Turquoise Jeep

Everyone here at Karmaloop has been riding with Turquoise Jeep for a minute now so we were fuckin’ stoked to get Jeep driver Flynt Flossy on the phone for an interview in the midst of the crew’s college campus tour.

Read on to see what F-dot-Floss had to say about Turquoise Jeep’s music, moves, style and forthcoming projects:

What city are you all claiming and where will the Turquoise Jeep be riding from 2011 ’til infinity?

We claim “everywhere” – I say we’re from everywhere for the fan experience. We have plans to be everywhere, you feel me, baby? We got a lot of Jeep riders everywhere and we gotta touch everybody.

Your mic game is nice, but we know that dancing is your thing after checking out the tutorial video - how did you learn to step like that?

I didn’t have no formal training or nothing, I just [learned from] watching videos as a kid and acquiring from other dancers.

That leads us to the “Did I Mention I Like to Dance” video – the purple jumpsuit, dude… yes.

My stylist came up with it – I tell her how I want the video and the stylist got the purple jumpsuit, and I am glad she did. Everyone was feeling the purple jumpsuit!

What inspired you to bring back that good ol’ early-1990’s vibe?

It’s like, a lot of times people don’t perform… I’m an ’80's baby and I have a lot of feelings and I come out with it. It may look like I’m emulating the ’90's but it’s just an idea and I’m going to [ride with] it, baby.

We know Turquoise Jeep loves the ladies in stretchy pants, but what else do you like to see on a potential companion for the evening?

The questions is, what I don’t like to see… is clothes. Straight to it.

Have you found any chances to flex that ProSEXXXor knowledge on some co-eds during this college tour?

[Laughs] We gentleman at the same time, so… no comment, you feel me, baby?

Tell us how YouTube has contributed to your success:

YouTube and [Turquoise Jeep] have been always been on the grind and YouTube was really the outlet. We can produce these joints and YouTube was a huge part of making it crack and happen.

When can we expect some new joints and videos?

I am glad you asked because we just put out new video, “Can He Move It Like This (featuring Pretty Raheem).”

Any last words and shout-outs?

Shout out to all fans who keep the Jeep riding, without you all it wouldn’t have gone down. We just goin’ to keep the Jeep riding, you feel me, baby?

Ride with the Jeep on Twitter, and tune in to the Turquoise Jeep YouTube channel for all of the killer videos. - Karma Loop

Lemme Smang It, Giiiirl! An Interview with Turquoise Jeep

Turquoise Jeep in the flesh, CEO Flynt Flossy at center
You've seen it. That video. The one where you don't quite know if they're joking or not? The one that's so so so bad it's good? And if you haven't seen it, best hurry up and get to it, lest you be left out in the cold on one of 2011's most head-scratching videos, one that just so happens to feature a song so damn catchy you'll be singing it to your loved ones for weeks. Well, it turns out they aren't joking (or are they?), and Turquoise Jeep is for real, and is here to stay. The nebulous and ridiculous collective of rap, hip-hop, and r&b artists is like a whacked out stew of Odd Future and Das Racist, but with a dollop of early 90s awfulness that makes it just about perfect. In advance of their sure-to-be-memorable set at Fun Fun Fun Fest, we rang up lead Jeep, CEO, and excellent dancer Flynt Flossy to talk about Benjamin Franklin, "Lemme Smang It," and all them ladies.
You guys are so fresh, you don't even have a Wikipedia page.
Oh, hey, it's up to Wiki. You know what I mean? If they call us and say, “Yo Floss, see to it that you get with a Wiki page,” then it’s crackin’. You feel me, baby? It’s not a problem.
The thing with the Jeep, we sayin’ “we just do us.” So if Wiki hits us up, saying, “You're trying to do this Wiki page?” Then no problem. We just keep going about our business. Keep crafting our talent, crafting our craft. You feel me, baby?
[laughs] Yeah. Totally. So I was wondering, you guys have a pretty good crew, so is the Jeep going to expand to more members in the future, or are you going to stick with what you got?
Oh yeah, we definitely got some things lined up for all the fans. You feel me, baby? We just leave it as a surprise, but we definitely got some things in the works.
You got any lady Jeeps coming along?
Ha ha! I’ll let y'all see that one day. I can't ruin the surprise for you.
Uh-oh. That sounds like you do.
Maybe, maybe. Maybe, maybe not. You know what I mean? Maybe, maybe not.
I'll be looking forward to that. So you get a lot of props for your hardcore dance moves, and you put the tutorial online to try to help people be able to throw down. But do you really think anyone can be taught to dance like you, or do you have a special gift?
I mean, I think we all got special gifts. Dancing is one of those things I actually acquired. I kind of discovered it. I wasn't always dancing. So I think if you really put your mind to it, anyone can learn. It's all about your style. I have my own particular type of style. I may have that, but anyone can really learn how to dance. It's dedication and hard work. You feel me, baby?
So you discovered it just like Benjamin Franklin discovered electricity?
Exactly, man. Dancing was my kite. You feel me? [laughs]
Yeah. Just chillin' with the kite, making it happen.
Chillin' with the kite, and one moment, it's just “BOOM!” And I said, “okay, I like to dance.” At first, I was mostly not dancing much in the other videos, so I told Wesley, “We need me to come up with this track,” and he was like, “Yeah. Let's do this man.” So then we came up with “Did I Mention I Like To Dance.”
Now you got the Jeep thing going on, but what type of jobs did you have before you were kickin’ it the way you are now?
I was always grinding, you feel me, baby? I was really into the industry. In there, being in there. I was just a grinder. I was waiting for the day to just use my craft. I was dancing here, rapping there. And then when we put the Jeep together, it all came together and that's what we do, you feel me?
So you didn't work at any fast food or anything like that?
Nah, I never took fast food jobs. I was a bus boy at one time. What else did I do? I was a bar back. That's pretty much it, man. I had a lot of jobs but I would never lose my focus. So a lot of those times I would have a job and then I would not work no more and then they would be like “Yo, Floss yo - austinist.com

As you’ve traveled the world, you may have seen various items of clothing boldly emblazoned with the words “Flynt Flossy is my favorite rapper.” Whether you actually agree with this statement, Flynt Flossy has undeniably become something of an icon to a small legion of fans. He is a talented rapper, dancer and all-around entertainer who, together with some like-minded artists, created Turquoise Jeep Records.

The independent label has spent the last few years churning out hilariously witty, thoroughly singable jams, as well as brilliant lo-fi music videos and dance instructionals. Flossy has been one of the driving forces behind the growing movement, leading the way with his signature dance moves, mustache and battle cry: “Baby!”

Q: How did Turquoise Jeep get started?

A: Well, basically all of us were in the industry, in a sense. I was tired of being bossed around, and I just wanted to express myself without having to answer to somebody or somebody telling me “No,” or “That’s not right.” That’s Turqoise Jeep. It’s total creative expression, total creative freedom. I teamed up with my boy Whatchamacallit, my longtime homie, and I was like, “Yo, let’s get all of our people together, get all our talent around us and just create our own thing.”

Turquoise is the color of serenity, and we’re really chill in the Jeep. We ride together; once you’re part of the Jeep, we ride. It came to me in my sleep, so I was like, “Let’s do this, baby,” and that’s what happened.

Q: What would you say is your muse? What inspires you?

A: Everyday life, man. Everyday experiences. That’s the thing with Turquoise Jeep — whether it be a woman or whether it be something I went through during the day. A lot of times I’ll call Whatcha with a hook, and he’ll say, “I like that,” or he’ll call me with a hook or an idea. Then we go to Tummiscratch, and he produces it.

We’re all writers and producers basically, so it’s anything around. You know, I never sold drugs or nothing like that, so I have no reason to rap about stuff I didn’t experience. So that’s what I do, I just rap about stuff I experience. You feel me?

Q: What sort of attention have you guys gotten from the broader music world?

A: We’re in our own world, but we’ll have a lot of fans say, “Yo, your song was played here,” or this person says they are a fan of this, or someone says, “How you like your eggs?” It’s all flattering because people are experiencing our work. The point of being an artist a lot of times is being a showman, so if people don’t see it, they say, “What was the point?” Of course we do it for ourselves, but for everyone else to be experiencing it like that, it feels real good. You feel me, baby? We get a lot of stuff from fans, man, so it’s flattering.

Q: How did you start dancing? Do you have any formal training?

A: I’ve been dancing since I was a teenager, maybe 14 or something. One day I was in my house, and I actually — funny story — I got injured, I got hit in the eye with a football. This is a true story: I got hit in the eye with a football, and I couldn’t go outside because, you know, the sunlight was killing my eye. So I stayed inside and watched videos all day, and I realized I could dance, which is crazy. There was no formal training or nothing like that, you know; I guess it was just a gift. I just built on it basically, just dancing, repeating myself — real practice, you know.

Q: What was the craziest interaction you’ve had with a fan?

A: Man, there are some crazy stories ... I would say body parts and things like that. Like this girl asked me to write on her face with a permanent marker and I’m like, “I don’t think its going to come out.” She’s like, “I don’t care,” so I said ok. You know signing feet, chest, butts, stuff like that. It’s some kind of surreal, like, wow.

Q: Can you tell me a bit about the short film that you’ve got in the works, “Ooh Aah Sound”?

A: Yeah, definitely. That’s going to be a s - The Daily Princetonian

Turquoise Jeep Records, the Internet’s premier dadaist hip-hop/R&B/sketch collective, first broke through in late 2010 with the YouTube hit “Lemme Smang It.” This irresistibly catchy, silly party anthem simultaneously celebrated and roasted the overtly sexualized culture of mainstream hip-hop. The track (and its accompanying video) draws from the best parts of ’90s Jock Jams R&B and party rap with a dash of Mr. Show-style dementia, and reached the next level of Internet approval when it was named “The Sixth Autumn Jam of 2010” by the web-culture gatekeepers at Videogum.
It’s been nearly a year and a half since the Jeep hit it big—and for many, that’s where it ended. Fortunately, Turquoise Jeep Records has a rich well of videos for its diverse artist roster, which has expanded to include co-founders Flynt Flossy and Whatchyamacallit, as well as Yung Humma, who is a silky smooth ladies’ man with an appreciation for David Foster Wallace’s fashion sense. There’s also the masked producer and beatmaker Tummiscratch; a new jack swinger with glowstick hair, who goes by Pretty Raheem; and Slick Mahony, who is perhaps best described as the distillation of the most ridiculous things about Bon Iver.

Following the successes of “Lemme Smang It” and the videos that followed, the group secured a spot opening for Outkast’s Big Boi for a handful of shows before hitting the road on its own. The Keep The Jeep Ridin’ tour will be stopping in Chicago this Saturday, Feb. 11, at Reggie’s Rock Club. In preparation, The A.V. Club has rounded up a few of the crew’s deeper cuts, to ensure maximum smanging come showtime.
“Sex Syrup” by Slick Mahony feat. Yung Humma

This track introduces Slick Mahony to the world by way of a beat that could double as the backing track to a joint by Casey And His Brother. In an interview with The Village Voice, Flynt Flossy admits he figured Slick was “just a dude that fixed computers or something,” but after taking a chance on his public-access Michael Jackson steez, a star was born. This video is a perfect example of the Jeep house style. Between the excessive use of green screen and the fully clothed, wholesome “video girls,” “Sex Syrup” feels both classic and refreshingly absurd.
“Can He Move It Like This?” by Pretty Raheem feat. Flynt Flossy

Pretty Raheem is the group’s resident “R&B superstar” with a seemingly endless supply of spray-can hair dye. His ROYGBIV-inspired style extends to his chunky, monotone suits, which are on full display in this, one of the Jeep’s more recent singles. This track is perhaps the most straightforward of the Jeep’s many singles (at least until Flynt Flossy’s weirdly self-aware verse), and it’s one of a handful of TJ tracks that stress the importance of possessing great dance moves. “Can He Move It Like This?” also boasts the distinct honor of featuring the best opening scenes in any music video ever. That cut at nine seconds to Raheem in his Kool-Aid suit beneath the T. Jeep street sign? Pure brilliance.
“Flow With The Floss” instructional dance series

The Turquoise Jeep crew is unflagging in its devotion to its ever-growing fanbase, so in addition to music videos, the group occasionally posts fan-tribute roundups and behind-the-scenes clips. For example, there’s this: a clip from the (supposedly) upcoming full-length dance tutorial DVD from Flynt Flossy. As mentioned in “Did I Mention I Like To Dance,” Flynt likes to dance. In the above clip, he gives his fans a look at his training regimen, as well as a few tips on how to pull off his ridiculous glide move. This series of videos is both genuinely informational and subtly insane, and happens to be the perfect showcase for the group’s bizarre persona outside of the music-video format. - AV Club Chicago

If you’ve spent much time at all on YouTube, there’s a good chance that you’ve come across one or two of the Turquoise Jeep music videos. If you have, you probably laughed, and then you probably thought to yourself, “This is so bad, there’s no way these guys can be serious.” And in thinking that, there’s a good chance you would be correct.

Most listeners agree that their material is intended to be entirely comedic, but the group’s deadpan delivery leaves a few people out of the joke. Listener reviews for the 2010 Turquoise Jeep album “Keep the Jeep Ridin’” are typically either five stars or one star, with most reviewers either calling the group hilarious or laughingly hailing them as “innovative, artistic geniuses.” Those who publish the lower ratings also call the group hilarious, but they do so under the impression that these guys may actually be trying to make good music. For precisely that reason, the Turquoise Jeep Records crew has developed something of a cult following.

“They came onto the scene with “Smang It,” which is such a completely ridiculous video, but at the same time it’s so awesomely bad that there was no way it could have been by mistake,” said Flannery Wasson, a political science major.

The awesomely bad Rap/R&B group consists of six members: Flynt Flossy, Yung Humma, Tummiscratch, Whatchyamacallit, Slick Mahony, and Pretty Raheem. Arguably the two best known members are Yung Humma and Flynt Flossy for their songs “Smang It” and “Fried or Fertilized,” the chorus of the latter being “How you like your eggs, fried or fertilized?”

“I mean, I guess they are creative songwriters,” laughed Emily Coats, a UA student majoring in math. “The material they cover is too bizarre to be taken seriously, but I think really that’s the whole point.”

According to the (probably entirely fictional) Turquoise Jeep biography on pubpages.unh.edu, in the summer of 2006 Flynt Flossy hitchhiked all the way from California to New York City. It just so happened that at the time, Whatchyamacallit was living in New York City and was “posting flyers expressing the need for a new friend and rapper.” Flossy took down his address and paid Whatchyamacallit a visit, in whom he found “a warm and loving family and friend, who loved Flynt for who he was as a person.”

Shortly thereafter, Flynt Flossy and Whatchyamacallit met up with Tummiscratch, the “Producer, DJ and Beatmaster-Funkman” to create Turquoise Jeep Records.

Fifteen million YouTube views later – and however the group actually came to form – the group has embarked on a tour across the United States. Just before Valentine’s Day, they performed in Little Rock at Stickyz bar on River Market. After several opening acts, Flossy, Humma, Raheem, and Whatchyamacallit took the stage. With some surprisingly impressive and well synchronized dance moves, they performed their six most well known songs to a crowd of nearly eighty screaming fans.

“The most awesome thing about the concert was how much they involved the girls in the front row. They sang to all of us and held our hands. I felt like I was special,” said Christy Harrington, a graphic design sophomore.

At the end of the show, a representative from Turquoise Jeep stepped out with a microphone and said, “We aren’t leaving until everyone who wants an autograph or a picture gets one, so everybody line up.” Practically everyone at the concert got in line. The crew sold shirts, took pictures, signed everything that was handed to them, and thanked everyone for coming to the show.

The whole scheme was priceless. If Turquoise Jeep is all a big joke – which it almost certainly is – the whole crew are masters of deadpan. But even if it turns out not to be a joke, and these guys are actually serious in their work, it won’t matter because everyone will still be laughing. - The Arkansas Traveler

In the first 30 seconds of watching the video for Can He Move it Like This I thought, "This is the worst thing I've ever seen." 20 seconds later I realized, "No, this is the best thing I've ever seen."

In case you haven't realized already, Turquoise Jeep is a satire group, and they're fucking geniuses. Their spin on no-budget hip-hop and R&B and the videos that go with them are absolutely hysterical. It's one of those "it's so stupid it's smart" kind of things. There's a whole crew of guys, each more ridiculous than the last, but they play it 100% straight. It's a lesson in comedy. At the same time, their lo-fi music is super catchy. I've been singing Slick Mahony's Go Grab My Belt for a month now, and it's driving my girlfriend crazy.


I'm sorry, that's not sexist, that's hilarious (and it's making fun of all the sexist crap music that's out there). That green screening... exquisite. Their biggest hit thus far has been Lemme Smang It (smash it AND bang), but there are so many winners here. Fried or Fertilized (as in, "How you like your eggs...?"), Cavities (with all this chocolate in your mouth), and SHUYAMOUF. While I hate trying to pick favorites, between Yung Humma's strange emphasis, and Pretty Raheem's vanity, I've got so much love for Flynt Flossy and his weird fake facial hair. And oh yeah, he really, really can DANCE.

Seriously, you can spend a good portion of your night (or workday) just going through these and gut-laughing. You can (and should) check out their YouTube channel, and you can even download their album Keep The Jeep Ridin' on iTunes or Amazon MP3. Simply put, these are some of the funniest guys on the internet. I'm only heartbroken that I missed them in NY when they were on their tour. Come back soon, Turquoise Jeep! - gizmodo.com

I was introduced to hip-hop/r&b collective Turquoise Jeep a couple of weeks before Christmas, when a fellow SOTC contributor recommended Yung Humma's breakout "Lemme Smang It." I expected to listen once or twice and then move on, but a month later, Humma's trademark "Mmm" is still stuck in my head, and his decision to rhyme "smash/bang fusion" with "cooch contusion" continues to astound. Thankfully, I'm not alone. The song's accompanying music video has tallied more than 1,350,000 YouTube plays, while dozens of fan videos line the sidebar. In December, they released their debut album, Keep the Jeep Ridin' (aside from "Lemme Smang It," our favorite cuts include "Fried or Fertilized," "Cavities," and "Sex Syrup"), and tonight they open for Big Boi at Atlanta's Center Stage. In an email exchange, we talked to Turquoise Jeep founding member and "Lemme Smang It"-featured rapper Flynt Flossy about the Jeep's history and direction.

I've had trouble finding almost any information about you guys, so let's start with some basic stuff: Where are you from, and how and when did the Jeep come together?
We're from different places, ranging from New York to North Carolina. Whatchyamcallit and myself have always worked together in business; we've been partners in crime since day one of the grind, feel me baby? So when I came to him with the idea of Turquoise Jeep Records, it only made sense to him that we start our own label. We had all the means of making it happen. Yung Humma was also a close homie as well, but it wasn't until we formed the label and signed him as an artist that Humma and Whatchyamacallit really became cool, so that's how that happened. Pretty Raheem was actually between labels when I approached him. We have always seen each other around, and I heard his work so I knew he had an amazing voice, but we never worked together. So one day I just stepped to him like, "Yo, you need to sign with the Jeep, plain and simple." It took some negotiation, but he knew it would be the best move for his career.

What about Slick Mahony?
As far as Slick, I won't lie to you: When I first met him, I had no idea he had any kind of talent. I pretty much looked past him. No offense to my dawg Slick, but we joke about this all the time. I thought he was just a dude that fixed computers or something. Then something told me, "Give this guy a shot in front of the camera." I'm glad I listened to my gut, because that man completely transforms when the director says, "Action!" Slick never ceases to amaze me. Now Tummiscratch and I have always been really tight too, but I never knew he produced. I knew he made beats here and there, but I didn't know that's what he was really trying to do. Then one day he approached me and told me he wanted to be a part of Turquoise Jeep. He sent some tracks, and I was like, "Yo, this dude is the IT for real." So we have been keeping the Jeep riding since.

How did the album come about? Did you want to make an album from the beginning, or did it start with a couple songs and grow into enough for a full length?
We're constantly making tracks: Creating music is our addiction. It was to the point where we had so many songs that making an album soon followed. So you can say it was a growth type of thing.

On the tour bus video, you talk about it all happening so fast. When did you realize that Turquoise Jeep would become or had become popular across the country?
Well, we were always blessed with supporters everywhere we went, but I would say it really started to hit us when we began getting a ton of emails from fans explaining how much we affected their lives. Every day our publicist would send us a different fan video. It was such an honor to be in the position to get so much love from all different types of people. Finally hearing our tracks on the radio was the icing on the cake -- that just confirmed it was imperative that we keep the Jeep ridin'.

How did you end up opening for Big Boi?
Throughout our jo - The Village Voice

If you've recently heard your friends singing "Lemme Smang It" (we first started smangin' it back in October 2010... you always remember your first smang) or "Sex Syrup" and looked at them with a vague, clueless stare, we got you. They're talking about Turquoise Jeep, the hip-hop and R&B crew/record label whose (intentionally?) low-budget videos and sex-filled rhymes have already made them cult heroes.

Turquoise Jeep, comprised of MCs Yung Humma, Flynt Flossy, Slick Mahony and Pretty Raheem and producers Tummiscratch and Whatchyamcallit, released their debut album Keep the Jeep Ridin' last December and "Lemme Smang It," the first single, has already amassed nearly 3 million views on YouTube.

Now the collective, whose songs include "Stretchy Pants," "Licky Sticky" and "Not Your Professor But Your Prosexxor" (brillz!) have inspired legions of fan videos mimicking the group's bargain-basement style and cheeky choreo, and they recently earned an opening slot for Outkast MC Big Boi.

Regardless of the fact that Turquoise Jeep looks like one long Dave Chappelle sketch minus Robot Man (in the good way), try not to think about it too hard. Just go with it. And for good measure, watch their video for "Lemme Smang It" below, and learn how to "Flow With The Floss." - MTV.com