FTGOTC. These were the five letters that projected onto a white screen behind comedians and rappers performing at Crosstown Arts on Sept. 25 just down the street from ongoing Gonerfest at The Hi Tone cafe.
As DJS Skip Fearless and Six.Oh.Six manned the macbook, host comedian Tutweezy introduced each MC to a Memphian crowd armed with free vodka and tequila. The underground rap roster included AWFM (A weirdo from Memphis), Rudy Rhymer, Chico Jones, and Matt Lucas.
“Any underground hip-hop show that has a decent turnout is pretty dope,” said 26-year-old attendee Aaron Ivory. Ivory’s brother and local concert promoter Amos Ivory was also arrived at the venue before the show was over.
“I like the whole projection,” Amos Ivory said. “I’ve never really seen a hip-hop show like that.”
The room was incredibly dimly-lit if not for the projections of Soul Calibur-esque video game fight scenes and of colorful variations of the acronym FTGOTC. Performer and University of Memphis student Rudy Swansey, stage name Rudy Rhymer, explained exactly what FTGOTC stood for.
“For the good of the colony,” Swansey said. “It’s for the good of the people. The everyday people. The colony, like the people who work 9 to 5s.”
Someone who definitely matches this description was host of the event, Darius Tutwiler. Tutweezy, as he’s known on-stage, was met with murmurs of faint recognition after he grabbed the mic. He then delivered a comedy set about working at local gas stations and the crowd’s suspicions were confirmed. After the show Tutwiler expanded on the different hats he wears both as a comedian and a gas station employee.
“I work at Circle K,” Tutwiler said. “It kinda brings you down once you get off the stage and people are like ‘yeaaah’ and you go back to work and people are like ‘gimme my change back.”
Student and rapper Rudy Swansey was also no stranger to spending time off-stage. The MC had not performed anywhere in two years, “since high school” but despite his long hiatus from performing, Rudy Rhymer knew his return would be inevitable.
“I practiced a zillion times in the mirror,” Swansey said. “When I came out it was because I’ve been there already. I started in my head before I got out there. Everybody else was surprised, but I’ve been waiting on y’all to catch up.”
Rudy followed the set of the very lyrical AWFM, who specifically chose moments to rap a capella and stand on chairs to heighten his performance and control the crowd. Showgoers were still impressed by Rudy’s immediate delivery and the general feeling of the room once Rhymer casually strode onto the floor of Crosstown Arts wearing sunglasses and an Iron Maiden t-shirt.
“I like his energy,” Aaron Ivory said. “He had a good flow, good energy, and good stage presence.”
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| Rudy and AWFM backstage |
Show host Tutweezy also felt UofM student Rudy Rhymer slayed the performance and particularly enjoyed his final track “90’s Nostalgia” which can be found on Rhymer’s Soundcloud page.
“I think he performed really well,” Tutwiler said. “I really like that ‘All That’ song. When I heard that I was like ‘Bruh you really dope for putting that together’ That brought back a lot of memories from the 90’s era.”
Tutweezy is also scheduled to host the University of Memphis SAC (Student Activities Council) talent show on Oct. 28. The comedian detailed his plans for the upcoming event.
“I’m gonna smack a couple people and make ‘em follow me on instagram,” Tutwiler said.
University of Memphis History major Rudy Swansey shared how his rapper stage name actually morphed into something he didn’t expect due to social media.
“My stage name is actually just RUDY,” Swansey said. “But when I tried to create a hashtag RUDY there’s a thousand billion Rudys. They’ve got the movie “Rudy.” They’ve got Rudy from The Huxstables, so I was like how can I set myself apart and I just put the ‘Rhymer’ as a last minute thing. Now it’s kinda stuck. It’s stuck as my name.”
The rapper/history major shared that once he gains enough popularity he might drop the “Rhymer” from his name, and that isn’t the only thing Swansey is thinking of changing.
“I might double major in history and music,” Swansey said. “I was playing it safe the first few years of college. I love history a lot, but I want to do music so what the fuck am I doing in history?”
21-year-old Swansey shared that more and more often he questions “being safe” in academia and plans to immerse himself in the Music Industry program and pursue becoming a successful artist before it’s too late.
“If I fail I will gladly fail if there’s music playing in the background,” Swansey said.
Rudy shared that pursuing his dreams in music isn’t entirely for his own glory and fame either.
“People need to start working for the good of the colony and for the good of the human race,” Swansey said. “That’s what music does. Music is for the good of the colony. For the best in the people.”
FTGOTC.
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