STORY: Kottonmouth Kings
By: David Jenison
How much pot do you go through on the road? "Way too much!" says Brad Daddy X, rapper and key producer for the white boy rap sensations, the Kottonmouth Kings. "When we're out on the road, we have a designated regulator on the bus who watches how much pot is distributed. Otherwise, we'll go through so much weed that it's ridiculous."Though there was silence when asked if they spend tour support money on pot, rapper Saint Vicious begins talking about the legalization of pot. He's actually against it. "Weed has to stay illegal," says Saint, "or all my buddies will be unemployed. Selling pot is the perfect occupation for the person who wants to fight the system by not working a normal job or trying to make it through the educational system. It's the job of choice for the underground."
While the Kottonmouth Kings are very vocal about smoking pot, their favorite passtime cannot help but be overshadowed by the raw energy, insane talent, and commanding presence of their live performances. The band is having such a profound impact at its shows that fans are doing the most incredible things.
"I have met a bunch of kids who have tattooed the Kottonmouth Kings logo on their bodies," says Saint. "One kid had a six inch tattoo of our logo across the back of his neck. I didn't know what to say. I was speechless. These people relate to our music so much that they're getting these tattoos. It's the coolest thing in the world."
The Kottonmouth Kings first entered the public eye with the song "Suburban Life," a single for the "Scream 2" soundtrack which received heavy MTV rotation. Then the band released a five song EP which sold thousands of copies in just a matter of weeks, as did their seventeen song full-length debut, Royal Highness. Now, many months after their successful debut, the single "Dog's Life" has been added to KROQ radio in Los Angeles, and now radio stations across the country are turning the Kings into a major sensation.
In addition to the Kottonmouth Kings, Brad Daddy X is also a member of the punk band the Humble Gods. He remarks, "Kottonmouth Kings have been around as long as the Humble Gods, but the Kings were originally just a studio project. I used to promote night clubs and mess around with hip-hop. I used to make beats in my home studio. Then D-Loc and Saint started hanging out at the studio, and we started recording stuff. Eventually, we decided to do some shows, and it took off from there."
Besides the record deal, the Kottonmouth Kings have their own hip-hop label called Suburban Noize through Capitol Records. X continues, Kottonmouth Kings are the first release on Suburban Noize. The next release will be by Grand Venacular with DJ Circa, and then Too Rude featuring Dog-Boy, who collaborated with us on a few songs on our record. We also have a compilation coming out with all these people and more, including Pakelika (the band's masked pop- locking dancer). The masked man does speak, but only through poetic forms. He'll eventually have his own record down the line."
"Pakelika has to have his own record," says Saint, "because he has the biggest cock in the band. It's almost as big as [our manager] Kevin Zinger's."
For now, the Kottonmouth Kings are continuing their role with massive show turn-outs and growing record sales. More than that, the Kings intend to wreak even more havoc, as recently seen in Tempe, Arizona at Hayden Square. X explains, "We just rocked the joint for four thousand people there. Next door, a restaurant called Gibsons sectioned off the rooftop as a special bar area. Saint goes up on top of the bar an starts pissing onto the crowd!" "What's funny is that it was the VIP area for the show," adds Saint, "and everyone turned and started screaming. Six security guards came after me and kicked me out. I was all wasted, so I slid down the roof and nearly landed on the manager of the place. I mean, if I rock the place, I should be able to piss on the crowd. You know what I say? Fuck 'em."
