Cutright Wants to See Everybody Win
Cutright is an emcee who’s worked on many fronts within the CHH scene. You may know him as a founding member of the JustHIS League supergroup, or a member of the new 3RD CZN rap trio, or as a writer at Rapzilla.com. Or, you might know Cutright from his solo music! December of 2023 saw the release of Cutright’s latest full-length album, Trophy Season, which his Bandcamp page describes as “a dynamic collision of hip-hop mastery and the adrenaline-fueled world of sports.” We got to pick Cutright’s brain about this new project, and even talked a bit about the recent 3RD CZN album he was a part of, This That and the Third. (Note: for more from 3RD CZN, check out Midnight Donuts #5!)
This article originally appeared in Midnight Donuts #3 from April 2024. Want to read the most recent edition of Midnight Donuts? You can do so here!
Midnight Donuts: Trophy Season! Great album. What makes you most excited about this album?
Cutright: What’s most exciting about Trophy Season is, for me, it's a declaration. I'm a team person. I'm always pushing somebody. I'm always behind somebody because I feel like it's not just about me winning. If the team wins, I win. If I'm helping to motivate the team, I still win. I'm a very selfless person in that way, because I like to see others succeed, like, for real.
Which is why in the JustHIS League I've been behind the scenes, pushing cats for so long, 25 different projects, helping to ghost write, and all this other stuff because I want to see my brothers and my sisters in Christ win! You know what I mean? So, Trophy Season is the first solo project since 2019 for me, which was my album Marvel Us. And man, coming from out of that album, I went right into a season of depression. I was dealing with suicidal thoughts. Just dealing with a whole lot of doubt and everything.
So, coming into this season, I'm like, “yo, this is the season of victory! This is the season of overcoming!” … Everybody wants to win a trophy. In this season I'm making a declaration. I'm going to be triumphant, no matter how big, how small. I'm going to celebrate these victories! I'm going to celebrate with a third-place trophy. I got a trophy! A hundred-and-eight-place trophy. I got my trophy! I'm just going to celebrate the wins, you know, and keep counting, and hopefully I encourage others to do the same.
Midnight Donuts: Your music has a lot of themes of persevering and pushing through adversity. What inspires that?
Cutright: I don't make anything that I don't feel. You know what I'm saying? I got to feel it first. Whether it's a joint like “AHMAGEDITT!” that's real super silly and funny energy or “Showtime!” when my head's about to bust out—literally, I almost passed out in the closet recording “Showtime!” and going so hard! Or “All in My Head,” because I was almost weeping, in tears.
I have to feel it. And when I'm pouring out myself, hopefully the others can feel it who feel the same and know that they're not alone… I've always admired when I'm able to experience an artist through the art, not just experience the art. Writers who not only gave you rhymes, but gave you heart, you know what I mean? And I tell myself to do that in everything that I write.
Midnight Donuts: There's a lot of cool collaborations on this project! Tell me about how some of those came about. Are there any cool stories that led up to those collaborations?
Cutright: For Dax Hamma, the moment he put up the beat for “Showtime!”—he had it up for five minutes, and I was in his inbox like, “hey, Dax, what's up? How much that joint cost?” He's like, “what?” I said, “listen, man, I got $100 right now. Hold it. Hold it for me.” So that joint wasn't up for not even five minutes. This is February 2022. The moment I got it, that whole night … I'm pacing up and down my driveway. Just pacing up and down my drive, working out the rhyme patterns and everything else, the hook coming together, and then bam, that joint was finished!
“Game On” is a record that [Isaac Mather] had a contest where he was like, “yo, I'm going to make a beat out of my tic.” (Because, you know, he has Tourette's) He flipped his tics and the beats and stuff… “I'm going to do a beat contest, and anybody who rhymes on it is going to get the beat free.” I was like, “aight, bet!” I killed it, I won the beat, and then I turned it into the song “Game On.”
There's a song on there that's special to me—two songs. First of all, the “Start Over” record, my homegirl, Quintessa Harper—she's a wonderful powerhouse vocalist, man, she's actually a schoolteacher here in Charlotte, North Carolina. … Her mom was the choir director for the children's choir we were both in, and her mom had passed away several years ago. From there, I hadn’t linked up with her for almost two decades! So, when I had the opportunity to reach out to her, and she said yes, it was dynamic, just speaking about the lives that we've lived, the traumas that we've been through, and all these other things. We start over, we fall, we fail, we get up and try again. You know what I'm saying?
The last song I'm extra proud of is “We Win!” … My little cousin, Rahmir Broome, and Jumbo Juice was a young man at my church who said he wanted to try to start doing music and such. That was the first song that they ever did together. I helped them write the song, and I did the hook. We recorded that joint and they knocked it out the park. I was so proud of them young brothers for their efforts… They did it for a live event we had last year, but I was like, “I'm going to surprise them. I'm going to put it out there, let the world hear y'all's sound.” Just something to encourage them. So, that was really special to me.
Midnight Donuts: You released this album on Bandcamp exclusively before it hit streaming. What was behind that decision?
Cutright: The Bandcamp joint was because, you know, artists don't see a lot of fans when it comes to supporting a record. People stream so much, but they don't value that they way that you put value on a record. You know what I'm saying? I most definitely spent …a lot on the project. Investing in it, you know, and it’s sometimes like, hey, I value this enough to invest in it, and I want to give you something of high quality and give people the opportunity to invest back.
To be perfectly honest, bro, out of all of the friends and family and Facebook, about 30 people by the album. So, I was like, “ah, man… that's heartbreaking that [only] 30 people bought the album.” But then I'm like, “man, 30 people chose to invest in, support, and stand by my project!” So, I'm thankful for that 30. Don't despise small beginnings! I mean, I've been here doing this for 10 years.
Midnight Donuts: What's your favorite song and why?
Cutright: Man, different ones for different reasons! I'm going to say “Showtime!” simply because the energy. I'm a person who thrives off lyricism. And I packed so many bars in that joint.
I think “Showtime!” is like—when I said, “No more waiting for the co-signs, we've been top tier the whole time!” I'm talking about myself. Like, yo, I've been top tier the whole time. So why am I still waiting for people to co-sign my greatness when … God made me in His image and His likeness?
Midnight Donuts: Which song was the most fun to write?
Cutright: It’s probably between “Gone” and “Automatic.” So, “Automatic” actually … had a different beat from Isaac Mather. The beat was crazy, it just didn't fit. So, I had to go get another record, but the whole verse—that allowed me to rest in a different pocket and have a different presentation.
I'll say either that or “Gone,” just because of the second verse. When I was rapping it, every time that part came on … I do a little dance jig every time!
Midnight Donuts: My favorite song, I think—and this might change as I listen to it more—but I really like “Let Go, Let God.” Especially the chorus. Any cool background that would be worth sharing on that track?
Cutright: There was a beat that I was gonna cop that had a sample. The sample was the same sample [as the “Let Go, Let God” beat by Isaac Mather], but it was produced different. I heard that one, and I was like, “yo, I could do a record about like trial and error, and then have the flip into the ‘Let Go, Let God.’” It was gonna be like a super dope… and then the person sold that beat and it was over with.
[Later] I was in a car and I just kept riding around with … my little cousin [going] “Let Go, Let God.” I was just saying, “what you think of that?” And the whole weekend, he was like, “Let Go, Let God! Let Go, Let God!” So I was like, “yo, I think that this is real dope!”
I just wanted to just encourage guys to let go, man. Life is troubling and stuff is happening all around us, man, but those who put their trust in the Lord shall renew their strength and mount up with wings like eagles! They shall run and not get weary!
Midnight Donuts: What's the most recent thing that you've read that you've enjoyed? Book, article, graphic novel, etc.
Cutright: Right now, I'm trying to catch up on One Punch Man and My Hero Academia. I read both of those. I'm trying to finish this book called Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands by Paul Tripp.
Midnight Donuts: What's up next for you?
Cutright: 3RD CZN! Our project, This That and the Third is coming up at the end of this month, March 29th. … We're dropping that with my bro B. Meads and Glassez [Tha Emcee]. Some grown man hip-hop: old man hip-hop, you know what I mean? Talking about life and stuff. We’re old men with gray hairs and kids—grandkids in Glassez’ case!
Midnight Donuts: That will already be out when Issue #3 drops!
Cutright: I’ll say this: the 3RD CZN Cutright—it ain't the regular CHH Cutright. Back in the day, whenever we would go someplace I would tell people who booked us: ”we didn't come to entertain, we came to intercede.” For so many years, CHH was—and it's still today—seen as a youth entertainment.
We have a single with DJ Lostnfound and Holy Culture that's about to drop called “Everybody's Welcome.” … It's going to be dope.
Midnight Donuts: Where can people connect with you?
Cutright: You can connect with me at “mistercutright” everywhere because I'm everywhere. Real name, no gimmicks!
Midnight Donuts: Your name is actually “Cutright?”
Cutright: Yeah, Richard Cutright!
Midnight Donuts: I didn't know that Cutright was actually your last name!
Cutright: I was born with the rap name! It's dope because not only music, but also as the minister of the Gospel, man, we hold this double-edged sword called the Word. And if you cut too deep, somebody's going to bleed to death. If you cut not enough, then the cancer of sin is going to stay! So, you got to cut right and be precise. We are operating with the Word, bro. You got to cut right!
This article originally appeared in Midnight Donuts #3. Want to read the most recent edition of Midnight Donuts? You can do so here!