AYB Thugga and A. Hitla have both been rapping underground for 20 years, and they have known each other for about 15 of those years, living in Orangeburg, South Carolina, rapping and surviving in the trenches of life.
And “Trenches” is the name of the song they are using to introduce themselves and their six-track EP Sumn Slight to the world after being encouraged by local fans to take their rap seriously.
“Trenches” has a hard, up-tempo beat that lies underneath the chiming of a kodo with piano and flute melodies. AYB on the hook raps about getting paid like he’s possessed. The first verse is A. Hitla’s, the second belongs to AYB.
“We’re just popping out really,” said AYB, which stands for Avis’ Youngest Boy. “We got people who’re urging us to drop music on the serious tip like, ‘Man, ya’ll good enough to do it on that level. Plus, ya’ll hard.’”
“And I just want to say,” said A Hitla, which stands for Having Insight Toward Life’s Accomplishments, “I appreciate all our fans that are to come because we know — I know — that they gonna like it, and it’s what you need to be listening to.”
Everybody ask me what you doing are you still rappin’
And I reply I’m in the trenches getting’ active
I got them pots rollin’ and I’m steady stackin’ cabbage
I can serve you many ways just let me know I’ll make it happen
It is, in many ways, as AYB says, a hard track. Surviving in the trenches of Orangeburg is no easier than anywhere else, but “Trenches” is not a lament, it’s a statement of resolve and intent.
And it is a fun listen.
It’s a high-energy track that talks about getting money and being authentic while doing it, said AYB.
“But I ain’t gonna lie, the song’s just hard, and that’s all I got to say about it.”
He said they chose the title of this song because, “listening to it, that’s where it put me, in the trenches.”
“We don’t come from the good side of life, and I know where I come from,” he said.
“People should listen because it’s relatable,” said A. Hitla. “It’s relatable to the world. Everybody’s trying to get paid. It’s relatable to whatever’s going on in the world, and everybody wants to be known for being genuine. Plus, it’s raw, and it’s authentic. It don’t sound like nothing else out there.”
AYB said that their music comes from Orangeburg and is authentic to them and the place where they were born and raised. They are individual artists, each with his own career and brand, collaborating for this particular EP.
“If ya’ll want to hear some original music that comes from an original place, we that wave,” he said. “We’re not regional jacking. I heard some artists rap like they’re from Detroit, but they wasn’t from Detroit. Feel me?”
When A. Hitla says their sound is like nothing else out there, he is also talking about the variety within the EP’s six tracks. No track sounds like any other.
“On My Soul,” the final track and the one that transforms the grit and grime of the others into something like hope, is introduced by strings, a piano playing R&B and a saxophone jazz lick.
The variety on the EP is a lot more than the intriguing instrumentation of the intros. It extends into the pace, cadency, rhythm, speed and phrasing of the rap from AYB and A. Hitla.
“Go Gettaz” is introduced by a gospel kind of organ and a piano playing an infectious beat. “Out Dat Wrekk,” with heavy 808 bass blended with piano and xylophone, is their hometown anthem.
“Out Dat Wrekk” is a song letting the world know where they are from, said AYB. “Wrekk” is what many younger people call Orangeburg.
“The new generation these days, dubbed it that so, you know, I took it and made a song out of it. I know a lot of us probably want to get out of the Wrekk, but I want to make it better.”
The EP could be viewed as a personal celebration for AYB and A. Hitla personally, since they have both been recently released from custody.
“I just got off state parole and A. Hitla is about to get off federal parole. So, that’s something to celebrate right there.”
The main celebration, though, is the music. The subject matter may be hard, like AYB says, but so is life as they, their families and friends have lived it, and that’s in the tracks.
But as for the music and the rap, “People want new,” said AYB.
“They want to hear new artists and something they never heard before, like, original. It’s a lot of cats in the game now, and a lot of ’em sound alike. I know a hundred artists that rap, and all got the same type cadence and style, just a different voice, and some voices are the same. We don’t got that. Feel me?’”
“You took the words right outta my mouth.” Said Hitla
“Trenches” and Sumn Slight:
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