cameraman he had there, who
was Brad. At that event, I
recorded a QOTR cypher and
also a blog; I released them both
the next day. After seeing how
fast I did that, Debo hit me up
for a meeting a few days later
and officially introduced me
to Brad Butter. We’ve been The
Shooters ever since.
Dilly: What was the first battle
you did the video for, Brad?
Brad Butter: The first battle I
did — I can’t even remember.
I’ve filmed for QOTR first, as far
as filming a battle. I didn’t start
editing the battles until about
three or four events in. I did
things like music videos, blogs,
interviews and recaps with the
battlers.
Dilly: In battle rap there are a few
people doing videos and editing
— who would you say is a big
influence?
The Shooters, Rich Martin: In
the battle rap culture, one of
my biggest influences is Twizz.
The cutting of the scenes and
switching angles during battles
used to hype me up. I don’t
think anyone was doing that at
the time— having more than
one camera angle. Smack paved
the way for a lot of dudes — not
just the battle rappers — but the
cameramen and editors as well.
Brad Butter: Definitely Twizz
and Dash. Other than that, my
influences come from movie
directors and video directors like
SpiffTV, Eif Rivera and Hype
William. Rich Martin: Eif Rivera
26
is “that n***a”.
Dilly: Where would you place The
Shooters’ skill level against others?
The Shooters, Brad Butter: If
I had to rate our skill level
from one to ten, I would say a
nine. If you have to go by what
is out there, I would say an 8.
I feel that our talents haven’t
been put to full display yet. We
have an advantage in battle rap
though, as we get to be up close
with our subjects in the ring. It’s
a different kind of shooting. It’s
great. Rich Martin: The Shooters?
Eight out of ten. Editing-,
creativity- and vision-wise — we
got it. Hands down. Anybody
can go out, buy a $5,000 camera,
download Final Cut Pro and
call themselves a director; but
what are they directing with no
vision themselves? Even though I
feel that our camera quality isn’t
where I want it to be, we’re still
easily one of the best cameramen
team in the game.
Dilly: Do both of you edit?
The Shooters, Brad Butter: Yup.
Randomly, but we do call “dibs”
at events after certain battles.
(Brad laughs) Rich Martin:
Sometimes we have to do “rock,
paper, scissors” to see who gets
to edit what battles. (Rich laughs)
We always try to call “dibs” on
the hottest battles.
Dilly: Where did name “The
Shooters” come from?
The Shooters, Brad Butter: Our
homie Tae came up with it one
day and we just ran with it. Rich
Martin: Yeah. He just greeted us
one day as ”The Shooters” and it
stuck.
Dilly: How do you feel about
sound effects in battle videos?
The Shooters, Rich Martin:
Sound effects in battles are
official, if done correctly. I’m
so mad I didn’t think to do
that first.Shoutout to Black Ice
Cartel. I’ve seen a few people try
to do it after them and failed.
They have full control of the
footage and of what fans are
going to see and hear; I feel
like bad editing can change the
outcome of a battle. Brad Butter:
In battles, its dope when it’s live,
but as far as editing them in, I
don’t like it. Bad sound effects
— and even worse timing — ca