Tum Tum

Origins

Tum Tum was born Tony Richardson and grew up in Dallas between Oak Cliff and Pleasant Grove. His grandmother, who helped raise him, gave him the nickname because of his big belly, and he later added the aliases Zilla and Tumzilla. His mother worked several jobs while he helped look after his younger sister. As a teenager he spent time at the Bruton Bazaar in Pleasant Grove, where George Lopez ran the T-Town Music store, and freestyled with other young rappers there.

Breakthrough

Tum Tum began rapping seriously in 2002. After Lopez heard his demo at the store, he joined the Dirty South Rydaz (DSR), the collective Lopez and Trini D. had formed in 2001. DSR recorded in a studio inside the Bazaar and sold its mixtapes, including “Freestyle Massacre,” “From Dallas 2 Tha Kappa” and “Untamed Gorillas,” across Texas. Tum Tum appeared with Big Tuck and Slim Thug on “Tussle” (2004), one of the collective’s best-known local records. In November 2005 T-Town Music and DSR signed a reported multimillion-dollar deal with Universal, and in 2006 MTV Jams named Tum Tum one of its Fab 5 Freshmen.

Key records

His major label debut, “Eat or Get Ate,” was released on June 19, 2007, through Universal. Producers included Scott Storch, Mannie Fresh, Play-N-Skillz, Just Beatz and The Missing Element, and guests included Trae, Jim Jones and DSR members Double T and Lil’ Ronnie. The single “Caprice Musik,” produced by The Missing Element, received heavy rotation on MTV and BET, including 106 & Park, and on Southern radio. Tum Tum described its quiet, whispered delivery as unusual for him, calling himself one of the “crunk yellin’” rappers. The FADER also credited him with bringing the shag hairstyle back in Dallas.

Later career and legacy

After the Universal album he returned to independent releases, some credited to Zilla, and appeared on Dorrough’s 2009 debut album “Dorrough Music.” He worked with fellow DSR member Fat Bastard on the “Respect It” and “Check It” projects, took part in a DSR reunion mixtape, and in 2017 released the mixtape “Zillanaire Pt. 2.” By then he was mentoring younger Dallas rappers including Mo3, Go Yayo and Trapboy Freddy. Along with Big Tuck, he is one of the main names from the T-Town Music era, when Dallas rap was built on store sales and local mixtapes before the dance hits of the late 2000s.