Chain Swang - YGTut

Written By Michael Minton

Artwork - Chain Swang

I’ve always been a dreamer at heart. My brother commends me for my honesty, but I don’t know if I’m glad about being honest about this in a public setting. I’ve always had a sort of grand idea (like everybody else) of how things were going to happen. I was rapping in the closet at fifteen years old just off the thought of “wow this is an amazing feeling and I can’t get this anywhere else,” and moving along with that energy. It’s something my Dad talked about in one of our sit-down conversations. Just moving with what makes you feel good and pushes you to be your best self.

“Been about the money, nowadays we on the same thang…”

Chattanooga rapper YGTut is one of the staples in Tennessee Hip-Hop. His debut project in 2015 Preacher’s Son boosted him into the national scene, garnering an early core fanbase that has since blossomed into a full-blown movement. I didn’t even learn about him through Tennessee natives, my friend Dante (shoutout Dante) put me on, and he’s from Louisiana. Since, Tut’s joined forces with Chattanooga greats Michael Da Vinci, Shoey Russell, Chris P, and a slew of others to form TheHouse, a Chattanooga art collective designed to push their movement forward, even releasing a collaboration album in 2022, TheHouse Presents: The Set, showcasing many of the members and collaborators.

Tut debuted the video for “Chain Swang” on March 29th on his YouTube channel. Directed by fellow house cohort Shoey Russell and produced by Tgut, the visual is the perfect addition to an already heartfelt story about some of the changes of being a young man in the middle of that level-up in life. Things start looking different, people start acting a way, and through it all, there’s a balance that’s learned to not throw you off your mission. In typical Tut fashion, he finds that balance between his smooth, memorable storytelling (“All my life, I wanted to stunt, double park that big body thang in the front…”) and his long-studied craft of dynamic, intricate wordplay. Tgut’s production shines here as well, setting a beautiful background for both Tut’s voice and his story, and Director Shoey Russell captures all those feelings and sentiments in this video.

I didn’t realize how much I was doing. Working a 9-5 in music, running a music “blog”, helping build out a creative resource community, and doing Social Media Management for a couple of people around town. We’re really working out here, and this is me following the energy. I feel really good doing all of this work, but I need to learn that balance. My mission’s getting thrown. I need to learn to relax a little bit.

Level up. Shine. Get some money. Let the chain swing baby.

Watch the video for YGTut’s “Chain Swang” on YouTube

Michael Minton
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