Rutland makes ‘triple plastic’ album
October 31, 2003
Hiawatha Rutland is holding his first concert tonight, and he says everyone should attend.
“Nobody throws a party like Hiawatha Rutland,” Rutland says. “Everything I touch turns to plastic.”
Rutland, most notably known as a senior tailback for the ISU football team, had his playing time cut short by a torn anterior crucial ligament earlier in the season.
But he’s still finding success in his latest endeavor — the release of two rap CDs under his alias, “Lumas P,” the first of which was certified “triple plastic” by his pseudo-record company, No Money Records.
Even though Rutland says he’s been rapping since the age of five, this will be his first public performance.
“This is my first concert,” Rutland says. “And I think it will be a success, because I am in it.”
Taking the stage along with Rutland will be defensive backs Marc Timmons, JaMaine Billups and Chris Jones, running back Brian Thompson and other special performers including Jeremy Hilbert, senior in liberal studies.
“You know, Ames is not a very happening place,” Rutland says. “We used to sit around in dorm rooms and just battle each other. Then I was like, ‘I’m going to make a CD.'”
Since then, Rutland has completed two CDs — his triple-plastic debut, “Face Down” and a sophomore effort, “Bigger and Wetter Thangs.” He says his second album is moving up the charts and is on the road to hitting “quadruple plastic.”
Rutland says he’s been writing his own lyrics for the past six years, and says his style isn’t best compared to today’s rappers.
“It’s more old-school rap,” Rutland says. “It’s about having a good time, having some fun.”
He says the timetable for writing a song is unpredictable, much like his spontaneous self.
“You can write maybe two or three songs a day, or it can take you a week to write one song,” Rutland says. “It just depends on the mood you’re in and time constraints.”
Rutland says football and music go hand-in-hand, so balancing the two hasn’t been a challenge for him.
“Before games, you hear theme music throughout stadiums across the nation,” Rutland says. “On your way to the game, you have all these thoughts and you can put them together and make a rhyme.”
Whether it’s on the field or on the stage, Rutland says nerves are not a factor.
“I don’t get nervous, I get anxious — I’m always ready to go,” Rutland says. “The only time I might be nervous about a big game is the day before. But the day of the game I’m not nervous at all.
“Maybe the night before the concert I’ll be a little anxious, but once it’s time to get onstage and get all that positive feedback from the people out there, it’s going to be great.”
Featured performer, Billups, says he describes Rutland’s rapping skills as one of the hottest things happening in the college scene.
“He’s the best in the Big 12,” Billups says. “He’s the best on this side of the Mississippi, the best underground that ever took over a whole university. Right now we’re ‘multi-plastic,’ but we’ll work our way up from there. I’m happy to be close to the company, No Money Records.”
Rutland says his motives behind the concert are simple.
“I’m doing the concert because I’m trying to give back to the people,” Rutland says.
“A lot of people have been giving me good feedback about the CD and they said I should do [a concert], so I’m going to do one for them. I’m also trying to give people something to do on a Friday night in Ames.”
As of now, Rutland says he has no future aspirations for a career in the music business.
“This is just a hobby,” Rutland says. “But if it was [rapping] or a regular-job, I would take [rapping] more seriously. Because I’m not a regular-job type of guy.”
Who: Lumas P.
Where: 312 S. Walnut
When: 9 p.m., Friday
Cost: Free