Potluck
The name says it all, or doesn’t it? 1Ton and Underrated make up the duo known as Potluck, and with a name like that it’s fitting that they hail from Humboldt County California. A sort of “Odd Couple,” they are in a sense a potluck of ideas cultures and personalities. 1Ton, who’s of Nigerian descent, got his name from his fraternity brothers for his heftiness and Underrated’s name comes from the prejudice you’d have upon seeing him. He’s Jewish and short in stature so your own human nature would discredit him, but you’d get nowhere doing that, he’s true to everything he does.
What’s even more fitting than their name is that the attitude of the unique place they come from is with them as well. No place else on earth does a county exist that replaces good vibes with the worrisome lawfulness that is the rest of the world. Appropriately that is the same point of view Potluck exudes through their music. They don’t care if you don’t like their music or if you claim it’s outside the realms of hip hop. The reason for this is that they both have hip hop backgrounds lost on today’s listeners. Secondly the West Coast never seemed to give a damn what the rest of the country felt.
Both of them started as DJ’s and it was this love of spinning vinyl that united them. Hip Hop is truly devoid of the traditional DJ. Real DJ’s play what they want and don’t conform to the masses. That being said, they didn’t just stay in their bedrooms, the accomplished a great deal. They both attended Humboldt State University and graduated with degrees in business and computers. The DJ-ing led to making beats (Underrated’s specialty) and then they started making tracks (featuring both of them rapping) and then put them out on CD. Upon release of their first single they created the label, Lost Koast Productions.
In 2000, the residents of Humboldt County liked Potluck so much, their music was selling better than Britney Spears’. Over the years, touring made them a live-show fixture on the West Coast and also catapulted their careers. What aspiring artists fail to realize is that through touring a living can be made without smashing the charts and 1Ton and Underrated are a prime example. Touring also allowed them to meet a plethora of established artists who came up the same way, by way of an underground following. Musicians like Jurassic 5, Kotton Mouth Kings, The Luniz and Tech9ne whom they kicked it with backstage and during down-time, led to appearances on their album, “Straight Outta Humboldt,” released in September 2006, on Suburban Noize. On that same album they collaborated with the legendary E-40. In other words they’re respected in a number of different circles.
The Humboldt effect isn’t lost on fans either. The duo is constantly being challenged by green enthusiasts, as if two musicians from the marijuana capital of the world have never enjoyed a good smoke. A polite promotional gesture is a Blunt Wrap with their image on it. In other words “Thanks for the support. Roll yourself something, and think of us.” Underrated joked, “People always think their bud is better than ours, and it never is.” Underrated’s stash must be that “Oo-wee,” for he fell off stage and broke his ankle, and ended up cancelling two tours in the process. Not a total loss though. This time off the road will spawn massive tracks full of thumping bass, a real point to the song, and that Humboldt County High.