Patience paying off for rap duo

September 22, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

There are two experiences in Youngstown native Jimmy “Deuce” Horvath’s life that pointed him in the direction of hip-hop music as a career.

The first of which took place when the rapper-producer was just a kid delivering The Vindicator. Out on his route with plenty of mental time to kill, Horvath dabbled in free- styling lyrics. Though it never led to anything more at the time, this hobby of sorts continued through high school as a creative outlet.

Then as a freshman attending Ohio State University, Horvath was in a horrific car accident that miraculously left him unscathed. Despite the fact he wasn’t injured, the incident changed his thinking about life. Today, he feels he was given wisdom. This carpe diem experience led him to create rap act Crookit with his longtime friend Nick “Phi” Dota. Both are 2001 Poland High School graduates.

“That’s when we worked on our demo, and ever since, I’ve never looked back,” Horvath said. “So I left school to do this.”

Oddly enough, that’s where the story begins and temporarily ends. In 2003, the duo released its debut effort, “Divide & Conquer,” which, due to trunk sales around Northeast Ohio, actually moved 800 copies. That’s not bad for an up-and-coming act that drew comparisons to Jay-Z and Eminem. However, for Horvath and Dota, the moment was defining and open-ended.

Feeling as though Crookit enjoyed street success with a little bit of money in their pocket, the twosome then went on a five-year hiatus. Though in some ways it may not make any sense — a new act does well only to leave behind any momentum in hopes of maturing the product — Horvath swears that’s the story behind the sabbatical.

“We wanted the art to be everything it could be, so we took a five- or-six-year hiatus, worked on our sound and finally got our sound exactly where we wanted it,” Horvath said. “Before, our skill set wasn’t what we wanted it to be. Back in the day, we made like a very sizeable amount of money, but it wasn’t something you could live off of for the rest of your life. We knew this was something we wanted to do because we loved the music, and we said, ‘Alright, let’s get everything in order so we can do this professionally when the time comes.’ We’re very patient individuals.”

That patience has paid off with Crookit’s reintroduction into the Youngstown rap scene. After getting legal issues cleared up based on sample uses, the outfit recently released its original CD, “Out of the Blue,” and mix tape “Create & Destroy.”

Whereas the latter effort finds Horvath and Dota having fun, it’s the former that the duo banks on making their name in Youngstown.

“What we wanted to do was make like an epic record,” Horvath said. “In hip-hop, you start in your hometown and you kind of speak what’s real from your city. So that was our main vision and goal, to make this classic record with its own vibe. It’s a Youngstown vibe, kind of a confused, trapped, isolated feeling.”

Added Dota, “We are ready to become a national contender. Music today has become too much of a formula. The fact that Deuce and I have had no formal music training gives our music its own raw sound that I feel is missing in hip-hop music. We’re not following the typical auto-tuned, recycled radio sounds that have been exhausted over the last seven years. I feel this will separate us from the rest of the pack.”

Eclectic is the word Horvath uses to describe “Out of the Blue.” Instead of saying its gangster, the 28-year-old paints some material as having a badass vibe. This includes “[Expletive] With This” and “Stuck in Ohio.” Then other tunes are more uplifting, such as the lead single, “Down.”

“I make music to get my feelings out in the open and get a response from someone,” Dota said. “With every lyric or song concept I write, I know that someone else out there has experienced something similar or even exactly as I have.”

Added Horvath, “Everything on this album is 100 percent true. If you’re from here, you can feel it or relate to it. It’s what this city is, and that level of truth is so scarce these days. It’s something you just don’t get everywhere. And coming out of Youngstown, where nothing like this ever comes out, we are extremely proud and confident.”

Horvath said this confidence in his own craft is directly related to his car accident years ago. Today he feels free, doing what he wants to do and not looking back.

“It kind of opened my eyes,” Horvath said. “Like one of our songs is called ‘We All Fall Down,’ and it’s basically about at any moment it can be over, so you might as well do what you want to do.”

After a brief pause, he added, “And I am.”