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So, after reading Evan West’s story on the Mudkids in the Indianapolis Monthly (in which ‘Fest was quoted), I came across the gem I acquired circa 2003-2004 at a Mudkids show at the Patio (now Spin) in Broad Ripple. Russ slipped me a mixtape titled “Project Butters” (there’s a Pt. II floating around too), which was a mix of freestyles, jackin’ for beats, originalmaterial, and just overall good, stripped down, funky hip hop.

This was around the time that ‘Fest moved his family to Indianapolis, was performing a lot more in the city (he won the Battle of the Bands in 2003), was managed by locally-based DJ Indiana Jones, and getting more local press. The Blue Collar Collection Mixtape (mixed by Indiana Jones) is still a classic in my eyes, and was my first real intro to ‘Fest outside of obscure Molemen tracks, or his Ronson feature on “Here Comes the Fuzz”.

Rusty and ‘Fest became two of my favorite MC’s, and I loved when they worked together. On one of my favorite Mudkids tracks “100 Bars” (you got me with the hidden track!), Rusty says “‘Fest is gettin p’s/big up my mans, we got the double CD”. Things happen, however, and there’s been no double CD. I hope there’s a time and place in the future these two can put together more material. Until then, I leave you with two raw tracks from Project Butters.

Download: Rusty Redenbacher ft. Rhymefest – Naptown Ish

Download: Rhymefest – Project Butters freestyle