On August 24, in front of a massive crowd in Tech N9ne’s hometown of Kansas City, MO, the Slumerican movement officially connected with the Snake and Bat as Rittz accepted his Strange Music chain from Tech N9ne and announced his signing to the world.

The momentous occasion marked yet another highlight for Rittz in 2012 as he had already been riding high with new music and his first headlining tour. The indie game had seen another big win.

While out on the Slumerican Tour with Yelawolf, we caught up with Rittz for a live Strange Music Podcast to discuss his signing to Strange Music and get a better understanding of what the Slumerican crew actually is.

In this interview segment, Rittz recalls his signing, discusses Slumerican, and reveals what it was like to spit his “Questions (Remix)” in front of the general himself.

Check out what White Jesus had to say!

I want to talk about the night this all became official in Kansas City – Tech N9ne’s hometown. Can you tell me what that was like? What was the atmosphere?

Oh yeah, it was crazy. First of all, the show was packed with us being there, and just with me, it was such a big day for me anyway because I had already been at the compound and signed the contracts and stuff, so I knew the announcement was gonna be made live. I didn’t really know how many people in the crowd was familiar with me or not, you know? I was there earlier at a meet-and-greet, so I really wasn’t sure what it was gonna be like, man. I was kinda nervous and felt kinda great at the same time, of course. But, it was awesome man. They tricked me. When I signed the papers in the office, you know, I’ve seen the videos before so I’m thinking I’m gonna sign the papers, they’re gonna give me a chain. So, I signed the papers and I’m looking around and like, “Where’s my chain at, man?” and I’m not seeing the chain anywhere and I’m like “Fuck, they didn’t give me a chain.” I was getting all sad inside and shit. But yeah, they did it on purpose like that, set me up, so when I came out on stage they put the chain on me, man. It was great, man.

It actually looks pretty heavy.

Dog, it’s as heavy as it looks. It’s awesome, man. I was complaining to my managers, it was hilarious cause the whole time backstage I’m drinking, I’m catching a little buzz, I’m just joking but I’m like, “Man, I want my chain man. I’m about to say something”. And they’re like, “Dog, don’t say something. Don’t say anything, dog. The turnaround was too fast to get you one, man. It is what it is”. So yeah, I was crazy surprised. Crazy surprised.

You’ve been on the podcast before and every time we’ve spoken, it seems like this is where it was all headed. Is that accurate?

Yeah, yeah. I mean, shout out to my managers Transcend and J Dot. Transcend has seen it coming for a while. He always had a vision of me being with Strange, and you know, was trying to work in that direction. We had a relationship with Richie or whatever,and I already had a relationship just meeting Tech through Yelawolf, so we have been pushing in that direction man, and I’m just so glad that it finally happened and that it’s official now. The future’s wide open now, so it’s great, man. I’m really excited.

It seems like there might be some confusion over your signing to Strange Music and whether or not you were already signed with Slumerican. Can you clear that up?

Slumerican was never a record label. Slumerican was never an official record label. When it first started, when I first came out with the original White Jesus, that was the plan, but Yelawolf got so busy as an artist just starting out, it was hard for him to do that, Slumerican. It ended up just being our crew, like, the family, and that’s the brand name that Yelawolf created. So, I’ll always be Slumerican no matter what record label I’m with or whatever, but now I finally got a record deal. The whole goal with me and Yelawolf pushing me this whole time was to get me into a situation, and now I finally got one for myself. And we’ve been making it clear every night, you know, that, “Look, man. I just signed to Strange Music and this is such a huge deal for me, but none of this would’ve ever happened if it wasn’t for Yelawolf,” so none of that will ever change. It’s always Slumerican. That’s the crew. We on the Slumerican tour right now, but just to give it some clarity, Slumerican was never a record label. I never actually was signed to anybody else.

Tell me about the fan base you already had, prior to signing with Strange Music.

The fan base I already had, they’ve just been super loyal, man. I mean to me, I got some of the best fans ever, man. I talk to them like they’re my friends when I seem them out in public. Just anybody that supports me that I’ve seen come out to several shows, several times. They’re just super supportive, and they really – they come up to me about songs like “Sleep At Night” and “Wishin’ and they’re like, “Man, that’s my life story. That touched me,” and all this stuff and it’s like, “Man, me too! I wrote the shit!” So, I felt like we have a lot of common problems and a lot of common feelings through the songs. But now with Strange, the fan base is just growing. I’m already seeing Strange fans that are new to me coming out to the shows, supporting, and embracing me already, and that never happens. That’s what’s cool about Strange to me, man. Just numerous things like the fans, man. They’re really loyal and supportive. So, I’ve been already seeing that just in the short time that I’ve been signed to Strange.

I imagine you’re having a lot of interaction now with Strange Music fans.

Yeah, definitely. I make the announcement about me signing to Strange midway through my set, and I get in the first/second song, people are yelling, “Strange Music!”, you know? They’re wanting to hear it. They’re wanting to hear me say it, you know what I mean? So yeah, I’m definitely seeing it in an amazing way, and I’m really appreciative of all that as well, of people just embracing me off the connection of signing to Strange, and just new fans. It’s the shit, man.

One thing that was cool see was that “Questions” remix you did. Was what it like to do that with Tech N9ne right there watching?

It was crazy man, cause that was the first Tech song I heard, and you know, I loved that song when it came out. So, for me to be doing it in front of Tech and him approving of it was really dope. I’ve always loved that beat and I just had an idea like, “Man, you know what? If this goes down, Ima put out ‘Questions’ and do it over,”. But I didn’t wanna do it, like, a full song like he did. It wasn’t at all trying to top his or anything like that. It was just for me talking about questions I get asked and just paying homage, and showing respect to Tech.

-Interview conducted by Victor Sandoval, Strange Music Social Media Dept.

LISTEN BELOW

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