Packers jerseys, flannel plaid pajama pants and Velcro shoes. It’s not necessarily the uniform of your typical rapper, but hey, gangstas need a day off too.

What can best be described as a musical marriage of the Wu Tang Clan and the Beastie Boys, the guys of Lite Skinded, Madison’s very own rap family, are back with their sophomore effort, Gangsta Buddies. The album started blowing minds last Friday after months of speculation and heated murmurs of anticipation from fans and curious listeners alike. And in between the promotional tour and day-to-day hustling, three members of Lite Skinded were able to squeeze in a sit-down with The Badger Herald.

“We want people to know stone-cold gangstas come in all shapes and sizes,” said X-Tra Mayo, producer, vocalist and one of the group’s two founding members who is described as “a lot like Dr. Dre except way, way more gangsta” on the group’s Facebook page.

Initiated by two emcees in a dismal, dark recording studio somewhere in Madison, X-Tra and his Milwaukee counterpart, EZPZ, harnessed the extraordinary rap domination that has become Lite Skinded. They dropped their first volume of fresh beats in January with their debut, Sugar Jammz, showing Wisconsin what white kids with game can bring to the lacking local rap scene.

Since then, the fam’ has grown in size and, naturally, in popularity across the campus and beyond.

“We breathe in influence, vomit greatness,” said Jay Punzel, one of the newer additions to the aforementioned fam’.

After the critical acclaim of Sugar Jammz, the group sought out to recreate the same studio magic that shot them to local success by pushing their sound to new limits on Gangsta Buddies.

“We rented a helicopter for sound and a cathedral just for the reverb,” X-Tra said.

“We drop a little bit of knowledge on the album so you can shut up and learn something,” Supa Deep, Lite Skinded’s manager and bassist added. “Everyone from the hipster riding their bike to people doing beer bongs on Langdon can relate to the album.”

Their newest effort, complete with 18 tracks of entertainment, reflects on the hilarious yet gritty reality faced by Wisconsin gangstas, like the frigid winters, the strict penny-pinching faced by college students and, of course, the triumphs and troubles with the ladies. These themes make it hard not to be able to connect in some way, even if connecting means stifling laughter at their ironic lyrics.

With rhymes like, “Got this good lookin’ girl think we’re getting it on soon/ Me and her are dancin’ to this real/ Groovy tune/ Took her to my place, anticipate we’re ’bout to bone/ But then I’m all caught up in the friendly friend zone,” (“Friend Zone”) some sensitive female ears may find their raps offensive, but the guys of Lite Skinded insist it’s all in sarcastic fun.

“We rap about women in a derogatory way, but it’s meant as ironic and it’s not the central focus of our music,” X-Tra said.

“We love the ladies,” Jay Punzel added.

This tenderness for the ladies could not be anymore prevalent in their tribute to thunder thighs. “I don’t mind a little flab if your face is extra purdy/ I love them thunder thighs, that’s how you know a bitch is sturdy” (“Thunder Thighs”).

But loving the ladies (and their thighs) comes with some inevitable heartbreak. So in true Lite Skinded style, they’ve borrowed the smooth technique of soul legend Al Green to help them communicate their romantic woes on Gangsta Buddies.

“There are a couple of slow jams,” Jay Punzel said, who confesses he has eluded having his heart burned by a lady. “We provide comfort for the heartbroken.”

“Even though we’re the hardest of the hard, we have a heart,” X-Tra said.
At their debut performance at The Pub last spring, the guys threw Flamin’ Hots into the crowd in reference to a track on their Sugar Jammz album, and this year they’ve hinted at making it rain with Starbursts.

Lite Skinded- the epitome of gangsta.

Lite Skinded and the rest of the fam will perform Saturday, Oct. 30 at T.C. Katz bar between 10 p.m. and 12 a.m. The show is 21 plus. Gansta Buddies can be found on Lite Skinded’s MySpace page.