Southeast Washington D.C. Native Shad Spits cultivates an enigmatic presence. His willingness to sacrifice and grind for what he deserves proves quite extraordinary. Shad Spits a.k.a “Spitta” breathes undeniable flames every time he graces the booth or shuts down the stage.
A hip-hop connoisseur first, he proves that being a student of the game has its’ benefits. We took a moment to break down his process and gather quality insights from the All Verb No Convo affiliate.
“We come up from an area ridden with a lot of obstacles and adversity. It’s up to you if you want to let that be your determining factor.”
Shad Spits
Fresh News Now: How have you been navigating your newfound space within social media?
Shad Spits: It has been an extremely beneficial growing process. I just won a competition for the Washington Wizards for sports marketing. Also, shoutout to Ben’s Chili Bowl they rockin’ with the boy heavy because I’ve always rocked with them and I just finished hosting an event for them.
FNN: So if you sit down at Ben’s Chili Bowl what are you bellying up to?
SS: I’m gettin’ a burger! The Ben’s Burger! It got the chili on top of it with the cheese, lettuce, tomatoes. I ain’t really a glizzy or dog type person but to each his own.
FNN: I don’t know if you caught that Olympics game (U.S.A. vs. France) but they really could have used Bradley Beal out there.
SS: I actually was doing some studio work so I missed it.
FNN: You didn’t miss much.
SS: I heard it hasn’t been to much to miss. There’s also a lot of players we don’t necessarily normally have out there so for a lot of people that are out there it is new.
FNN: How did you feel when Russell broke Oscar Robertson’s triple double record?
SS: It was beautiful to have that done in the city. I feel like the city (D.C.) doesn’t get its due respect for a lot of things. I can’t wait until those accomplishments elevate into Finals’ appearances.
FNN: Absolutely. Staying on topic, I heard you say that you decompress like Kyle Lowry? How do you do that?
SS: So that bar wasn’t necessarily for me. I was talking about people who during pivotal pressure-ridden moments might have to step out instead of facing it up front.
We all witnessed during a very pressurized moment, Lowry had to go take a break in the locker room. For me, it’s not like that. If you bring pressure toward me you are going to get your best shot. It is nothing that will take me away from that moment – I will decompress after.
FNN: That load management is for the birds.
SS: [Laughs] We got a lot of stuff to handle!
FNN: So if you’re up like Shawn Kemp – what’s that like?
SS: I’m always turned up. As an artist we have a lot of ways to high fly when it comes to music soaring, fashion soaring or just in general being successful.
FNN: For sure! What was your creative angle for the Crunchy video? Was it simulating a fight club?
SS: From D.C. if things are getting crunchy in our situation it means that it’s getting tight and into pressure time. I like to add treatments to my videos so if I can’t find someone to play a particular role I’ll do it myself. I was playing the role of a person that got broken down by a workout but got right back and kept it moving.
FNN: When you’re making music do you listen to anything but your music, only your music or somewhere in between?
SS: I would say it’s more of an 80/20 situation. 80% me, 10% songs that I’ve always listened to as a kid coming up. The other 10% is to not be oblivious to what’s coming, the new era, new sounds. I try my hardest to stay away from the newer sounds unless I vibe with it heavily.
“The way I feel like I have developed within my artistry is due to the fact that I focus on so much of myself.”
Shad Spits
FNN: So, you said they think ‘Spitta’ is airey? Is that irie, airey? What does that mean?
SS: When I talk to people it’s a huge surprise in a lot of areas. My energy level, charisma and being able to articulate on a different standard. We’re not just going to talk about what you hear in my music, we gonna have a real genuine conversation. It is much more to me than just the ‘airey’ vibes.
FNN: What does the new standard look like for an independent artist like yourself?
SS: The new standard – not new for me – is knowing your worth. Believing in yourself. Being that crazy person that has so much faith and belief in what you have going to see it through. That’s how you find out your worth because when things work out it just solidifies it for you.
FNN: All Verb No Convo. Can you take us through the meaning of that and how you linked up with them?
SS: Do what you gotta do rather than talking about it too much. I picked up that most of the time the more you talk about something the bigger the odds are that you aren’t going to implement those actions that you need to take for that plan. Once you get something off your chest, it’s all about action.
Thorn at All Verb No Convo has been locked in since I was in elementary school. We 15+ years into this now so it’s always been a family thing. Together, it’s always been a growing thing to keep your mind at being better.
“Don’t just be a person that can tell a person everything that they want to hear but show them everything too.”
Shad Spits
KH: What can we look forward to from Shad Spits in the near future?
SS: Surprise II is out now and we will have a deluxe release party coming soon. A key thing to hold onto is to keep doing what you’re doing by just keeping pushing forward no matter what. I would much rather live with taking my chances with anything that comes to mind.
Shad Spits certainly embodies a wholesome and well-rounded approach to life. He personifies the meaning of pedal to the medal and proves that we must speak to one another rather than making preconceived notions based upon appearances or rationalizations.
FreshNewsNow 