Big Tuck Tha Absolute Truth
Dallas, Texas, has never felt a hip-hop buzz radiating from its streets like this. While the city of Dallas has been overlooked, Cedric “Big” Tuck has transformed the “Big D” into a hip-hop hotbed in only a few short years. As an integral member of the super group Dirty South Rydaz, Big Tuck has been a staple in the southern underground scene, releasing over 32 mixtapes and selling over one hundred thousand copies. In fact, Tuck's critically acclaimed first independent release Purple Hulk (2004) on T-Town Music sold so well, it caught the attention of Universal Records, who inked a deal with the indie label in 2005.
But things were not always so great for Big Tuck. Growing up in South Dallas came with its own unique set of hardships. “South Dallas is like hell and paradise all rolled into one.” Tuck says of his childhood neighborhood. “On the one hand, you know everyone and everyone knows you, so there is a real sense of community. On the other hand, we have our fair share of pimps, drug dealers, gangsters, shootings and fights.”
Tuck attended University of Arkansas on a full music scholarship, where he honed his skills of playing the percussion, composing and writing. “When I graduated, I thought things would be gravy, but it wasn’t. I was steadily trying to find a job and at the same time staying focused on music. That caused a lot of problems with my family. They felt like I wasn’t really looking for work and the situation worsened to the point that I ended up living in my car for a year and a half; going to the YMCA daily to work out and wash up,” remembers Big Tuck.
Tuck’s transient life and lack of funds led him to making money the quickest way he knew how- hustling, while at the same time he continued to find a way to record music and hand out his CD’s to the Dallas powerhouse independent record label. Eventually his persistence paid off and T-Town Music called him back.
Under the tutelage of T-Town Music CEO's George Lopez, Trinidad Delgado and Alan Powell, Big Tuck continued to prep for his major label, national debut Tha Absolute Truth. But unlike other artists only concerned with flaunting materialistic objects or cashing in on their street rep to sell records, Big Tuck is taking a different approach with his album. The album's lead single – “Tussle” – is a fiery club anthem with an actual message. “It's a fight song,” Big Tuck states.
“I'm trying to tell people to fight straight up if they have to and not give in.” While “Tussle” should help push Big Tuck into the limelight, he also shows his versatility and conceptual ability with the album's most heartfelt track “Southside.” “It came from the heart and it's a real story about my life and everything I went through,” Tuck humbly expresses.
With guest appearances by Slim Thug, Bun B, Paul Wall, Chamillionaire and Erykah Badu, and beats by the T-Town production staff (Milk, Willieboy & O'E), Play-N-Skillz, Mr. Lee and Big Tyme, Tha Absolute Truth is primed to put Dallas on the hip-hop map. With the rest of the DSR click releasing albums later this year, it's up to Big Tuck to get the ball rolling in the right direction. Tuck is up to the challenge and is ready to make history. “Mark my words,” says Tuck, “I have the realest album of the year.”
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