SXSW Encore: A.Dd+

The new face of Texas hip-hop sounds nothing like your big brother's brand of rap, which A.Dd+ proved last week at South by Southwest.

"That’s because I didn't always listen to that Texas sound," reveals A.Dd+’s Slim Gravy, the lanky MC with a smooth flow that plays Q-Tip to childhood buddy Paris Pershun’s Phife Dawg.

"I got it from all over: R&B, the blues, pieces of rock & roll, hip-hop from Atlanta to New York. All that shows up in the way I write and the way I rap."

The North Dallas duo, whose name is pronounced “Ay Dee Dee,” defied Lone Star logic last March when they dropped debut album When Pigs Fly, an LP that had just as much to do with Detroit and the dirty south (“Slow Tempo,” “Likamug”) as it did with UGK crunch (“Smell My Cologne,” “Southside”).

Since then, the two have added a full-time DJ, fellow Dallas native DJ Sober, and kept pace with a steady stream of singles in the form of Loosies, an accumulating Bandcamp collection that includes collaborations with Erykah Badu affiliate Brain Gang Blue and Austin DJ NickNack.

The set has been A.Dd+’s way of keeping fans satisfied while they focus on touring. South by Southwest is but a stop on their first major national run in support of Black Milk, whose emphasis on the live experience has resonated with A.Dd+.

“We’ve been adding cuts and changing beats mid-song to keep people guessing,” says DJ Sober. “It’s taking it back to putting a lot into the live show and making things exciting.

“Groups don't usually have a full-time DJ these days. They'll just show up with a burnt CD and ask the sound man to play track two, 14, 11, whatever. We polish our shows, and we switch them up quite often.”