Tha Absolute Truth

“Tha Absolute Truth” is the debut major label album by Big Tuck, released on December 12, 2006, through DSR/T-Town Music and Universal Republic Records.

The story

Cedric Tuck grew up in the Queen City neighborhood of South Dallas, attended Lincoln High School and studied at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff on a music scholarship before leaving to rap full time. He joined the Dirty South Rydaz, the collective built around George Lopez’s T-Town Music store in Pleasant Grove, Dallas. His independent album “Purple Hulk” (2004) and the local hits “Southside Da Realist” and “Tussle” helped lead to a deal in November 2005 that brought T-Town Music and DSR to Universal. The Red Bull Music Academy later reported the contract at $7.4 million, much of it contingent on sales. The album was first scheduled for March 28, 2006. It was pushed back to December while Universal split its Motown and Republic operations, and staff attention on the label side went to priority releases such as Chamillionaire’s “Ridin’.” The first single was a remix of “Tussle” with Slim Thug, which did not build much interest outside Texas.

Sound and production

The 16-track album used a large production team, including Mr. Lee, Play-N-Skillz, Cool & Dre, Willie Boy and The Missing Element. Guests came mostly from Texas: Bun B, Chamillionaire, Slim Thug and Paul Wall, along with Dallas singer Erykah Badu. As on his mixtapes, Tuck’s songs are, in AllMusic’s words, “brash, gritty songs about his hustling experiences.”

Legacy

The album reached number 27 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and number 14 on the Top Rap Albums chart but did not enter the Billboard 200. RapReviews gave it 7 out of 10. It remained Big Tuck’s first and only major label album, and he returned to independent mixtapes and singles afterward. The record documents the mid-2000s effort to move Dallas mixtape artists from T-Town Music onto a national stage through a major label.

Released December 12, 2006. More from hip hop in 2006.