St. Louis rappers Edaz Redden and Edward Redden, also known by their rap duo name Hot As That Thang, are well known in the music industry and have been making headlines due to their recent legal battle with Atlanta rapper, Jeezy!

When the twins realized their original track, “I Ball, I Stunt,” was featured on Jeezy’s 2011 mixtape The Real Is Back, Hot As That Thang put on their business hats and filed a formal legal complaint against the Def Jam rapper.

Edaz claimed that in 2015 he gave the track to a known producer, “a mutual friend,” who essentially shared the track with Jeezy and released the song completely unaltered. Jeezy’s defense was he was never “properly served” back in 2015. However, a judge sided with Edaz and Edward, awarding them $111,347.29 in a settlement for copyright infringement.

Hot As That Thang sat down with Bobby Pen on the Put Yourself On Podcast to take us in the courtroom during their legal battle, how they mastered the business in “music business,” and how to protect your music and art.

They were part of the Hazel Wood Central dance team. At 18yrs old, they moved to LA where they got into rapping instead of being only background dancers. LA gave them a lot of culture, and exposure to diversity at a young age which heavily influenced their music.

Having also spent some time in Atlanta, Hot As That Thang made their first major cameo appearance in Souljah Boy’s “Crank That” live performance at the 2007 BET Hip Hop Awards!

“It was dope because everyone was calling us up like hey man we saw yall on BET!” That was just the beginning. Hot As That Thang also made appearances on hit shows such as Chicago Fire and Empire!

Although it sounds easy it definitely wasn’t. Their talent, faith, and ambition kept them on the right track, moving forward to their goal of becoming successful rap artists.

“We had a mutual friend who was training on the set of Empire and one day he said he was gonna need us. We ended up meeting Yaz the great (the guy who plays Hakeem Lyon), we’re always in the studio jamming. One day they gave us a call to come out and see the set. It was cool. We did 4 episodes. “

They stated that their favorite memory from being on Empire was “meeting everybody, hanging out on the set, and working on the music. They had some good food too [laughs]”.

When asked what stood out to them while being on the show, they replied it was that the humbleness of the cast. Vet actors Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson, were hanging out with the extras and talking to everyone in the cast and crew, which on many other major shows is unheard of.

“It was cool to see they are humble. To see that even if you’re at the top you can still reach out to people”

What many people may not know about Hot As That Thang, is that they are not only rappers, actors, and dancers, but they are also successful business owners and started their own record label.

“Learning the business is what’s gonna separate you from being a local artist and international artist. Some people are waiting on a record deal, waiting on someone to give them a shot or opportunity. But you just have to get your own business. Get it on your own. Hustle and grind. It’s all about ownership. Just learn the business. Once you get your foot in one door you don’t have to worry about how to get through the other doors. You go from one door to the next. Once you know the business and have your own label, you get the label’s cut as well as the artist cut. Yeah you still have to put something back into your music so you can be productive and make your money. But you get a bigger cut [owning your own label] versus a record deal [with a major label] taking $0.70 from each $1.00 [you earn].”

How can owning your own label and/or being an independent artists affect your business when using streaming services (i.e Tidel, spotify, soundcloud)?

“First thing I recommend is get it copyrighted. You don’t want someone taking your music. Then just grind. Put it out there. It’s best to do it with a label because they take you more seriously. Start submitting your music to these companies (i.e.Pandora). Get distribution (iTunes, Spotify, PSN, XBOX LIVE) from the label. Push it to everybody you can. Make a hard video. Get noticed. Swing for the fence. Somebody will pick it up if its good music”

Having had their personal experience with copyright infringement, and the lawsuit against Jeezy for stealing their track for his mixtape, they explained how it happened and how other artists can avoid getting into similar situations:

“We had some mutual friends who sent the music to them. The song got over to Jeezy. Our song was called I Ball I Stunt. The exact same. It was a decent portion of the hook. A lot of the verse was built around that. Almost word for word. Some of our mutual friends were on the track with him. Jeezy got on their and put it on his album. I don’t know the exact process of what was going on but some mutual friends passed it along. [In court] we proved that it was our song. Jeezy was supposed to prove his version, but he didn’t show up to court. The judge gave him time and it went into default judgment and the judge ruled in our favor.”

What advice do they have for independent artists to protect their music? “Copyright! You can do the ‘poor man’s’ copyright and send your music to yourself in the mail, but that doesn’t hold up in court. Go to copyright.gov. It’s like $50.00 and If somebody takes your song you can file a lawsuit.”

Hot As That Thang have been very busy in the studio and some new music is on the way!

“We got a new single and music video coming out. About to start touring, radio appearances, interviews, and the album is coming out too.”

Keep up with Hot As That Thang on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube @HotAsThatThangTV. Their new single “Am I Da Man” is available now on iTunes, Tidal, and Spotify.