“Choppin It Up with Mr. ScrewShop.com”
“Choppin It Up with Mr. ScrewShop.com”
Interview By: Mike Recka
myspace: www.myspace.com/dotcomdon
TXRap: “Tosin” is a very unique name. Is that your birth given name? If not,
how’d you come up with it?
Tosin: Yeah its my birth name…if you don’t believe me write me a check and
see if that shit gets cashed…hahaha…but yeah that’s my real
name…it means “god’s forgiveness” but its spelled TO SIN…I guess
that’s an oxymoron of sorts…its pronounced TOE-SCENE or TOW-SEEN a
lot of people seem to not be able to say it…
TXRap: The name Tosin definitely rings bells in the Texas underground scene.
You’ve designed artwork for pretty much EVERY Texas artist in the game.
When did you 1st realize that you really wanted to take your talent
serious & go full steam ahead with Sinful Designs?
Tosin: I never really knew I had talent or if wanted to do it…I was just
doing it as a creative outlet and out of necessity to update
www.thescrewshop.com …but later I was getting somewhat known for doing
websites after I done work for tow down, wreckshop, 97.9 the boxx and my
potna Johnny palmer asked me to do the cover for his artist Black
Mike…and it just kinda caught on from there…
TXRap: Recently @ SXSW you celebrated the 10 year anniversary of your website,
www.TheScrewShop.com with a concert & a new mixtape. What made you start the site & did you ever imagine how big it would become?
Tosin: I had just moved to new orleans for college and I wasn’t really feeling
the bounce scene in new orleans and was home sick for my Texas and screw
music…so I looked on the net and there wasn’t really too much bout
Texas music or screw other than the screw house website, down-south.com
and a Houston site my potna Pain ran…but it wasn’t really enough for
me to keep updated so I started my own…I was able to hook up w/ labels
and artist and was able to keep cats updated w/ what was going on in
Texas better than a lot of cats even living in Houston…I knew there
were a gang of people just like me who moved away from Texas for school,
work, armed forces or whatever reason and wanted to keep up to date…so
I started doing contests, interviews, had audio and all sorts of shit to
keep folks informed on what was going on, what was real and what was
fake…honestly I still don’t know how big or important the site is to
people…but as of late ive realized its a valid source and outlet of
information for the world on whats going on in Texas and parts of the
south…
TXRap: Your message board is definitely 1 of the most viewed forums. About how
many hits do you get a month?
Tosin: the website gets 3.5 million hits on a normal month…but if something
is going on then that goes up…last year when hawk died the site did
5.7 million hits…
TXRap: In your honest opinion, what’s your favorite cd cover you designed &
why?
Tosin: the hood soul cover…its just something bout the colors and how these
cats rep Texas…that flag flying high and the cats all dark and
mysterious w/ their grills barely showing…it was a great concept that
they came up w/ and it came out well…
TXRap: Are there any other graphic designers that inspired you?
Tosin: I draw from all the artists in and outside of my region…from mike
frost, to orbit, to flare, to sketch, to kingz, to digital extreme, to
photodoctor…many of these same cats I respect don’t have the same for
my work but as long as my clients are happy I could give a shit what
another graphic designer thinks of my work…
TXRap: Are they’re any other business ventures you have goin on besides the
artwork & running TheScrewShop.com?
Tosin: I recently started doing small distribution for some local cats and just
secured distribution for myself and ryno from on the line records in
japan…I do some small consulting for a lot of indie labels as far as
marketing and other business practices…a lot of people just come to me
for a str8 forward honest opinion on shit…
TXRap: You’ve released alotta joint mixtapes between you & other DJs. With
that being said, which DJ was your favorite to work with?
Tosin: all have their own style and ways of working…for the most part I just
let them do them cuz that’s I how I work…I come to them w/ my ideas
and we may sit for a few hours to just run through a mix I have an idea
for then ill leave and let them do their magic…I don’t like standing
folks over me so that’s what I let them do…but to answer your question
dj big baby is one of the most surreal experiences cuz he just goes
live…
TXRap: What is your personal opinion on the whole “Hip Hop Is Dead” slogan?
Tosin: sounds like the slogan of a northerner who isnt selling any
records…
TXRap: Who in your opinion who are some of the newer artists that are gonna
usher in the new wave of Texas talent?
Tosin: im a big fan of ryno, moufs of da souf, guerilla squad, spark dawg,
southbound, kyle lee, basswood, bavu, grit boys, yung redd, vip, dro-jo,
big sid…i see alot of hustle in these cats…I hear a lot of crap on a
daily and these are cats that ive actually gone back in to my cd books
and wanted to put their cds back in…
TXRap: Do you honestly think an aspiring artist can really blow up by posting
music on message boards?
Tosin: yeah…ive seen several already get a lil shine from boards…there
are so many marketing execs and ceos that look at my page on a daily
basis its easy to get your shine on…there are several cats from my
board that have gotten some kinda deal…its just a matter of what
happens after that…
TXRap: Out of the hundreds of cd covers you’ve designed, have you ever had a
situation were the person you were designing the cover for wasn’t able
to come up with the full payment AFTER you’ve completed the work? If
so how did you handle the situation?
Tosin: naw cuz I get paid up front…so money is never an issue…back in the
day I used to be more lax cuz I had less responsibilities…I used to do
websites for trade for an artists cds…but now im bout my cash…they
cant release project til they have their files…and they don’t get
files til I get my money…
TXRap: How often do you visit your message board?
Tosin: several times a day…
TXRap: Just for fun, who is the most annoying member on TheScrewShop forum?
Tosin: nobody really annoys me…I don’t really get that involved personally on
the board…there are a few cats that have been there for years and act
surprised when a post gets deleted…or when cats post the same thing in
all the forums…
TXRap: How long do you actually plan on havin TheScrewShop.com message board
up & runnin?
Tosin: that’s day to day…some days im ready to stop and others its rewarding
so I keep going…
TXRap: When can we expect to have a full site up?
Tosin: just like when a bill collector calls ya house and calls and asks ‘when
can we expect payment’…you can expect it any day…lol…but ive lost
alot my heart in it over the years and seen things change and go down
hill…from the loss of friends like hawk to just the change in the
dynamic in the forum to me not having the time to dedicate to it like i
used to…i may open some of it but it wont be as large as it was
before…
TXRap: We really appreciate you takin the time out for the interview. Any last
words, plugs or shout-outs b4 we end this?
Tosin: thanks for letting me one of the 1st to put down on ya site…watch
for new mixes from me and dj big baby, dj bounz, dj grip, dj ll, dj
ickey, and more bout to drop from thescrewshop.com as well as more
things on the low to come…shout out to those who show love and to
those of yall steady talking down on me, my work and my people…well in
time all comes to light…oh yeah TOSIN IN THIS MUTHA FUCKA!!!
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