Loud Lary Ajust bring Gullywood to OUMF

Loud Lary Ajust

Gullywood can’t be found on a map, but it’s still a place we’re all familiar with.

The term was coined by bilingual local hip hop trio Loud Lary Ajust (they’ve recently removed the Xs from their moniker), who ascribe to the class-meets-trash ethos in life and in music. Gullywood stems from the line “trop joli pour être hood, trop gully pour Hollywood,” (translated as “too attractive for the hood, too much from the gutter for Hollywood”), and they were so enamoured with their newly created descriptor, it eventually became the title of their debut album, released last May as a free download on Bandcamp. The trio will be performing a free set tonight at OUMF.

“We like to combine the really sophisticated with really bad things, like drinking Château Latour out of a flask,” says co-MC Lary in immaculate franglais.

“The word exposed the contrast of both lifestyles we live,” adds fellow MC Loud. Ajust, also known as A-Justice, created beats based on the cheesiest of ’80s music, the perfect companion to the group’s ironic braggadocio.

“I sample mostly hair metal and ’80s pop,” says Ajust. “I sample off wax so when I’m looking for records, even when I don’t know the band, if on the record sleeve there are dudes with funky hair and tight suits, fake smoke or flashy ice then it’s good. And if there are five on the cover that’s even better because it means there’s a keyboard player.”

But what does the group think of rappers who relentlessly flaunt their mind-boggling wealth to us lowly plebeians? “Rap is a music where you can brag and boast about material things and it’s accepted,” says Lary. “I think it’s really crazy to brag about guns, whips and wives and it’s cool to brag about that, but who really cares? Well, we care, but it’s superficial.”

“It’s about selling a dream and people love it,” says Loud. “It’s not so much about what we brag about, but it’s about being arrogant in the most sophisticated way possible.”

As native Montrealers, Loud and Lary are bilingual rappers, and often string together English and French expressions in a way that those with similar upbringings will immediately understand (it does not resemble Radio Radio’s chiac rhymes).

“We couldn’t do it any other way, it would be unnatural if we stuck to one,” says Loud. ■

Loud Lary Ajust perform at OUMF tonight, Thursday Sept. 6, at 7 p.m. at the Principal Stage (de Maisonneuve and St-Denis)