see those as losses, or simply ignore them altogether. I never been shot, or stabbed, or robbed, or beaten—nothing is close to an asswhipping since third grade. Any money I lose always comes back eventually. And so, when the Willie Redd hate train gets to chugging, what's the one or two things, specifically, that gets bandied about?

LF: Well, the case with the girl, for one. And...

TE: C'mon. Think. Be honest nye.

LF: Oh, I guess the bullcrap rumors about you when you were maybe 16, in an Alabama prison a couple years.

TE: (laughs) Exactly! The old ghost stories about me and the chump. You know, 150 or so inmates in 2 block West Jeff, during my tour, and not a single pair eyes ever witnessed me do ho shit or anything at all unbecoming of a G. But after 25 years of being a huncho, hated and celebrated by hoods and homies from every corner, ninjas have thus far told a thousand and one tales that grow more fantastical with each telling.

       And just like how you was afraid to even utter such slush about me in my presence, niggas everywhere are like that, because if nuthin else they know I'll dust one off. No, they always said it behind my back where I couldn't hear, and evidently quite often, to hurt my standing, in the cheap seats of all places. But nigga, if Ion hear it, it don't count, so.

        Anyone else, though, scandal would've destroyed them publicly and psychologically. But anybody who's known me for more than three minutes know that I find it very difficult to conjure up any concern about niggas' opines. Be honest, Ion even like niggas. I think that's why I'm a Republican. In here Ion give these negroes nothing emotionally. Wholly removed myself a long time ago. I get on my Energizer Bunny shit and just keep marching to the beat of my own drum set. My aunt says that I'm an eternal optimist. I think she's right. Even in death I'll smile at finding the silver lining.

LF: (nods in agreement) King Tut, you the truf, bro, very unique, and got this thang, this feel, that's all you. It's clear why you got so many scrubs hatin', yeah. Money they can obtain; power as well. But superior intelligence, good looks, charm—these qualities nobody can simply go to the store and buy. I read that lil bit on willieearlscott.com and thought: damn, this boy a beast in the arena. I'm yo fan, bro.

TE: Oh, no doubt. I'm grateful to have you—any fans, to be frank. And you know, from a purely entrepreneurial aspect, I treat my current situation as I do all my so-called crises, like opportunities that ultimately helps the bottom line. Put it all together like Legos, portrait of  the Northside Diego, plottin' to get everything I strive and pray for.

LF: (laughs) Ever the CEO's mind.

TE: Huh bruh. That marketing plan was me.

LF: So Inacell Records...

TE: The future.

LF: I listened to the entire link last night that yo people sent me. Listened to it twice, in fact, and several songs over and over after that. CAGED BIRD SANG is pure fire on a wick in gasoline. Bro, you 'bout to straight on wreck plates to pieces with this. This like another level Death Row Cash Money mix but with a P vision. This is it. So why's the Willie Redd album being pushed back yet again? I luv the King Tut vibes, but we want that Willie Redd shit now, to talk about your Birmingham and New Orleans, your reality, and use it to define this moment and time we all in.

TE: Yeah, well, you know, Stunna got this idea that we need to not just release an album but an atom, an anthology of music so potent and masterful that it makes muhfuckas put they mics up, at least for awhile (laughs).

LF: So CAGED BIRD SANG is a collaborative Inacell Cash Money Universal? 

TE: Oh, that me and Birdman shit bigger than music. Blood fucked with me long before either one of us ever even contemplated touching a billion. Ain't nothing else to say 'bout that. That's my nigga there.

LF: Yeah, I know. late '90s New Orleans. Birdman gave you the blueprint. So Cash Money's kinda like handing Inacell Records the keys, in a sense. 

TE: Yeah, I wouldn't argue with that. I've assembled the most gorgeous and gifted acts to emo on a beat. Of this I'm certain. Now my job is to make sure that the money matches the mastery of the art. Because now days we know that the biggest artists ain't always the ones that make the most money or the best music.

LF: You got a roster of, what, ten artists? You keeping them and everythang under wraps, though, for what I assume is good reason. But we know you got Bianca Clarke, who as far as I can tell is the most gangsta broad rapping, man. She's fie fie.

TE: (laughs) Stop it. Don't encourage it. I'm tryna keep the singer in her front and center. She's such a lil boss bih, though. Bianca don't even speak to say hello.

LF: Also heard that you tapped a few of them bandanas to step all the way down on a club owner right here in tha No who tried to jip shiest on a show.

TE: Man, I don't do that. Those are rumors. That's all that be. That's how them fedo indites get started. However, if you support me and what I'm tryna build, then respect and support my peeps, protect them. No different than what a T.I. or a Trump would say or do.

LF: Queen Bianca, is she as off-the-chain on her upcoming solo as she is on the songs I heard last night?

TE: Off the chain like she just broke out! The girl breathtaking, ain't she? Her first effort from Inacell is an EP, called SOUTHERN MONARCHY and damn if every song don't make you wanna fuck and fight for a fortune, rolling down hill inside big truck tire wheels, thru yard sprinklers and kill'n fields between fantasy and humanity

LF: I feel like CAGED BIRD SANG is gonna be that album, though

TE: Thanks. CAGED BIRD SANG is a Willie Redd project. The next Tut Elohim album is BLACK NAZI.  One may get me pardoned, the other assassinated. Both will be phenomenal, I promise you.

LF: (laughs) Oh my fuggin God, man! I cannot wait. What about the books? "The House of Booty"—is that something we gon see in paperback this year?

TE: (smiles) Bruh, I'm not finna spend all morning doin' this