Today we’d like to introduce you to CasinoATX.
Hi CasinoATX, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers.
My mother grew up in Austin and graduated from Lanier HS in the 70’s. After graduation, she moved to Houston and began going to TSU. It was here she met my dad, as they were both very active in civil rights and political groups in college. They eventually got married, and only a short time after came. My mother and I didn’t live in Houston for too long before my parents got divorced, and she and I ended up moving back to Austin, where we stayed with my grandparents. It was while living with my grandparents that my true love of music began after my grandmother put me into guitar lessons. Over my years as a kid and a teenager, I learned to play several different instruments, such as the guitar, piano, and viola. Finally, I played the drums throughout middle and high school, even joining the marching band.
During these years, my mother became a journalist, and we moved all over Texas when I was in the 5th grade. We moved back to Houston. Then, to Odessa, Corpus Christi, back to Austin, and then while I was in high school, we drove to Sacramento, CA. It was during my time in Sacramento that I first tried my hand at writing raps. Not long after I had written my first few verses, my mother and I moved back to Austin, and I found myself going to Reagan HS. Everyone was making music there, and I ended up meeting and befriending multiple kids who would become very well-known names in Austin’s emerging Hip-Hop scene, such as Nook, Dashade Moonbeam, and Anastasia Hera. I eventually became one of Nook’s on-stage hype-men and began to learn about on-stage performances, recording in the studio, and how to put songs together truly.
During my senior year in high school, I started getting into a lot of trouble and dropped out. My mother informed me since I was not in school, I had three options. Go back to school. Go live with my dad. Or get out and figure it out on my own. Like any know-it-all teenager, I opted to leave and figure it out alone. This lasted less than a week before I came home, tail tucked between my legs, begging to return home. At this point, though, my mom made one other choice for me, and within a week, I was on a plane headed for Worcester, MA, where my dad resided. It was here that I learned some of the toughest lessons about life, and I have taken these lessons with me throughout all my years since. It was also here that I developed a larger love for East Coast rap music, which helped me hone a newer style of rapping that I use to this day. By the time I returned to Austin, I had combined a mixture of multiple rap regions into my ever-growing rap repertoire.
I returned to Austin 8 months later, reformed my relationship with Nook, and assisted him in putting on the first “Jump On It” in the summer of 1997. During this time, my mother had convinced me to apply for college, as I had acquired my GED and took the SATs. I was accepted to U of H and moved to Houston in August 97. I was living with my uncle, driving to school in the mornings, and also working at Sharpstown Mall in the late afternoons and evenings. Living next door to my uncle was a young man named Dat Boy Grace, who I learned was a rapper with the infamous Screwed Up Click. I started hanging out with Grace as much as possible, trying to get myself into the right position to meet as many of the SUCs as I could and let them hear some of my music. While I met many people, none of it ever led to me making a big impression, and by 1998, I found myself moving one more time back to California. I spent most of 98′ living in San Francisco with my aunt, spent a lot of time working at a tabletop gaming store, and became a huge fan of miniatures games and D&D. This also became a pivotal piece of rap style, as well as the birth of a moniker that follows me to this day “The Street Nerd.”
After the death of my grandfather, I moved back to Austin once again, and it was during these years I ended up branching off onto my path of music without Nook and his mother (who had been acting as my manager). I was briefly the frontman for a Rap/Rock group throughout 1999. I started doing my solo raps in 2000, and eventually, in 2001, I spearheaded my rap group called Black Hands. Several years later, Black Hands merged with a group of young men from my neighborhood in Northeast Austin, and we became “Gutta Gang” in early 2005. It was during this time I produced and wrote my highest charting song, “Game Time,” and also produced several regional hits for Gutta Gang, such as “Hit The Road” and “Do The Damn Drugs.” For the next two and half years, “Gutta Gang” and I performed at more than 400 shows and events. We opened up for almost every rap act through Austin from 05-07, toured with Mims across the Gulf Coast, dropped mixtapes with Rapid Ric and DJ Grip, and watched “Game Time’ become a regional hit. With the massive notoriety we gained, we became our worst enemies and quickly became a hard-partying and hard-fighting crew. We were known for getting drunk and beating people up, as much as for wowing crowds of people with our on-stage antics. Over time, the alcohol and drugs took their toll on us, and we even began fighting with each other, and over time, the group dissolved. I’ll admit I was one of the first to leave the crew, as I felt the off-stage behavior had become too volatile and was negatively affecting a lot of relationships with music industry people.
From 2008-2010, I floundered doing random things in music. At this time, I was still halfway producing, but I also began writing on a larger scale, all while working odd jobs and raising the large tribe of kids I’d been making over the years. I wrote for Bushwick Bill and several other artists from Houston during these years and became a member of one last group I was in LOP. While with LOP, we became official artists under contract with The BumSquad DJs and produced a mixtape with legendary DJ Latin Prince. We also produced one mixtape with homegrown DJ sensation Hella Yella in early 2010. Ready to carve my path even more, though, I stepped out on my own and went on a run of mixtapes starting in 2011. 2011-2013, I dropped 11 different mixtapes, primarily with my close friend DJ Currensy. This led to my first solo album, “Live From Partyville,” which dropped in early 2013. It was also during this time I assembled a group of artists and formed my label called “The Fraternity.” Some of my artists were Dat Boy Supa, Kazanova, Chef Greezy, and East 35. In 2014, I decided to step back from rapping and focus more on business and getting my artist’s careers off the ground, as several of them had started building big names for themselves. I produced what was going to be my retirement album, but before I could put it out, my wife at that time and I separated, and my life took some terrible turns.
Struggling to make it in mid-2015, I dropped my retirement album and returned to business mode. Sadly, though, as I went through some hard times, it seems that all of my artists began to go through hard life lessons of their own, and many of my artists began to fall away from music and leave the label. Then, in 2016, the unimaginable happened, and one of my sons, Demarcus, aka DJ, was found dead at the apartment complex where he and his mother lived. The coroner’s report eventually showed it to be an accidental death due most likely to drug use. It was here that the music truly completely left me. I had always found myself able to take my hardships and turn them into fuel for my music, but this time, nothing came to mind. I quickly became another cog in the wheel at my job and just worked. While I was able to rise to the ranks at my job and even became manager after a few years, I never truly had a sense of fulfillment there.
In early 2020, I reconnected with my friend and former artist Dat Boy Supa, who had moved back to Austin, and we discussed working on some music. Before either of us knew it, we had completed 9 songs and decided to release them, all of this going on during the craziness of the COVID-19 pandemic raging around us. The pandemic forced us to reach out to other companies for help, and we teamed up with the College of Hip-Hop Knowledge to distribute the album “Afrofuturistic” for us through their relationship with The Orchard / Sony. Being bitten by the music bug all over again while also seeing several friends and family members of mine pass from COVID made me realize that nothing is promised. I could die any moment, and did I want to die while working for a company I knew didn’t truly care about me? I’d rather spend my time doing things I enjoyed, so I completely reignited my music career. From 2021 to now, I’ve dropped one mixtape with DJ LL, one EP with 7 Cru Entertainment, 2 full-length albums with CHHK (College of Hip-Hop Knowledge), and numerous singles. I won a performance contest in NYC in the fall of 2021. I performed at SXSW as an official artist in 2022 and acquired my cannabis endorsement deal. I toured the West Coast in the Summer of 2022 with CHHK and Abstract Rude. I opened up for Devin the Dude on 4/20/23 at Antone’s. Now, I’m gearing up to release a new video with Swisha House artists Magno and my next nationwide single with Chalie Boy. Everything I’ve gone through has led up to this time in my life, and while I’m in my 40s now, I feel I’m writing and dropping music hotter than anything I’ve done in the past 20 years, and have been able to carve a music business lane to feed myself and pay my monthly bills. What else can you ask for?
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I think I answered most of these in the long multi-paragraph answer on question one, lol. Not a smooth road at all. I’ve lost a lot of friends doing music. Not seeing eye to eye on directions to take and, of course, issues over money have caused me to lose several relationships over the years. I’ve also lost a lot of good women over the years behind chasing music. The music always came first for me, and being constantly on the go, coupled with long nights in the studio, has caused the death of many relationships and marriages. I’d say the biggest has been the time away from my kids. At one point, I’m sure some of them have felt I was not as present as they have wanted. Also, losing my son DJ in 2016 is a pain I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemies. It made me sit and question many things I’ve done, as I felt he might have seen too much of my wilder days. Losing a child makes you question everything about yourself and numbs you to the core.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might need to become more familiar, what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m a rapper/writer/and producer. I specialize in writing and performing. I’ve won several awards over the years for performing solo and with groups. I’m known for making club party tracks, as well as 420-friendly music that is laced with clever nerd and pop culture references. I’m most proud of having won a Growing the Tradition award for my contributions to Austin Hip-Hop and being showcased in the Texas Music History Museum. I’m also pleased to continue doing what I love to do after a four-and-a-half hiatus from music and not feeling like I lost a step. While I can talk about street life, hard times, etc, I can do it from someone who’s seen every side of America. I also do it in a comedic way that makes it digestible for just about anyone. Finally, like Austin’s slogan of “Keep It Weird,” I’ve yet to find a rapper who can embrace their nerdy side while maintaining a sharp edge.
What are your plans for the future?
I recently partnered up with several long-time music friends, and we’ve opened a production company called “Raw Wit Da Daw,” specializing in producing songs from making the beats and writing the songs. We are working with several Austin-based rappers and R&B singers, from making their music to helping them throw release parties and shooting music videos. Our studio, “The Stash Spot,” is based in North Austin off of North Lamar. While I plan on continuing to do music, I’m looking forward to getting into other forms of media. I recently wrote some shows for YouTube, which will be coming out under a new media company I’ve teamed up with. I’ve also decided to get into the cannabis business, and I’m working towards opening up my own distribution company in conjunction with some farms I’m working with based in Oregon. I honestly feel that more black and Hispanic people need to jump into this field of business since we were so heavily imprisoned for it. Now that it’s turning into a hugely profitable legal sector, we should head first.
Pricing:
- Studio Time $40 an hour
- Beat Production *varies
- Song Writing *varies
Contact Info:
- Website: www.rawwitdadaw.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/casinoatx
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/partyvillemayor
- Linkedin: www.linktr.ee/casinoatx
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/partyvillemayor
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/casinoatx
- SoundCloud: www.soundcloud.com/casinoatx
Image Credits
Lifesaver Photography Through The Iris Photography Chris Chirp GFX Southern Style GFX
