The Illustrious: STS Interview

13 months ago, Sugar Tongue Slim rocked The 6th Annual Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival as part of The Money Making Jam Boys. There wasn’t much information on MMJB collectively prior to that performance. A couple singles. A couple radio show appearances. An under heard, under participated mixtape, The Antidote (released in late 2009 before STS joined the team). Not much else. No detailed bio or any insight into their origins. Not even a Wikipedia page. Black Thought and Dice Raw’s side squad had yet to fully push forward with their creative foray. At that point, The Money Making Jam Boys were mostly a mystery with a familiar sounding name.

Fast forward one year and things done changed. Not drastically. They still don’t have a Wikipedia page. But they did release a critically praised mixtape, The Prestige, this past January. Their origins are now well documented all over the internet and their live show is even more official than before. Money Making Jam Boys aren’t yet household names, but creatively, they now have a collective reputation.

BrooklynBodega.com spoke with Sugar Tongue Slim at the 4th Annual Roots Picnic about the year that was for MMJB, who he was most excited to see perform and his upcoming mixtape, The Illustrious.

BB: Who are you most excited to see?

STS: I don’t know, man. Esperanza Spalding.

BB: Word up.

STS: I really wanted to see her. I like seeing [Yelawolf] perform a lot. I’ve seen him perform down in Atlanta. Yeah, Esperanza Spalding. That’s probably going to get me today.

BB: I’d have to agree with you on that. I’ve never seen her live. I’m really curious at what she does. I hear she’s working with Q-Tip on her next album.

STS: She need to work with Sugar [Tongue Slim]. She needs some Sugar on that thang. [Laughs]

BB: [Laughs] Last time we talked, you broke down your history “managing women.” But then we also talked about the emphasis being within The Roots and around The Roots — ?uestlove and Black Thought, specifically — place on rewriting. There’s a lot of iterations when you guys are putting together music. Is there something similar when it comes to the live show aspect as well?

STS: When we first got in, our live shows had to step up. There was a lot of learning, a lot of real quick learning because they’re The Roots! They’re already the greatest band. It’s like, shit, you gotta get out there and show your ass. Actually, it got me more into it performance wise. Since rocking with Tariq [Trotter] and them, my performance has definitely gotten better. More exciting.

BB: I feel like there’s gotta be some kind of bootcamp before they even let you on stage. If they make you rewrite your verses before they get on the album…

STS: You know what, the first time I went on stage with them, man — they just sprung it on me. First time I met ‘Riq, he was like, “Yo, we’re doing a show next week. Come on up.” And he put me on stage. I thought I was going up with the [Money Making] Jam Boys. He put me on by myself. I was like, “Oh, okay.” I was scared as shit but, hey man, once that adrenaline hits you, and then everyone is cheering for you. It’s The Roots. The Roots is behind you anyway, so the worst you can do is fuck up and it’s still ?uestlove drumming right there. [Laughs]

BB: A year ago, Allhiphop.com posted a video with Mr. Mecc interviewing each of you and that was kind of like the first interview done on Money Making Jam Boys where y’all explain what Money Making Jam Boys was, how long you’ve have been around, where the name came from. And you at the time were the newest member and was just introduced. You guys released another mixtape, [The Prestige]. You had appearances all over the last Roots album. In 2011 and going forward, what’s next for STS?

STS: I’m about to drop a new project, The Illustrious. From hence forth, everything is going to get a whole lot bigger as far as the music. My prior mixtapes, I do a lot of just spitting. I wanted to solidify my fanbase knowing that I really rap. I do have songs. I am from Atlanta. I do have songs where I don’t go in as hard lyrically and focus more on the hook and the feeling of the record but I ain’t want to lose the fans. The Roots kind of gives me that backing where I can really go do whatever I want. What are you going to say? You can’t say that I can’t rap.

BB: You proved that already.

STS: Yeah. Now, I just got to go out there and make some hits, man. The Illustrious, man. We tryna make a statement with that one.

BB: When are you looking to release?

STS: We want to drop it in July. Sometime in July. We’re dropping the first leak on Monday.

BB: Are you excited about that?

STS: Very much so.

BB: Is it an official release?

STS: It’s a mixtape joint. But every song on there is all original. I got Alchemist on there. I got a joint with Alchemist where I interview myself. I’ve been doing so many interviews that I was like, “Fuck it. Might as well do one myself.” I’m rhyming the interview myself. I got my man Fonzworth Bentley on there. It’s different from what people expect. People will love it.

BB: You’ve got the Fonzworth approved outfit on right now.

STS: Hey man, I’m from Atlanta. Southwest Atlanta to be exact, where we wear Polo all day. That’s all I know. [Laughs]

BB: Usually we see you in a jersey, though.

STS: Yeah, yeah, yeah! But that’s what the new project is. It’s Illustrious. It’s a lifestyle change, you know what I mean? I just want to set myself apart. This is how I be feeling lately. Every now and then, I still throw on something else.

BB: “Get the money. / Get the money. / That’s what I know. / I’m hoping that my seeds know a little more than I know.”

STS: Yep. I really hope they do.

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