BOUT2BLOW: Tommy Gunn

Name: Tommy Gunn
Reppin’: Atlanta, Ga
Genre: Rap

Tommy Gunn isn’t a new kid on the block. But now it’s his time to shine. Re-energized and on the solo tip, the Atlanta rapper is putting the squeeze on the industry with his March release, Apply Pressure.

Tommy was drawn to rapping at an early age, while growing up on the gritty streets of East Point and College Park. “I been infatuated with music since a young nigga,” he says reminiscing about recording his vocals on cassette tape as a kid.

He got his first real taste of the music industry in 2000 as part of the Raheim The Dream-curated rap group, Tight for Life Training Camp, alongside then fledgling rappers Dro, Fabo and Drama. After that short-lived endeavor dissolved, it was back to the block. In the years that followed, rapping was an afterthought to stacking paper by any means.

“I was doing a lot of street shit,” he says about his time following his first deal. “I was selling dope, robbing and shit like that. I was rapping but I wasn’t taking that shit serious.”

The fast life caught up with him when he was shot in 2012. A couple years after the attempt on his life, he decided to give rapping a second chance on Atlanta mainstay Columbia BT’s imprint, BT Entertainment.

He quickly recaptured the hunger for more. His March mixtape, Apply Pressure, which is spearheaded by the single “Thumb Thru It,” marked his solo debut, which has been a long time coming. The project is highlighted by features from Jazze Pha, Joe Green, T.O. Green and more, and boasts production from Zaytoven, Zillasuper and others.

Now, there is new music and even some acting in the ATLien’s future.

Get used to that Gunn sound.

GRIP: How long have you been working on this project?
Tommy Gunn: I go in the lab and I do about four songs a day. I had the project done in no time. I do an album in two days. It didn’t take no time. I got about five, six, seven mixtapes on the computer.

Why did you feel like now was the right time to drop the tape?
[BT] felt like it was time. That’s my business partner. I’m rocking with him. He know this shit. I know some of this shit, but he know a lot of this shit. He been in this shit for a long time too. He picked the right time I guess, because this shit doing pretty well.

What’s the significance of the title, Apply Pressure?
Everybody around me picked the title. They were like, that’s what I’m doing. They like, lyrically niggas ain’t going in no more. Everybody’s singing. Everybody is bullshit rapping. Niggas ain’t really rapping no more. It felt like the shit I’m doing is applying pressure, so I named that shit Apply Pressure.

What are your plans for the rest of 2017?
A whole lot of promoting. Out here with the promotion team. Out here on foot trying to make this shit work. A whole lot of doing shows. A whole lot of in and out of town. Trying to make this shit move. That’s the plan. We got a movie on the way too called Blood on the Money. It’s going to be a real movie, million-dollar budget.

Listen to some of Tommy Gunn’s latest tracks below.

“Thumb Thru It”

“Blood on the Money”

“Aint Got Long”

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