Str8Buttah

Str8 Buttah
Origin	Lagos, Nigeria
Genres	Hip hop
Occupations	Emceeing, Poetry, Music production, Video directing, Graphic art
Instruments	Poetry, rap
Years active	2000–present
Labels	Str8 Buttah Productions
Website	http://www.str8buttah.com, http://www.myspace.com/str8buttah

Str8Buttah is a Nigerian Hip hop group that is made up of six emcees namely Teck-Zilla, XYZ, R-Cube, Deck the Nexus, Enigma, and Mister Rae. Like many other conscious emcees that originated from the region, they are influenced by the economic situation of the country and how the government are mismanaging public funds; they also communicate with youths using their music to empower them on how they can maximize their potentials.

Biography

The name 'Str8Buttah' (pronounced Straight bawddah) is synonymous with a Lagos (Nigeria) based collective of six MCs - an amalgamation of Producers, crews and solo artistes that frequently interacted in the Lagos underground scene in the early 00’s, united by mutual respect, time-tested friendships and their undying love for hip-hop. Emergent in a period where the fundamental sound of the artform and its culture was said to be dwindling and fast eroding, the posse vaunted an intensely untainted sound reminiscent of the good old days with influences from Dj premier, J Dilla, Peterock, Rakim, Nas, Common, Wu-tang, madvillain... just to name a few.

"We're not in this to prove some point, we're just here to make beautiful music that the true fans of the art love and we're doing it the best way we know how to do it, u know...exactly how it' ought to be, how it ought to sound..." - Deck the nexus

All 6 members appear under a number of pseudonyms but are best known as Teck-Zilla (aka Projekt Cancer, Mr Stay Sharp, Donnie Skillz, The Teckman; born Tayo Odutola), Mister Rae (aka Lord Augustus Maximus Khan, champaigne Supanova, The Raeman, Rae Diaspora), XYZ (aka Soundboy, Altec Lanssing; born Niyi Faleyimu), Deck the nexus (aka The streetPoet, Professor Deckzavier, shollah Deck; born Sola Olaoye), R-Cube ( aka RQB, Agent Zero, Gamma Cube; born Rotimi Oshodi) and Enigma ( aka Enigmatic, the invisible one, the vandal, Lucius Fox, The pugist; born Eniola Oshodi). Their origins can be traced backed to ‘The Constellation’, a four-man rap crew that had 'Rae, Teckzilla, Deck and jay delawhat (an Mc they traded thoughts with in the beginning)' as original members while at the University of Lagos. The Constellation then released their free EP 'A Stellar Demonstration' (that was produced by Deck the nexus) and got sparse airplay with the single ‘Mic in my hand’(a thumping gritty track ) in 2003.

Afterwards, the crew split then Rae and Teckzilla formed a group called ‘Ill Alliance’ Deck the Nexus however went on to release his seminal underground classic ‘By Word of Mouth (The Street Poet)’ in 2005 with production by himself, Teckzilla and Rae under the banner of Str8 Buttah Productions.The album was with profound artisry and deep poetic illustration on tracks like 'memories (featuring Rae), luv is luv (featuring both Rae and Teck) and the soul diary'. On the strength of ‘By Word of Mouth’ and unreleased tracks from the Ill Alliance project, a buzz started to grow for the trio as a production crew.

Following the failed reunion of The constellation as ‘Street Poets’ they began working closely with R-Cube (an MC they had been working with since the early days and the closest thing they ever had to an A&R, manager or publicist) and his brother Enigma, a budding lyricist, both long-time friends of Rae on numerous unreleased projects. At the same time XYZ was building a buzz of his own as a solo MC and producer, One half of the duo Afromystictechs (with fellow MC AZ), they had a single which was played on radio . XYZ however joined Str8 Buttah Productions out of mutual respect and recognition of similar visions in 2005.Str8 buttah productions carried on to lend production assistance to many underground rappers, crews and also performed at local underground shows, gracing stages alongside other Nigerian hip hop personalities Thorobreds, Nuff noize, Peaceville, The Kaliphate, Modenine, Terry the Rapman, Kraft...to name a few.

The following year, another group 'LMN-3' was formed by XYZ, Teckzilla and Rae. The crew, though still undefined, by then had started gaining more recognition and radio play with the single 'Loving it' , also was Deck who at the time had a single titled 'origin' (which had a video too) and a re-recorded version of 'headz' up' (a joint off the 'By word of mouth' album) been played on radio. At thesame period, Teckzilla was just finishing his debut solo album titled 'Projekt Cancer'. The album was released later in the year and greeted with rave review with production solely by Str8Buttah productions (which now included XYZ) and guest appearances from R-Cube and Enigma.The album's mellow radio single 'The Come up' featuring Deck the nexus however got sparse airplay.

In 2007, Str8 Buttah evolved from being just a production crew to a dedicated rap group on the verge of releasing their ‘Illa-Str8’ compilation album, a labour of love featuring a Who’s who of The Lagos hip-hop scene, arranged by Teckzilla and XYZ with support from longtime group collaborator MC/Producer Venomous (MicWorx). The album which was a hip-hop magnum opus was widely accepted by the mainstream underground and received a lot of radio attention with tracks like 'Exhibiting Mindstates'(featuring Attitude, Ziio, Venomous and Kraft) and 'Shining'(featuring Roguewave and Othello (Knighthouse)). Other guest appearances on the compilation were Teeto Ceemos,Psalmurai (Kaliphate),Mi-Fliss,Brotha Lee (aka Lord Buddha), Don P,E-Law,AQ,Rheymophoebus,ElJabaarad,Protech,Dark Poet and a host of others. The album was packed with raw scenic beats and lyrics with every Mc dropping staggering lyrics.

The same year, the video for the hard-hitting single ‘The Anthem (put ur hands up)’ off Teck's 'Projekt Cancer' album featuring, Venomous and XYZ was shot and dedicated to the memory of Fleet Militant who was shot dead in his neighbourhood by armed robbers.He was a good friend of the crew,an Mc and a hip-hop activist not just in the Lagos underground scene but also beyond the shores of the country....may his soul rest in peace.A video was also released for the track 'Bring it' off the 'Illastr8' compilation album. Both videos were directed by R-Cube and got substantial airplay on various T.V Stations, both locally and internationally. In 2008,Various members of the crew embarked on different solo projects, Again, Teckzilla dropped another solo material titled 'Projekt Cancer 2', a sequel to his first release but this time had guest productions from MicWorx (the duo of Venomous and another skilled producer, Bigfoot) and appearances from crew members and associates. R-Cube was also working on his EP 'Choice of words' and dropped his single 'Project A' on Radio and T.V and XYZ teamed up with Phenom on a mixtape titled "Now Your Suffering Continues".

Mistah Rae,Teckzilla, Deck and Enigma went on to appear on Micworx's '007 Project' mixtape that same year. The crew have collaborated in the past on other numerous projects with the likes of Ill bliss, The Kaliphate, KnightHouse and many more.

Str8 Buttah dropped its much anticipated debut album titled 'Str8 4rm da Art' on Aug 29, 2009 to much critical acclaim. The album breathes a soundscape of the true composition of the artform with an in-house production effort.

According to the collective, The project would absorb any real disciple of the genre . From the pungent kicks, snares and overwhelmingly distinct samples of every track to the dense lyrical imagery of Mistah Rae, the vocally menacing flow of R-Cube, razor-sharp darts of Enigma, poetic incursions of Deck, wittiness of Teckzilla and the incisive spasm of XYZ.

Though seems like an over-used theme, the collective address the declining creative state of the art with its first single 'The Last Stand' which recently won a Sound City Music Video Award and aptly begins with a Masta Ace sample echoing 'This is how Hip-hop's supposed to sound!'.It's other singles also gained radio airplay. The 18-track album received rave reviews. Again, The crew has in the works another mixtape "Illa-Str8 2" which would be a sequel to the 2007 release "Illa-Str8". The first single off the mixtape is titled "Fire" and has a video to its credit (Shot by the renowned Nigerian Video Director, Clarence Peters). The crew recently released a mixtape The Buttah tape (Lost Gemz) for free download over the web consisting of mostly unreleased material from dating back from the crew's inception. Earlier in 2010, Xyz also went ahead to score production credits on two tracks (Black rap Messiah and Comedy money)off Modenine's 2010 album titled "Davinci Mode".

On Friday April 9, 2010, Slam Dunk Records and Str8 Buttah Productions joined forces to release an Album featuring Zone Fam, a six man crew based in Lusaka, Zambia and production by Teckzilla. On November 4, 2010 Deck the nexus released his inimitable material titled "The Professor's Abstract Thesis" (T.P.A.T), an instrumental EP which delves into the art of sound with mind accelerating beats and sampled spoken words with a pungent hip hop presence. In the same month, Str8Buttah was named number 7 of the top ten hip-hop groups in Africa on MNet's Studio 53 Extra.

On New year's day of 2011, a second video from the forthcoming Illa-Str8 2 album was released featuring a fast rising femcee, Eva dropping a well orchestrated flow on an XYZ production. Next up was Mister Rae a.k.a Rae diaspora a few days later dropping his much awaited "The Brand New Masquerade EP" where Mister Rae poetically addresses personal, social and political issues on the album. XYZ released a beat tape on February 11, 2011 entering his Sound Boy mode emphatically depicts on a sonic scape with the offering "XperimentZ", a sequel to "The Science Project" aptly kick-started by Deck's "T.P.A.T". Illa-Str8 2 was released on June 12, 2011 and the album features Ill Bliss, Eva, AZ (XYZ's partner as AfromysticTek), Zee & Ms.Chief. On August 1 an EP featuring productions from Teck-Zilla and rhymes by Kazakhstan based Russian emcee titled "A Common Language EP"was released online epitomizing an art of cross - continental collaborations depicting the universal nature of hip-hop music.

On October 1, 2011 a day which marked the 51st independence anniversary of Nigeria, S.B.P released The Invisible Enigma's widely anticipated debut solo material titled "Desultory" to much acclaim. The mixtape featured cameos by fellow crew members Rcube, Deck The Nexus, XYZ amongst other affiliates. The piece filled with thought provoking lyrics. production credits included Teck-Zilla, XYZ, Big Foot and borrowed instrumentals from 9th Wonder, Black Milk and also a let-off on Tomoyasu Hotei's classic theme from Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill.

November 1, 2011 marked another release date. This time around, it was Teck-Zilla's audio discourse titled "Afro J.E.T.S Club Project(Justice, equality, Truth and sacrifice). A masterpiece in its entirety with a mash up of well chopped vocal samples shedding light on stories of some of Africa's past heroes like Kwame Nkrumah, Fela Kuti, Nnamdi Azikwe, M.K.O Abiola, Patrice Lumumba et al... meticulously blended with hard hitting hip-hop instrumentals. Aptly described as an audio quasi-documentary inspired by Africa's rich musical and political history. The material was greeted with great reception and has further solidified the versatility and richness of the collective as this six-man band keep busy setting paces and still keep mic cords and fingers crossed on the rest of their story being history...

Discography

Singles

• The Anthem

	Str8buttah "The Anthem" noicon The hit singles that received massive airplays on MTV Base African Network
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

• Mic in my hand
• Bring it
• The Last Stand
• Fire
• The reunion ft. Mi Fli$$

Albums

Album Information
Afro J.E.T.S Club Project (Justice & Equality, Truth & Sacrifice) (2011) (Teck-Zilla) Str8 Buttah Productions 2011 1. Afro Intro(The Opening!?) 2. Afro Radio #1* 3. Afro Blast(Lumumba Tribute) 4. AfroListicMystiqueCal 5. Shabazz Over Kuti 6. Afro-Ship 7. Meaning Of Democracy 8. Handsome Boy Afro 9. Afro J.E.T.S Club Theme 10.Afro Radio #2** 11. Pariwo 12. Afro-Jam 13. Afro B-Boy 14. Echo Da Foxtrot 15. Afro Wonder**(Awoof Track)
Desultory: The Mixtape (2011) (The Invisible Enigma)Str8 Buttah Productions 2011 1. Preambivalence 2. Wonderful 3. Austere Guinevere (Lady Killer) 4. Supreme Shogun 5. Speak 2 Da Mic (Feat Zee & Ms. Chief) 6. Tune 4 Da H8rs (Feat. XYZ, Deck the Nexus & R-Cube) 7. Afro Number One Head Band 8. Never Had A Chance (Feat. Duno Militant) 9. The Invisible Man (Griffintermission) 10.Roped In 11. Lasgidi boys 12. Straw-bury-Jam-In-Jarheads 13. Lara’s Tiara 14. Echo Da Foxtrot
A Common Language EP (2011) White Man, The Black Soul and Teck-Zilla, 2011 1. Intro(Cuts by Dj RT60) 2. Rap "Brick-By-Brick" 3. World In My Palms 4. Melody Of Steel 5. Feeling Good
Illa-Str8 II (2011) (Str8 Buttah) Str8 Buttah Productions, 2011 1. The Illa-Str8 II (Intro) 2. Best Kept Secret 3. Fire 4. Buttah! 5. Monkey see monkey do (MSMD) 6. Make em' say ft Eva 7. Unphotocopiable ft Zee & Ms.Chief 8. Buttah interlude 9. Good Children 10.Nagode ft Ill Bliss 11. Lasgidi boys 12. Move ft AZ of AfromysticTechs 13. Rule is back (Wannabes) 14. The return 15. Outro
Nice One (2011) (XYZ and MiFliss) Str8 Buttah Productions + Runz Entertainment 2011 1. Onetro 2. Runz 3. Troubled Mind 4. Black Merchant 5. Suck and Choke 6. The Buttah Fly 7. Supanova 2011 8. The Unfuckwitable 9. Nicer than the best 10.Profound 11. Ya Eulogy 12. Nice one bruv 13. Who's There? 11. U have no idea 12. 20 Elevens 13. Steez 13. When the end comes
XperimentZ (2011) (XYZ a.k.a Sound Boy) Str8 Buttah Productions 2011 1. Memoirs 2. Ethiopium 3. Untitled 2 4. Sometimes I Just Don't Get It 5. Fruits On Vegetables 6. Silkworm 7. A Little Bit Of Love 8. Laborator 9. The Scenerio 10.Healing 11. Amplitude 12. The Researcher's Crate 13. Experience The Xperiment
The Brand New Masquerade (2011) (Mister Rae a.k.a Rae Diaspora) Str8 Buttah Productions 2011 1. Intro – Pretend You Know Me 2. Brand New Masquerade 3. Here now 4. Dreams 5. 3rd World Superstar 6. Flow 7. Keys of Life ft Teckzilla 8. Viacom Freestyle 9. Easy Lover ft Teckzilla 10.Outro
The Professor's Abstract Thesis(2010) (Deck The Nexus) Str8 Buttah Productions 2010 1. Deckzavier's Decryptis 2. The Subway Buttah 3. Science Of Beauty 4. Chaos 5. Bonafide Words 6. The Revolutionist 7. Elements 8. Euphony 9. Drummer's Poetic 10.The Colloquium (An Excerpt)
The Buttah Tape [Lost Gemz] (2010) (Str8 Buttah) Str8 Buttah Productions 2010 1. Buttah Tape intro 2. Memories 3. Set it off (Double dragon remix) 4. Ill Kill Skill 5. Rhymes by the second 6. We got next 7. Intellects (007 Mindstate) ft Micworx 8. Whut d fr$k beat (skit) 9. Freestyle (El Jabaar's Lab) ft Attitude, Don P, Se-UN, El Jabaar 10.Moonraker/ Heartbreaker ft Micworx 11.Now dat am blessed 12.Rare marvel Us mix 13.Champaigne Supernova 14.Power of God 15.Steps ft Venomous 16.Soul Diary (Part 2) 17.Go hard ft Othello, Loose Kaynon 18.Magnolia blues 19.Mic Status ft Protech 20.Naija lo wa (Reprise) 21.Str8 Buttah is the force am with 22.Ripping the streets ft Venomous, GQ 23.Missing me 24.Option A 25.For the kids 26.Headz up (Reprise) 27.Extraordinaire 28.Tutor 29.Instru-Buttah-Mental outro 30.No introduction ft Othello, Roguewave
The Full Script [The Zone Fam + Teck-Zilla] (2010) Str8 Buttah Productions, Slam Dunk Records 2010 1. The Full Script 2. Ill Mixtape(skit) 3. To be an African 4. Game Show(skit) 5. The Cypher 6. Dream 7. In My Life 8. Mbala Court Radio(skit) 9. On The Move 10.H.H.A(skit) 11.Hip Hop Personified 12.Girl Problems(skit) 13.My Girl ft Kuzhyo 14.Soul Hour(skit) 15.Memories 16.Godzilla(skit) 17.Final Chapter 16.Stadium Status(skit)
Str8 4rm da Art (2009) (Str8 Buttah) Str8 Buttah Productions, 2009 1. Introtainment/rebelz 2. Radio 3. Defending the art 4. The last stand 5. All over the world 6. Marvel us 7. Greenstate of mind 8. Showtime ft Kel 9. Fly ft Mi-fliss 10.Interlude/Live on stage 06' 11.Live ones 12.Uncontrolled substance OD 13.3's never a crowd 14.The build 15.The reunion ft Mi-fliss 16.Loving it 17.Origin 18.Dedication
Project Cancer 2 (2008) (Teck-Zilla) Str8 Buttah Productions, 2008 1. Retroduction 2. Wishes and dreams 3. S.T.O.R.Y (Pt II) 4. Take it back Ft Mistah Rae 5. pen 2 Paper 6. Favorite Chick Ft Phisayo & O.T 7. The Nicest 8. Showtime Ft Enigma, XYZ & Kel 9. Teck & Mo' Ft Mo' 10.Mr Stay sharp Ft Mic Worx 11.Loneliness Ft Enigma, Mistah Rae & Sabre 12.Hollaback 13.Goodbye 14.Mixtape Radio Outro
Now Your Suffering Continues [XYZ + Phenom] (2008) Str8 Buttah Productions, Half Life 2008 1. Intro (I won't die) 2. Bar Theory 3. Save Me Lord 4. Give it 2 me Ft Slim fella) 5. Flames 6. Till One day the 32nd 7. Mad-Izm 8. Tis raining hard 9. Indescribable Ft Dj-O, G-Pomps & Slim fella 10.You Live On 11.When am lost 12.Noodles 13.Change is inevitable 14.Outro (Hip-Hop Lives) 15.Touch me with your words Ft Nebula
Illa-Str8 (2007) (Str8 Buttah: XYZ + Teck-Zilla)Str8Buttah Productions, 2007 1. Illastr8 Intro 2. Exhibiting mindstate ft Deck the nexus,Attitude,Enigma,venomous,Ziio,kraft 3. Bring it ft RQB,Mifliss and Enigma 4. No mistakes allowed ft XYZ and Venomous 5. Chicks radio skit 6. Sounds of the illest ft dark poet,cypha and deja 7. Death before dishonour ft Psalmurai,Elaw and XYZ 8. The freshest ft AQ 9. Thoughts ft Jabarad and protech 10.23401 radio interlude 11.One too many ft Phenom 12.Hot 16'z ft Teeto ceemos 13.Most cats ft Don-p,deck the nexus and Elaw 14.Shining skit ft mo and cro 15.Shining ft roguewave,Othello and teck-zilla 16.The vandal ft Enigma 17.Mistah rae(live from kano) ft Mistah Rae and teckzilla 18.French skit ft deframe 19.The terminal ft Lord Bhudda,Black rabbi and rheymo phoebus
Project Cancer (2007) (Teck-Zilla) Str8Buttah Productions, 2007 1. Project cancer intro 2. Projekt cancer theme 3. The reason 4. S.T.O.R.Y ft Mistah Rae 5. Breathing 6. Revolution 7. Mad Alliance ft Mistah Rae 8. Master art skit 9. Stay sharp 10.The come up ft Deck the nexus 11.The Anthem(PUT YA HANDS UP) ft Venomous and XYZ 12.Extraordinaire Ft N6, Mistah Rae, Mojo, XYZ and Street Knowledge 13.Thermodynamic Shoguns ft XYZ and Mistah Rae 14.Mic in my hand ft mistah Rae and Jay DELA whut? 15.Specialists ft Rcube,XYZ and Enigma
By Word of Mouth {The Street Poet} (2005) (Deck The Nexus) Str8Buttah Productions, 2005 1.The intro 2.Gems 3.Headz up 4.Words of a poet 5.Memories ft Mistah rae 6.Luv is luv ft mistah rae and teckzilla 7.Soul diary 8.The heist 9.Headz up revisited 10.In conclusion 11.Madpoetsmedley ft Mistah rae and jay dela what
A Stellar Demonstration EP (2003) (The Constellation) Str8Buttah Productions, 2003 1.The intro 2.Kick it 3.Mic in my hand 4.It's on 5.Outro

Chart

• Their singles “The Anthem" has been on the top 100 Nigeria Hip hop music chart for over 2 months and it still remains on the top 100 Nigeria hip hop music chart as of present.
• Their tunes has also been placed in rotation nationally by major Nigeria radio stations such as Brila FM,Cool FM , Metro FM (FRCN) Abuja, Nigeria these radio stations are in the Metropolitan city of Lagos the former capital city of Nigeria and there are some notable radio stations in Abuja, Nigeria the present capital city of Nigeria that has been airing their tunes for sometimes now Kapital FM (FRCN) Abuja, Nigeria.

Awards

2009 Soundcity Music Video Award (SMVA) for Best Hip-Hop video("The Last stand")

See also

• African hip hop
• Afrobeat
• Music of Nigeria

References

• FinceptStudio Blog

External links

• Str8buttah official myspace page
• Watch & listen To Nigerian music
• Africanhiphop forum
• Nigeria hip hop forum