A.Dd+ Speaks On Success, Representing Dallas And Working With Black Milk

A.Dd+ made their way onto the scene earlier this year when they dropped what the Dallas Observer deemed as possibly the best Hip Hop album that Dallas has ever released. The duo’s debut album, When Pigs Fly, has garnered national attention and put them in the position to work with the likes of underground favorites like Black Milk. Still, not all is peaches and cream for the southern pair.

I had the opportunity to chop it up with my fellow Dallas-natives about what seems like overnight success, what it’s like being from a city without much representation and their plans moving forward.

DC: So who is A.Dd+? What are y’all about and what should we be thinking when we hear the name?

Paris: A.Dd+ is… a two-man group. The short one is Paris Pershun, that’s me.

Slim: And I’m the tall one, Slim Gravy.

Paris: And shit, truthfully, what people should expect from us is just groundbreaking music. We come from Dallas where the music scene is, you know, minimal. I’m not gonna shit on nobody, but you know, nobody really thinks of good ass Hip Hop when Dallas is brought up. Basically we came and changed that.

DC: Already. I’m sure y’all get this question a lot, but how did you get the name?

Slim: It’s pretty simple… his name is Arrias and they used to call me “D.D.” We just put it together like A.D.D. and the plus sign, that’s basically what it is.

DC: Alrig….

Slim: NAH, nah, nah nah, hol’ up, one second… (Mutual laughter) So let me tell you why that plus sign is there because a lot of people be like, “Why is there a plus sign?” And it’s simply because A.D.D. spells “add” and if you were to try and type in our names somewhere or something, there’d be a whole bunch of different stuff that’d come up. The plus sign just separates us from the rest of the world.

DC: Alright, cool. Who were some of your influences when you were coming up? Was there anyone who really inspired you to start rapping?

Paris: Um, I was mostly inspired by Jay-Z and Outkast. Those were like my two biggest influences.

Slim: I could say my biggest influences are UGK or Lupe Fiasco. Jay-Z and Outkast as well, a lot of people…

Paris: Yeah, but I mean I’m influenced by damn near anybody, truthfully.

DC: Y’all just released, When Pigs Fly. Could you tell me a little bit about the creative process and how the album was culminated?

Paris: We was basically like going back and forth with each other, like not really knowing what route we wanted to go with and shit. We were looking to tag team with Picnic [Tyme], then he shaped the sound for us, the sound we were really looking for. Then that shit just came out complete… he was like the perfect piece we needed to make it happen.

Slim: Yeah, especially for the sound because we don’t really have an actual “sound,” you know, we can flip it so many different ways.

DC: How long did the album take to complete?

Paris: We initially started that hoe around October of 2009. We was just basically going through the motions, getting’ beats from random producers, doing random songs and shit. Like 90% of those songs didn’t even make the final cut. We actually didn’t even finish that hoe until about January of 2011.

DC: When Pigs Fly attracted a lot of attention and seemed to really push you guys to that next level, becoming somewhat of an underground sensation in what seemed like overnight. Would y’all agree?

Slim: Yeah, I agree with it. Like all that attention, we weren’t expecting it. I mean, we thought it was gonna be a dope CD that people were gonna like. We were actually just calling it a mixtape…

Paris: Yeah, I still call it a mixtape.

Slim: It was really unexpected for me.

Paris: I mean, I was… I can’t say I knew that shit was gonna happen… but like, the exposure that it did get was surprising as hell. The recognition that it got was extremely surprising.

DC: Yeah, it seems like the album really opened up some opportunities for y’all. Y’all released a track not long after the album called “Getting Far” and in it, y’all address how your recent success has really been a humbling experience. Could y’all go into a little more depth as to what you guys mean by that?

Slim: So long… it’s really humbling cause of the fact that we get all this praise and exposure, and we go out and people look at us in a certain way, you know what I’m saying… but at the end of the day… we have to go home and deal with those every day life situations.

Paris: Hell yeah, like reality hits quick. Like I still sleep on my muhfuckin’ momma’s couch, know what I’m saying?

DC: Yeah.

Paris: And my car is still wrecked, I haven’t even got that shit fixed, so (mutual laughter). So like, it’s cool that we get all that attention and recognition but I just try to let muhfuckas know like, “Dude, I’m still struggling and I’m like the same dude you are.”

DC: It’s almost like y’all lead two different lives and are stuck in the middle somewhere.

Paris: In a sense, that’s true.

DC: Like y’all were saying’ before, up until this point, there really hasn’t been anyone that’s repped Dallas on a national level. Pookie and Lucci made some regional strides, but other than them, there hasn’t really been any sort of presence.

Slim: You got Dorrough…

Paris: Well I wouldn’t say there’s like “no” presence. Maybe not the “right” presence or the “universal” presence… you may be right. But you do have Dorrough, you have a couple people.

DC: Yeah, sure, you got The Gator Main, Badu obviously…

Paris: Well you can’t even say Badu, she’s on some other shit. She’s like, way past that shit. (mutual laughter)

DC: Exactly. What’s it like being the first cats out of Dallas? You guys are arguably the face of the scene right now.

Slim: See, you look at it like we’re the face of Dallas but we’re the ones actually doing it so we don’t see it like everybody else, know what I’m saying? Like, I don’t feel like we’re the face of Dallas ‘cause there’s other people out there that are from Dallas and doing more stuff than us. I mean…they put on for the city. Like I said, Dorrough – I’d say he’s the face of the city right now.

Paris: But at the same time, we represent Dallas in a different light. I would actually say it’s a better light too. We actually give that universal appeal to Dallas Hip Hop and it makes muhfuckas wonder like, “Damn, is there some mo’ shit like that?” So we kind of open the door even wider for other muhfuckas.

Slim: Yeah, cause Dallas is really two-sided. Like, where we at right now… yeah I could say we’re the face of that end. But on a commercial end… yeah, Dorrough got that. (Everyone laughs)

Paris: Like, in some neighborhoods muhfuckas would only be talking about us… and in other neighborhoods you’d probably hear about other people.

DC: Well one of y’all said in “Insomniac Dreaming” that you’re trying to put Dallas on the map, so is that a responsibility y’all are taking on and embracing?

Paris: That’s the main objective.

Slim: Yeah, because nobody from Dallas has put Dallas on the map in a respectful light…

Paris: Yeah, on the Hip Hop tip… and we feel like we’re in the perfect position and it’s the perfect time to make that happen.

Slim: Hip Hop been around since when? That’s crazy… ain’t been nobody from Dallas that put it on in a good way (Mutual laughs). I think it’s cool we’re getting that recognition.

DC: Speaking of “Insomniac Dreaming”, how did y’all go about getting a beat from Black Milk?

Slim: Basically just through building relationships with other people, which led us to meeting Black Milk.

Paris: Then we flew out for a couple days, we were in the studio with him and knocked out five songs.

Slim: Yeah.

DC: Five songs with Black Milk?

Paris: Yeah, we’re actually still sitting on like four other songs produced by Black Milk.

DC: Are y’all gonna put those tracks out individually or are they going on your new project?

Paris: One might make it as a loosie, but one is for sure the intro for our next project.

DC: What’s the project?

Paris: Well, the title of this project is going to be the plus sign in silence (+). So far we’ve got production from S1, he’s produced for Kanye and Jay-Z. We also have our producer, Picnic, and a couple of Black Milk tracks. It’ll be out sometime early to mid next year… we don’t have a definite date.

DC: Who is somebody in that rap game that each of you would like to collaborate with?

Paris: That’s easy. Mine would be either Kendrick [Lamar], [Big] K.R.I.T. or Ab-Soul.

Slim: Yeah, I’d say…. them three people. I wonder if Ab-Soul is weird as hell… I don’t know why. I fucks with ‘em. (laughs)

DC: Alright, well is there anything you’d like to put out there or tell your fans?

Slim: Yeah, follow us on twitter. @GravySlim

Paris: Follow me at @ADdPlus

Slim: I got a question for you, though…

DC: What’s up?

Slim: How’d you find out about us?

DC: Well, I’m from Dallas so I try to keep my ear to the scene. And my older brother actually told me about y’all too. I think you actually know him Slim, his name is James.

Slim: Jay Clutch?

DC: Yeah.

Slim: Wait, were you the one that wrote the review for KevinNottingham.com?

DC: Yeah, that’s what this interview is for. (Everyone laughs)

Slim: Word.