Savvy & Gutta

What makes a great hip hop duo? Chemistry? Record Sales? Attitude? A combination of the three? Either way there is something to be said when two indivduals with their own personalities join forces to form one entity. Hip Hop has given us some great ones. Run DMC, EPMD, Capone and Noreaga. More recently the South has added some pretty potent combos to that list. OutKast, Crooked Lettaz, U.G.K., Eightball & MJG. Well, in Jackson, MS there is another two-man team that looks to add its name into the pantheon of great hip Hop duos...SAVVY & GUTTA
Hailing from the Queens neighborhood in West Jackson, MS is Savanta Hunter (Savvy) and Charles Palmer (Gutta Boy). The two first met as Northwest Middle School Students battling and freestyling on the bleachers and discovered they were kindred spirits, both with a love for music.
"At first we were going up against each other, but then we decided we should make songs together," said Savvy, who took part of his given name to make his moniker. "Folks knew me from hanging out with Crooked Lettaz (David Banner & Kamikaze) and they knew Gutta because his brother, Bra, was in another Jackson group the Queen Boyz so it made sense."
Incidentally, Savvy was a prominent basketball player, playing in the same gym that they would hone their skills. But injuries pushed him into music. He says that was a huge part of his decision to give the group a more serious look.
"In the 10th grade I tore up cartilage in my knee. My senior year, I broke a bone in my foot," Savvy said. "While I was rehabing, Gutta Boy would come over everyday and we would write. I had been ballin' since I was 6 but I realized I had taken it as far as I could."
Gutta Boy remembers those first couple of sessions
"Thinking back, we always had the ups on folks," he said. "We were the only 2 that stuck it out"
If Savvy is the Lyrical half of Savvy & Gutta, then Gutta Boy has to be the soul. With deep roots in Gospel music, he started out singing in talent shows but got the bug after seeing his older brother make a name for himself across the city.
"In the 5th and 6th grade I started going to my brother's shows, the Queen Boyz was hot. I had to decide which way to go...Gospel or Rap. I chose Rap, but I may go back to Gospel one day."
Well versed in keyboards, lead guitar, bass guitar, and drums, Gutta sees his musical stylings as a big plus for the group
"Its like putting things in one big ass pot,". He said. "We can give two sides to any story."
Slowly gaining more industry experience, Savvy and Gutta formed their own Crown Me Entertainment and began releasing product to great responses. Their first mixtape "Crown Me" was a 33 track project that began to amass fans for the duo. That was followed by the "Crown Me Gold Edition". Most recently, the group played an intregal part in CME's "Takers" compilation which spotlights their roster of artists. That birthed the banger that made Mississippi stand up and take notice... the "Outta Here Remix" featuring an artist that Savvy grew up two doors down from, David Banner.
"We grew up watching Banner and Kamikaze rehearse in the driveway a few doors up", Savvy added. "We had been working with him (Banner) on other projects and he told us, when you get that one, Ill jump on it. And thats what happened.
Savvy and Gutta are poised to release their next project "The Stamp", which they hope will further solidify them as one of those great hip hop duos. Cuts like "Just Another Day", the club anthem "B.I.O", and the bluesy "Freeland" look to be standouts on the new project.
What seperates Savvy and Gutta from other duos or even other Mississippi artists? Well, their answers are two-fold.
"Soul," Savvy says. "Our music has soul. I can guarantee we have something that every fan base can be touched by."
"We are the two-headed monster of our generation," Gutta says. " We give you lyrical and street. Whether first class or coach, we're gonna show you that we are all headed in the same direction on this flight"