Draft:TheHouse (Music Collective)

TheHouse is a southern hip-hop collective rooted in Chattanooga, Tennessee, comprising of local artist friends and producers. The group was started in 2013 at Middle Tennessee State University by Isaiah Rashad, YGTUT, and Michael Da Vinci (Mikey D) to represent Chattanooga hip-hop artists. Over the years, the collective has expanded to include $hoey (President), Tiggi (FKA Ktoven), Chris P, D Sanders, Brian Brown, Park Ave, BIGG CUP, Chris Calor, Black Metaphor, and other collaborating Tennessee musicians.

Background
TheHouse can trace its roots back to Ooltewah High School, where future members YGTUT, Michael da Vinci, $hoey Russel, and Ktoven all went to school together. While attending Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Michael Da Vinci, an aspiring emcee, introduced his roommate YGTUT to fellow rapper and childhood friend of Mikey D's, Isaiah Rashad. There, the trio started what would later blossom into TheHouse. Founder YGTUT noted in an interview "TheHouse was formed in our freshmen year of college at MTSU. It started out as the squad. We just happened to rap too."

The group quickly grew to encompass friends of the squad from Chattanooga, Chris P. and Ktoven. More members soon became associated as well: Producer D Sanders after accompanying Isaiah Rashad and Mikey D on the smoker's club tour in 2012, Brian Brown after collaborating with Ktoven and moving to Chattanooga in 2015, and Park Ave after being messaged online by TUT.

The collective first found success during the SoundCloud era with the release of member Isaiah Rashad's breakout mixtape: Welcome to the Game (2014), which featured production from TheHouse collaborators D Sanders and Chris Calor. Soon afterwards, Rashad was quickly propelled to success after joining California powerhouse label Top Dawg Entertainment in 2013 and releasing his first studio album, Cilvia Demo in 2014. Meanwhile, YGTUT, Ktoven, and other collaborating artists (referred to as "TheHouse Band") living at a property in Duncan Avenue in Chattanooga were producing TUT's breakthrough 2015 mixtape, Preacher's Son, which garnered national attention. Around the release of preacher's son, $hoey, a childhood friend of Tut's since middle school, joined TheHouse and began managing the business side of the collective.

In 2017, TheHouse returned with the posse cut, Long Day, and $hoey and Tut's collaborative tape, Four Two Three, which featured fellow members of TheHouse, Chris P. and Michael Da Vinci. YGTUT's success around this time from his first mixtape and SoundCloud singles allowed him to become the second member of TheHouse signed to a label: Sony Sameplate (in 2018). Following a four-year hiatus, TheHouse released its first collective tape, TheHouse Presents: The Set (2022), featuring new member BIG CUPP, Chattanooga indie artist Mon Rovia, out-of-city emcees Hugh Augustine and Deante' Hitchcock, and various other collaborators. Since then, TheHouse has been working with Chattanooga establishments such as HiFi Clyde's, Exile Off Main, and Slim & Husky's to host shows since the latter half of 2022.