Austin Butts, aka Asspizza, sat down with VFILES to discuss everything from airport holding cells and MySpace to being the first person to listen to Soulja Boy’s mammoth hit, “Crank Dat.”
Asspizza is best known for his whacky clothing – he pissed a lot of people off when he used to paint over hyped Supreme pieces – as well as his unfiltered online presence.
The designer is friends with Soho cool-kids Luka Sabbat, Mike The Ruler, and Gianni Mora, while musicians such as Wiz Khalifa and ILoveMakonnen have cosigned his burgeoning brand, also called Asspizza.
Asspizza is no stranger to the internet spotlight, as he was once featured on Worldstar for fighting Playboi Carti (before he made it big, you can watch the video here). He also once made bootleg Pablo merch that was then sold in the official NYC pop-up.
Check out some of the most interesting excerpts from the interview below.
On being the first person to listen to Soulja Boy
I was into Soulja Boy before he blew up and shit. I bought these fake BAPES for five dollars, so I’d just wear jerseys and shit. [My rap name was] Tiny Troopa. I remember Soulja Boy like, right when he dropped Crank Dat. Before it blew up. I put him on.
On his penchant for painting and customizing over Supreme items
Yeah. I wouldn’t do that now, but I did it originally to make people mad. People get mad because it’s so expensive – but it’s investing in a new piece because you ruined the original.
On his troubles in London Heathrow airport's holding cells
Me, Kerwin, and Nitin were in Canada for a Spaghetti Boys event. So I was like, okay – let’s go to London to do another Spaghetti Boys event there. I didn’t know the law was so serious – so we just booked it, like, no return ticket. Nitin – they just sent him home because he’s from there. They took me and Kerwin into a room and we had to spend the night. So then they separated us because we had to be held. They took Kerwin to an airport jail. It was scary, because they took me to like, a holding place for people with mental issues. It was crazy. At one point, they open this door and this man is like “IT’S ON LOCKDOWN RIGHT NOW” and the door slides open – it’s all these people, like, lurking around. But it was scary, because other people in the holding area had pictures of their families on the wall and shit. They asked me a million questions. A nurse evaluated me. I thought after all that time waiting, they’d send us back to the US, but no – they sent us back to Canada. So then we were in Canada with no money.
On people copying him
I mean a lot of things were copied from me – but I just hate when people get mad about that shit. If you’re not making things that get copied, then why make it? You gotta think ahead of them.
For more from Asspizza, check out the full interview here.
Next, read about why the Desert Rat 500 drop was the smartest thing Kanye has done all year.
