Butta Verses

A meticulous lyrical writer, Butta Verses was introduced to underground hip-hop audiences with the lofty endorsement of De La Soul, something only a few MCs can actually claim. Born and bred in the Bronx, Butta (aka John Cullen) embraced hip-hop culture early on with street ciphers and battle-rap freestyles serving as his lyrical training ground. In his teens, he relocated to Fort Lauderdale, FL, around 1993. Naïve and rebellious, Cullen had ambitions of being a surfer, which he never actually pursued, and at one point he enlisted in the U.S. Marines, but was eventually expelled for narcotics use. Hip-hop music was proving to be his only constructive outlet. Around the turn of the new millennium, Butta Verses helped put together the Glee Club Detention, a collective of prospective artists and DJs who supported each other in getting their music heard. In 2003, some of his work with the crew landed in the lap of De La Soul's Maseo, who was beginning to set up operations in Florida. Maseo took Butta under his wing, signing him to his fledgling Bear Mountain imprint, and soon De La Soul MCs Posdnuos and Trugoy the Dove were backing the newcomer as well.After his proper debut on the track "No" for De La Soul's The Grind Date (2004), Butta Verses seemed to be in all the right circles. He was the opening act for many worldwide tours headlined by artists like Common, John Legend, and, of course, De La Soul. Some of his music was also being licensed for television use, including for Saturday Night Live, MTV's The Real World, and A&E's Dog the Bounty Hunter. However, frustrated with sitting on the sidelines, in addition to having a finished album that received no proper promotion or distribution (Brand Spankin' was only available online), the eager MC left Bear Mountain. With a new 12" single, "Jones in Ya Bones," in 2007, Butta Verses rebounded fairly quickly, releasing Six Minutes to Ten that same year.