Open thread: June 30
Guest blogger: The best unsold TV pilots you've never seen (and where to watch 'em)

Guest blogger: Have you met the world's only potato rapper?

By Whitney Matheson, USA TODAY


By Nathan Mattise (NateFromSyracuse)

Man V. Food recently came through Syracuse to film for the upcoming season. As a local food enthusiast I was thrilled. They hit all the major must-eats and even stopped by my favorite diner. My only complaint was they glossed over one major component of 'Cuse culinary culture:

The potato ... rapper, that is.

Meet Michael Heagerty. By day he's the programs and event coordinator at local art space the Red House, but by night he's better known as ToTs, the pioneer of potato rapping.

The genre is exactly what you'd expect to be. ToTs rhymes exclusively about spuds and all things tot-related (his lyrics can range from potato cooking techniques to food related pop-culture like Fast Food Nation). He's even scheduled to make his NYC debut this month at a World Records Appreciation Day event where he's billed as "the world's only rapper who rhymes exclusively about potatoes."

The performance may be his first in the city, but ToTs has been recording and performing (along with his DJ/producer/instrumentalist, Mix Master Mash) in the Syracuse area since the release of his first album in December 2007. Yes, he has albums. Three of them actually, all named in relation to potatoes. You can stream them on his official web site and even get a free copy of his debut (Au No You Didn't -- the "world's first-ever hip hop album entirely about potatoes") e-mailed to you.

The big question of course is why potatoes? ToTs admitted it began as a joke in a profile with a local music mag, but it quickly became a project with real passion behind it. He discussed it in an online short entitled "From The Ground Up" about the birth of the potato rap movement:

Every single time when a person asks me, "Why are you rapping about potatoes?" I turn it as a question and say, "Think back 10 days, and can you tell me the truth and tell me you haven't had a potato in some form." People are always telling me, "Rap about something else," and I always say, "Absolutely not. It's potatoes until I run out of ideas, which isn't happening anytime soon."

His content may be unusual, but that doesn't mean he's simply some gimmick. Sufjan Stevens did states, David Byrne has done a former first lady of the Philippines, and ToTs chose potatoes. I've seen his act grow in my short time as a fan -- beginning with sets in small coffee shops to headlining stages at city food festivals and now NYC billings. The music is legitimate and the rhymes are clever. You may take your first listen for the novelty of it but then you find yourself streaming other tunes and talking yourself into catching him live.

ToTs is set to release his third album sometime in 2010. It might not end up on any year-end lists, but his lure is spreading enough to garner him a chance to perform in NYC. It seems that with all the buzz ToTs is starting to generate with potato rap, only the ... fry's ... the limit.

Five ToTs tunes to start with:

  1. Deep Fried
  2. Peel Potatoes
  3. Tater Haters (performed live with a local church choir)
  4. Twice Baked
  5. They Call Me the ToTs

- Follow ToTs on Twitter
- ToTs on YouTube

Nathan Mattise is a graduate student at Syracuse University eagerly waiting for both the completion of his degree and the fourth season of Mad Men. Find more of his work at @NathanMattise or

Open thread: June 30