DJ Bizzon – Making A Name For Himself By Working Hard (interview)

Very often you can tell apart those who actually work hard for what they’re accomplishing from those who benefit from luck.  DJ Bizzon is one of those people who is hard at work to build up his reputation as not only a dope DJ, but as somebody who authentically loves Milwaukee and it’s Hip-Hop scene.

If you pay attention to fliers and Facebook, it’s possible that you’ve come across DJ Bizzon’s name quite frequently because I honestly don’t think this guy ever turns down an offer to DJ anything.  It’s that work ethic, and willingness to put in time, that got him an opportunity to step in as the co-host of the MadKids radio show that holds down the traditional Hip-Hop spot every Tuesday night on 91.7FM WMSE with the growing legend, Kid Cut Up.

I didn’t have a chance to chop it up with Bizzon until very recently and with tons of people telling me how dope he is and seeing his name everywhere, I knew it was time to hit him up for an interview so we could all get to know DJ Bizzon a little bit better.

Everybody loves going to a party where the DJ actually knows what he/she is doing on the wheels of steel.  On the other hand, a place can clear out pretty quickly if the DJ isn’t connecting with the crowd.  Have you ever had to get on the tables after somebody has completely stunk it up?  How did you bring the party back?

Well luckily I haven’t had to clean up a mess but I have had to do multiple different types of parties in one night.  Working at Brooklyn’s, they’d throw birthday parties for 50 year-olds and then start up the club night right after.  So, I’d see all the young people come in when the party was wrapping up with a “WTF?” look on their face ready to go home.  But, once the party ended I just had to bring it and transition from an old school set into newer stuff.  I’d usually drop a sample/break and then drop the new song that sampled it, and that let people know what was up.  Or, I’d show up and they’d surprise me with whatever random event was going on, i.e. Fashion Show, 70′s/80′s/90′s party, kids party…even baby showers!

Every DJ has some tricks up their sleeve in the form of certain songs they employ when wanting a certain reaction.  What is your “chill” song, “party” song, “end of the night” song, and “let’s get the ladies into it” song?

Hmmm, it’s so much.  I like to chill it out pre-party with “Selfish” from Slum Village, or any SV for that matter.  My party song is the Nick Catchdubs remix to “Champions” by Kanye West.  It has the “Mama Said Knock You Out” beat with some hype extra vocals.  I love it.  The end of the night song depends on where I’m at but maybe something like “Umi Says” from Mos Def.  It’s still uptempo but people can just vibe and relax, sing to it (we all do), and ease out.  Although, one night I played “Dear Mama” from Tupac and the entire club was singing it.  I’ll never forget that.  It’s one of my favorite songs and to see so many people knowing all the lyrics was cool.

If a person pays attention to what’s going on out there, they’d see your name all over the place.  You are on the MadKids show now as well.  How did you go about getting a lot of these gigs?

Really?  People know my crazy name?  Literally, just by asking.  The dominoes fell pretty cool for me.  I hit up DJ Madhatter about doing the Saturday Session on 88.9FM.  That led me to do a fund drive party and I met DJ Erich and Kid Cut Up which led to some gigs.  I asked Kid Cut Up about the show and just sitting in to learn radio and after some weeks, he asked me to do the show with him.  All the while I was DJing poetry open mics, just because I asked to do it, which led to my spot at Brooklyn’s.  I’m guessing people thought I was alright at DJing too, so the practice I put in definitely helped.

You are very vocal about Milwaukee Hip-Hop needing to grow and get back to a certain level of authenticity.  Please, if you would, break down for the reader how you could see Milwaukee Hip-Hop reach a greater amount of success while maintaining integrity.

Just by being open to different styles of rap and not getting caught up in boxes created by the media and themselves.  We all know about the segregation in the scene here but I feel it’s because people either don’t know, or choose to ignore, all that’s going on.  I’ve learned so much from talking with and listening to other DJs and I wish other artists would too.  Also knowing the history of the music and where it comes from so you don’t make the same mistakes.  People just try to do what they hear instead of what they really feel.  I love checking out a DJ or rapper and after the set learning more about them as a person.  If all artists would just tell their story, and not regurgitate what they hear, the success would come without sacrificing integrity.  Money does not equal success.

Serato has been revolutionary in the world of DJing.  Some people argue that it’s allowed a lot of people to DJ that shouldn’t be doing so while others champion the technology for what it can do for the seasoned veteran.  How do you feel about the DJ moving further and further away from vinyl?

I, personally feel, just rock the party.  Technology makes people lazy in all forms of life.  With that said, you just have to make sure to stay ahead of the lazy people and be more creative.  If somebody can kill a party with Serato or wax, or a mixture…in the end they killed the party.  I do feel a DJ needs to learn the basics too.  Like I said before, in whatever you do, know and respect the history while you take it to the next level.  But, it’s very easy to tell when someone is wack and not using it right, the same way you can tell the difference between real oven baked mac and cheese versus Easy Mac.  The microwave is good for some stuff, but you know what tastes better.

What made you get into DJing?

Two things:  First, I would be out at a club and think of so many combinations of songs that sounded cool.  Second, I felt I could do better than most DJ’s out there.

I was always into music and DJing from an early age thanks to my Mom and Dad. Then, once I was able to go out and check out different spots, I wanted to be in control and get the place going…or just bring something different than what people usually heard.

DJs often find themselves with lots of different music in their repertoire, and not all of it is flattering.  I have a few friends that DJ and it’s always funny to hear them mention some of the stuff they have in their collection.  What are some records or artists that people would be surprised to know that you have, and listen to?  Do you have a crazy obsession with Conway Twitty or anything like that?

Naw, not that crazy.  I do like David Bowie and the Doors a lot though.  Datarock is DOPE!  Funny story though, I remember the first rap song I really got into was “Gangsta’s Paradise” by Coolio.  In middle school I told this guy and he whispered to his friend, “man, this fool’s favorite rapper is Coolio”.  You live and you learn.

Let’s talk a little shop for the DJs that are going to read this interview.  What equipment did you start out on, what are you rocking now, and what is the perfect set up in your mind that you hope to have one day?

I started out on Numark HDXs.  They were CD turntables with hard drives on them.  It was perfect for me because when I started most of my music was digital.  Also, it was built like a regular vinyl table so it had a real feel to them.   I had a very basic numark mixer as well.  Now I have Technic 1200′s for turntables with Shure M44 needles along with a Rane TTM57 mixer.  It has great faders and Serato built in.  I’m very happy with my set up now but I wouldn’t mind a Rane 68, which is a 4 channel mixer with Serato built in to have 4 turntables at once.  An EFX-1000 would add some nice effects.  Any MIDI control with multiple banks would be cool for easy access, and 2 1000 watt subs wouldn’t hurt.

Are that any artists in Milwaukee or beyond that you want people to listen to or check out?

Yes tons:  Raze, A.P.R.I.M.E., Trellmatic, Frankie Flowers, SPEAK Eazy, One Self, J. Cole, Jay Electronica, Ali Ra, Sypher Squad, Ole P, Def Harmonic, Fresh Cut Collective, Black Milk, Blu & Exile, Madcon, Murs, and many others.  Sorry if I left anyone out but just keep your ears open for good stuff so y’all can tell me who to check out.

If somebody wants to get ahold of you to DJ one of their events, how can they do so?

My number is 414-899-5359.  Hit me up directly.  My email is djbizzon@hotmail.com.  Or just come talk to me on Mondays at Timbuktu for Sucka Free Mondays. On Facebook, look up “djbizzon miller” or “true hip hop takeover of Milwaukee”.  That group is for everyone to post events and information about Hip-Hop in Milwaukee.  I just want to provide people with a place to find events they would be interested in and something else besides Top 40′s.  I need all y’all help.

Any shout outs?

DJ Madhatter, Kid Cut Up, DJ E.Rich, DJ Webspinna, Him and Her, my uncle from yo mama’s uncle DJ JDL, DJ DMT, Why B, THOR, DJ D-Wood, Steve Marx, Cover Girl, Blackberry, Diva G, Papa Pro, K-W, Tre, G-Nana, Marcus Doucette, DJ Avets, Chalice in the Palice, One Self, WMSE, Radio Milwaukee, Ali Ra, Nigel Wade, Bobby Drake, Ecko…thanks for all y’all help.

Bizzon sent along a mix that he recent did that you can check out by downloading it RIGHT HERE.

DJ Bizzon is also the DJ for the Hip-Hop Hates Breast Cancer event happening this Saturday at the Cactus Club.  If you have $5, hate Breast Cancer, love Hip-Hop, and have a free moment or two, stop on by!

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Trellmatic – Beats From The Soul (interview)

Hip-Hop production has many styles and approaches.  This diversity of sound leads to many different avenues for the lyricist that often accompanies the producer’s work, to go down.

Trellmatic is a producer known for his soul sound approach to Hip-Hop production and is the guy behind the smooth sounds of the group AUTOMatic, a duo that also consists of emcee A.P.R.I.M.E., as well as providing tracks for many of the various House of M projects.

Coming off of the success of the new AUTOMatic release Transistor, it was time to see what makes Trellmatic tick.

Producing Hip-Hop is something that a lot of people attempt to do, but not many do it well.  It’s really a learning process from what I hear.  How did you begin your journey with Hip-Hop production?  When did you know that you absolutely had to make a beat?

Well, it all started at the age of 6.  For Christmas I received my first keyboard which was a Casio SK-1.  It had the 5 second sampling function.  When I heard my favorite songs on the radio or stereo, I used to hold the keyboard up to the speaker and press the record function on the keyboard and play out the sample amongst the keys.  I was so fascinated by this ability and from then on it was history.  I still have that keyboard ‘til this day.  As a matter of fact I just pulled it out of the closet right now!  The first time I knew I had to start taking producing seriously is when I heard  Jay-Z’s The Blueprint album and Little Brother’s The Listening album.

You are a guy who samples when putting together your beats.  Is sampling essential to the Hip-Hop experience?

Very essential.  Sampling is part of what laid the foundation for Hip-Hop and music alike.  People say that sampling is cheating and not creative, but to take a sample and recreate it into something totally different or give it a different meaning or perspective is not an easy process if done correctly.  Also, sampling is a way to keep the actual “song” that is sampled relevant through time.

Speaking of samples, there are a lot of producers that take offense at people airing out what records they’ve sampled within their beats, yet there are other producers who believe it’s better the air out what’s been sampled in hopes of leading people to find new records to chop up.  How do you feel about this issue?

I believe in airing out samples.  You know it’s funny, when I saw A-Plus from Souls of Mischief 3 years ago at Stonefly, I thanked him and his group for doing this very thing.

If it wasn’t for groups like Souls of Mischief,  Digable Planets, Black Moon, A Tribe Called Quest, etc. for putting sample credits in their cassettes or CD’s, I most likely wouldn’t be where I’m at today and wouldn’t have known who Donald Byrd, Bobbi Humphrey, Ronnie Laws, Lonnie Liston Smith, Fazeo, or any other of these great artists are.  Because of Hip-Hop groups doing this, it opened me up to a whole new genre of music that I hadn’t discovered in its entirety.

When you listen to your two albums with A.P.R.I.M.E., Audiology and Transistor, what do you hear sonically that sets them apart and/or ties them together?

Well, from a production standpoint I think the sound scape is much better than the first album.  My sound is a little more dynamic, but not too far out of the box, which I think still gives people a little connection to Audiology.  Lyrically I think A.P.R.I.M.E. has definitely grown as an artist.  His wordplay has gotten ridiculous and you can hear the confidence on this album, more so than the first.  Overall, I think Transistor has shown how we’ve matured as artists, period.

Who is the definitive Hip-Hop producer in your eyes and who is the most important musician to influence Hip-Hop?

This is a tough choice since I like so many.  If had to choose, the one that really had an influence on me to become a producer was Pete Rock.  When I heard Soul Survivor, I knew this was something that I wanted to do one day.  His bass lines were ridiculous.

What are your weapons of choice when composing a beat?

Dell Inspiron,  FLStudio 9, Cool Edit  Pro, Audition, Technics SL-D3, Event Monitors, Vinyl, YouTube, my brain, heart and soul.

Do you have any other music or collaborations in the works right now that we can look forward to?  If somebody wants to get a Trellmatic beat, how can one do so? 

Right now I have two joints on SPEAK Easy’s upcoming LP.  I have one joint so far on Frankie Flowers’ upcoming LP.  I have a joint on the upcoming Malicious LP.  I just did a joint for Mr. Miranda out of Arizona for his upcoming Tribute to Rick James EP.  I’m actually about to send some joints out as we speak to Kerse-1 and Qewl Miles.  Also, me and A.P.R.I.M.E. are in the process of putting together The Lost Stations which are a collective of songs that didn’t make Transistor and a couple of new joints, so be on the look for that at the end of the year.  If any artists are looking to get beats, hit me up at trellmatic@gmail.com or follow me on twitter @trellmaticmusic.

Milwaukee Hip-Hop is really gaining the respect of some people outside of the city, as well as new ears within Milwaukee.  As somebody who has several projects under his belt, how do you feel about the music, talent level, and respect within the MKE scene?

I feel that Milwaukee collectively has a lot of talented artists.  The one thing I don’t like about the Milwaukee scene is how segregated it is.  This unfortunately comes from stereotypes and misunderstandings.  I am fortunate enough to come across, and work with, some very talented artists from all genres of Milwaukee music.

Any shout outs?

Yes sir.  Shout to JR the Supastar (aka Scalez), Scott Knoxx, Rusty P’s, Black Elephant, Stricklin, King Hell Bastard, Malicious, A-Biz, UMG, SPEAK Easy, Frankie Flowers,  DJ JDL, DJ Mad Hatter, Kid Cut Up and No Request Sound, DJ Stephanie, Jank One, DJ Venus, House of M, Jihad Baracus, Reason, Dave Derrilykt, AudioPilot, B-Luv, Steph (aka Supasuga), Hanan, A.P.R.I.M.E., Soulmatikk, Gambit, Lou Tang, Ms. Cream, Tre Mag, CT, Dino, Razetastic, JC Poppe, Evan Christian, Nate from Green Tree, Nate the Bartender,  Mr. Miranda, and any other local artists, producers and musicians that I may have failed to mention.

Check out one of Trellmatic’s fresh new smoothed out soul beats called “As We Were”.

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Ku Mays – Now: Strange Dude. Formerly: Stranj Child. (interview)

To kind of continue what ended up being almost like “Dope Folks Records and Stranj Child week” on Milwaukee UP, I decided to see what Stranj Child artist Ku Mays had to say about his solo music, the group, the new release, and Milwaukee.

I highly suggest you put the Stranj Child EP release party that is happening this Saturday night at Burnhearts on your calender, and then make sure you stop by.

Let’s start out with the obvious.  Those of us who are familiar with your music, and those who are going to check it out as a result of this interview, have (or will have) one question on their mind.  Why in the world are you so weird?  I say that for a laugh of course, but your approach is very loose with your solo material and very open to interpretation.  What is the process that you go through for creating your music?

My process has always been random when it comes to beat making or writing.  Whatever flies into my head at that moment is getting on the track.  Sometimes I have ideas of what I want to create but it usually turns into something else.  I call it “not taking myself too serious”.  It’s borderline recklessness though.

You were once a member of a pretty popular group around Milwaukee that did its thing in the early and mid-nineties. Recently, you and your former group mates decided it was time to take some of the music that you did together as Stranj Child, and release it.  How did you decide as a group that you wanted unreleased music from the mid-nineties to finally now see the light of day?

We put a lot of work into those tracks.  I’ve always wanted the world to hear them but I never pushed the issue.  It’s not like I’m living in the past, it’s just that I’m so proud of the work we put in, the money put down, and the late nights and early mornings at the studio.  Back then you couldn’t just go to the homie’s house and rock on his mic and PC,  you had to hit up one of the local studios.  We recorded most of that stuff in a studio called Monster which was above the old Globe East.  We got a discount because our sessions were midnight to 8A.M.  CRAZY!

How did you decide on the newly established Dope Folks Records as the label that would release your music?

I approached John a couple of years ago, before Dope Folks, about the project.  I was going to release it myself and I needed some advice on how to do so.  I just never got around to putting the money up to do it.  Then John called me and asked if I still wanted to release the stuff, and I said “word up”.

I have had a chance to listen to the EP and it’s really fantastic and it honestly does take you back to the time when Hip-Hop was thriving in its pre-crunk and pre-jiggy era form.  Do you have any more music that could be released later on?

Yes, there are others that didn’t make the EP.  Right now we just have StranjChild.com that leads to our Facebook page, but in the near future we’ll post most of the music and video on our new site.

When you go back to listen to the tracks you recorded somewhere around 15 years ago, where does it take you emotionally, mentally, and maybe even spiritually?  I mean, there has to be some effect to hear that “young man” version of yourself.

Like I said it makes me feel so proud that we not only tried, but we did in fact succeed.  Record a record?!?! Three dudes?!? And we’re still very close friends to this day?!?! Who does that?!? StranjChild that’s who!!!!!  

I’ve read interviews where you talked about possibly having a deal lined up, and that’s why there isn’t a lot of music available by Stranj Child…you guys just kind of put off recording because you thought that an opportunity was coming soon down the road.  What happened with the deal?

It was a combination of many things.  We were very over confident about our connections.  We knew our music was good and we knew the right people, so we just waited and nothing happened.  We’ve recorded here and there but new families, jobs, and distance put all of that to a halt.

You’ve stayed in Milwaukee and have kind of dipped in and out of the Hip-Hop scene here and there.  A lot of artists don’t know the history of Milwaukee Hip-Hop and the struggle it had to gain venues, press, and ears.  When you look at the segregation of the “club” and “Hip-Hop” scenes and hear the stories of “this person won’t rock with this person because of _____”, and stuff like that, what does it make you think now that Milwaukee Hip-Hop is far more accepted by the press and community at large?

It’s only accepted because some of the same homies that kicked it on East North Ave. free styling on the street corners are the dudes that are writing the articles and blogs.  As for the feuding musicians, it has always been that way and it will always be that way.  Take a group of Milwaukee musicians and stick them in Chicago at a Mos Def show or another show, and I bet money that they find each other in the crowd and represent their city.

The decision was made to release the EP on vinyl.  Was there any reason for that and why you went with that over CDs or MP3s?

Vinyl is so much sexier.  Plus, I’m a hand model.

A lot of people are saying that this is the most amount of talent Milwaukee Hip-Hop has ever had, across the board…be it club, indie, production, whatever…so being as there is a lot of talent around, what (if any) tips can you give them that may help them out?

I disagree. The talent has always been here.  The scene is the same just different faces.  The internet just helps us see the scene.  I put Tory Tee, J Slim, J Bird’s 90’s production up against anything put out today and it’ll stand strong.  Venues?  We always had a place to rock but we complained about not be able to hit certain spots, just like they do today.

Any shout outs?

Shout out to the members of Stranj Child, @oosakibros and J tha Stranjah.

Buy a record & tee shirt.

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Kid Millions – A Love For Records And Hard Work Go A Long Way (interview)

Putting out an album is one of the most fun and trying things a musician/artist can do with their music.  You get to capture, for eternity, the thoughts and grooves created during a certain time period of one’s artistic endeavors.

John Kuester, who is also known as Kid Millions, has done that process over and over again as an artist and as a label head.  The guys knows a lot about music in general, so if you see him out, buy him a beer and ask for his opinion on something…I bet you will learn something important.

Recently he established Dope Folks Records, a label that seeks out extremely rare, out-of-print, or never existed material for exclusive releases and re-prints.  With this move and vinyl sales continuing to rise, it was time to hit up the man with the answers.

The past two years have been pretty interesting for you. As Kid Millions you released Recession Proof Rap, a well-received album with a very solid single in “Victim To The Beat”, you’ve transitioned from being a record shop owner to selling rare records on the internet, and you’ve started a record label to re-issue rare out of print rap records from the 80’s and 90’s. Is making new music on your radar right now?

Right now I’ve been focusing on different things but I’m sure sometime I will get the urge to make more music.  I usually have a solid 2-3 year gaps in between releases!

Years and years ago I sold you hundreds of records when I was trying to liquidate to cover some credit card debt, and now you just went through a huge scaling back by selling your store and essentially going in house with your operation. Was that a hard decision to make since records are like an extension of who you are? How is the online grind going?

This was pretty much the easiest decision I ever had to make.  We kept the store open for 9 1/2 years and never relied on local business.  Things were so inconsistent that we took our operation online around 2003 and never looked back.  When it came time to close the store, all we really had to do is split up a bunch of records and move out.  Overall everything is still fantastic because I work for myself and I’m not breaking down boxes or tucking in my shirt!

The downside is I miss the barbershop atmosphere of just kicking it with random people and drinking way to much coffee!

Since you are a record head, I have to ask you the stereotypical question about vinyl product versus CDs. Why in the world is vinyl selling and continually on the upswing?

Because people like artwork and liner notes with their music and want to feel that connection with the artist.  Now since all new music is practically impossible to sell, people are switching to fancy packaging and nice art.

On the back of that vinyl boost, you and a friend have started a record label when record labels are falling by the dozens each year it seems. What drove you to get Dope Folks started when there is such a paradigm shift going on in music?

This is just an extension of what we were doing with Lotusland Records. We were also a Modern Soul label that had about 12 different releases over the past few years.  It just made sense for me to start up a new label with Chris and keep it in my comfort zone (rap music).

To sell records in 2010 it is important to know where your audience is and to have something different to offer them.  If you look at dopefolksrecords.com you will not see anything about my music for sale. This is a real small group of dedicated people looking for a certain sound.

Now that you’ve released that first record, how was the experience? How was the party and how is the record doing?

The response from Mixmasta D was incredible.  All of our releases are limited to 300 copies and we sold over 200 on the first day!  We did a party in Bay View at a local bar and it was a blast!  Luckily we had lots of local coverage and online promo.

The next project that you are going to put out is unreleased music from the Milwaukee group Stranj Child that was doing their thing in the 90’s, even catching an opportunity to have one of their songs on the TV show Party Of Five. How did that all come together?

I was introduced to KUMAYS of Stranj Child back in 2000 and we have kept in contact ever since.  About 2 years back he came by the record shop and played me the entire unreleased album and I was stunned that it never came out.  Now that the label is in full swing I figured it was good 2nd release for Dopefolks.

With all the knowledge that you have the music industry from so many different perspectives, have you ever considered tapping somebody who you thought was insanely talented to try to manage their career?

No because I don’t think I could offer them enough experience!  Maybe in a few years when I have a better understanding of the industry.

Kind of on that topic, since you are a guy who has been around for a while and knows so much about the past and present of Milwaukee Hip-Hop, how do you feel about the scene and it’s artists right now?

I think the scene has more talent than it ever has. Too bad Milwaukee has a 200 year curse on it.

Any shout outs?

dopefolksrecords.com, fifthelementonline.com, House Of M, Dana Coppa, JC Poppe , Def Harmonic, Rusty Ps, Kid Cut Up, A.P.R.I.M.E., Stricklin, Raze, Frankie Flowers, KHB, DNA, Chris at Dopefolks, Listening Party Records, Prophetic , Adlib, and Uni.Fi, and all the other dedicated labels and artists.

Check out the Stranj Child vinyl release party Sat. Oct 16th at Burnhearts in Bay View…NO COVER , 10-CLOSE.

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Learn How To Get Your Buzz Up By The Man Who Wants You To Get Your Buzz Up (interview)

Making it in the music industry is a difficult thing from any angle that you choose to approach it.  As an artist, you have thousands of trials and tribulations that must be endured to even sniff an ounce of success.  As a person who is part of an artist’s team, there are an equal number of challenges to be faced.  How do you get people to listen to the music that you have done or are representing?  How do you get yourself forward?

Well, in an attempt to answer some of these questions, I took the time to grab an interview with Mike Trampe.  Now, you may be asking yourself, “who is that?”  Mike is an industry individual that works for the Cheri Media Group, the people that run HipHopDX.com, one of the largest Hip-Hop websites known to man.  Mike is also one of the key people behind the Get Your Buzz Up Hip-Hop showcase series that has been hitting it hard on the East Coast and will be making it’s way to Madison, November 8th and 9th, to see what the Midwest has to offer.  You can read more about the upcoming Madison event RIGHT HERE.

Do you want some insight as to what someone in the industry is looking for?  Well, here you go.

What was the motivation behind starting the Get Your Buzz Up series?

The GYBU series was actually started by Jason “J-Hatch” Hadshian a few years back.  Hatch is also the Co-CEO of the nationally known I-Standard Producers Showcase, which is in 14 cities at this time.  Hatch took the format of the I-Standard Producers Showcase and was able to create a showcase that helps indie artists out by giving them the chance to rock key venues in front of industry professionals and the chance to win prizes that most showcases weren’t offering.  This is all due to the key relationships he has in this industry.

I met Hatch about 5 years ago at an I-Standard Producers Showcase in Philly.  I was managing an upcoming producer who ended up placing 1^st in the showcase.  I came back with another producer who ended up placing 1^st in the showcase and I think that’s when Hatch really took note of who I was.  Eventually I brought 1 more producer to the showcase that placed 1^st as well and over that time I built a very real relationship with him.  I say real because most people in the game aren’t sincere about things and just come at people with their hands out.  This was before I worked for HipHopDX.com too, so you have to understand I was very low on the totem pole and Hatch still helped me to understand this industry better. 

Over the years I built up my resume, obviously becoming the Marketing Manager for DX, and starting Maad Management.  Hatch has become more then a business colleague to me.  I consider him a great friend & mentor.  With that said, we both have the vision of finding that next dope artist.  We both have so much love for the music and culture, and we both have love for indie artists and the grind they put into it.  I started working as the Marketing Director for GYBU about 8 months ago and since then we have brought it to Philly, NYC, Boston, and are heading out to Wisconsin for a 2 day event that should be crazy!

That is the motivation, we are just two real genuine dudes who love Hip-Hop and the culture and we’re trying to help out the next person.

You work for a large media firm that focuses a lot of it’s time on the internet and it’s different avenues.  What are some of the pluses and minuses of the world going largely online?

Going online has changed the industry!  It has taken the A&R job away I feel, because a lot of these people would go out and find talent physically (clubs, shows, etc…).  Now with the internet and how big it is, all you have to do is go to Twitter, Myspace, Facebook, and you will see everyone is an artist now.  You have a huge amount of Hip-Hop sites/blogs as well, so it’s easy to get product out to the masses.

The downfall to that is there is so much to route threw and I feel like some real dope artists are being missed.  Also, with the internet world taking over record sales have fell dramatically, most people download music illegally or most of these artists are putting out product for free on sites/blogs. 

So, it’s a double edge sword.  It gives artists the option of going independent and finding a lane but it also has taken away from the major labels really developing an artist in house.  Labels want you to come with your own brand now, they don’t have the time to waste to develop that.  So the online presence of an artist is very important, but again I feel some artists are missing out because of the politics of the game.  That’s why I am so big on the music!  You can have all the ins and outs covered but if your music sucks, personally, I am not interested.

The idea of “hustling” or being able to talk such a good game that opportunities are given to you for free or next to nothing seems to be dominating the culture of Hip-Hop as it becomes easier for people to gain visibility without exploring the older options of touring, print write ups, college radio, etc.  Bottom line, do you have steps in the back of your mind that you’d like to see artists take to become successful or a certain way of doing things that you could clue people who are reading this interview and might be doing music, onto?

Be yourself, be sincere and show respect.  I can spot someone who is trying to take advantage of me or just approaches me with their hand out from a mile away.  Those types of people I don’t even consider doing business with.  The music means the world to me, but if someone has that type of attitude or shadiness about them, I could care less because that type of “hustle” is a turn off. 

Build real relationships in this game and positive things will surround you.  Greediness may have its plus’s in the beginning but karma will come back around and bite you.  I have made so many positive moves in this industry just off the strength of being sincere & honest with people.  I do marketing very well, but I can’t design a flyer to save my life, so I have built a relationship with someone that does my stuff for me and in return I handle their marketing.  It’s not always what another person can do for you, but what can you do for them to an extent.  I am not saying that’s how you always have to think and be, but if you continuously come with your hand out, always asking favors and never in return get to know a person, what they’re into, what they like, and what they may need help with, you will continue to lose. 

If you look back on Hip-Hop’s history, each decade brings along with it something new.  Are you happy with Hip-Hop today or would like to see another paradigm shift in the music?

Do I hate it?  Na.  Do I love where hip hop is at right now?  Na.

I am an 80’s baby so I grew up on early to mid 90’s hip hop.  That is what I love and what I want to hear.  Now, to hate a new form of Hip-Hop/Rap just because it’s not my style is corny.  Times have changed so music will change.  Just like, your parents listen to stuff and as a kid you were like, “what is this trash mom?” your kids/grandkids will probably do the same as the music industry changes.

I still think that 90’s era of hip hop exists but it just really hidden, back then it was promoted and marketed heavy.  Now it is on the back burner to the public because the kids nowadays want to hear something different.  They want to have something that they can call their own just like we did.  The kids are buying the records, so that’s what the companies are going to push.  Would I love to see the golden era of hip hop come back?  Hell yes!  Will it?  Probably not.  There are still tons of emcee’s doing it for the right reasons but they will never have that same feel as the golden era.  The best I can do is adapt just like everyone else and support real artists who are doing it for the right reasons. 

Why did you want to get into the music industry on the other side of the business?

I started as a DJ when I was 14.  I was in the poetry clubs and started writing at age 9.  I produced, owned a studio, I did all that.  The odds that I would blow up were slim.  It’s not that I even sucked, but I had a better chance with the business side.

I knew I loved Hip-Hop so much…the culture, the music, the feeling you get when you hear a dope record, I couldn’t do anything else but be surrounded by Hip-Hop music for the rest of my life.  My chances of doing the business side were a lot greater than being in the industry musically. Don’t get me wrong, I still write and do studio sessions and make music for the love of it, but I take the skills I have and help other artists out.  I help with hook writing, co-producing, artist features and more.  I will always have a passion to create music but I feel like I have a better shot at helping someone else more talented.  A lot of artists can’t say that.  They can’t admit that maybe musically, they don’t belong in the industry.  Artists are afraid of the let down and admitting that, but in the long run they will only help themselves, the next person & the music industry with their decision. 

What is the worst experience you’ve had in dealing with new, fresh talent?

Laziness, attitudes, &  The “Friend Factor”.

So many artists come at me like “I am the best artist out!” “I am the next thing to blow!” “I am this, I am that” but in reality they are just OK at best.  Most artists want to get to the next level but don’t understand the work you have to do to get there.  You just don’t rap in the studio and that’s that, there is so much work to do and most artists don’t want to do it. 

The “Friend Factor” is when the artist has a close group of friends/family who tell them they are so dope when they really aren’t.  But, if I were to tell them that they aren’t dope, I am automatically a hater.  This ties in with attitude problems.  I understand having confidence but the “my way or the highway” attitude has to go.  You have to take criticism and advice, especially from people who have been doing this longer then you.  Shoot, I still take advice and will until my dying day.

Why did you decide to come to Madison, Wisconsin to do your first Midwest event when you have Minneapolis/St. Paul, Chicago, Detroit, and Milwaukee with larger populations and many of those cities having very rich Hip-Hop scenes?

Good question!  People are probably like “WTF!?!”

It’s strategy, its research, and it’s a little bit of hope & luck.  Obviously we wanted to come to a market in the Midwest, and we may still do those other cities that you mentioned.  After looking at the amount of colleges (13 of them) in the area, and what events go on out there now, and the feedback we received from just throwing the idea around, it was a no brainer.  We felt like the market is untouched and that we could find a diamond in the rough. 

Also, sometimes you have to take chances.  You have to roll those dice and see what happens, and luckily the feedback has been tremendous.  We could have bounced the idea around and passed because we were just not positive on how the event would be perceived by people, but it’s the people who take chances and do things differently that are remembered.  We want to give the artists from that region a chance to be heard, a chance to change the music industry, a chance that most people in certain areas take for granted!

This is a blog about Milwaukee Hip-Hop, so I have to ask this.  As an East Coast guy, specifically Philly, have any of the efforts of Milwaukee Hip-Hop artists hit your radar out there?  Is there any talk about any artists from Milwaukee or a perception about Milwaukee that you could share with us?

Honestly, I haven’t heard much about the MKE scene.  When you approached me with the MKE mixtape I was genuinely interested to see what the scene was about.  Politics aside, I really liked the music and was able to get it to the right people who liked it as well.  I think in the back of my mind that was another reason why we wanted to come out to Wisconsin.  We heard the talent but know the other parts of the country aren’t hearing it.  We wanted to be that lane & voice for y’all.

The artists that are being talked about out here are Smokes, Romey, JC Poppe & a few others.  I know there will be more after this event!  I can’t wait to network and meet them!

I did a post about the Get Your Buzz Up event coming to Madison and I noticed that there were some things left as “to be announced”.  Can you announce any of those developments now?

I wish I could, but we have some big things & sponsors in the works.  The prize package is absolutely insane right now and once we hopefully add a few more pieces, this may be the best prize package I have ever seen in ANY showcase! 

The judges are great, the panels will be very informative and the knowledge & relationships people will walk away with is priceless. 

We were just nominated for the “Best Event” at the Southern Entertainment Awards, which is a huge success for us just to be nominated.  We want to share our knowledge, love, and passion for this culture, and we do it like NO ONE else does!  So, please come experience a showcase that will never be duplicated.

Thanks for your time and incite!  Any shout outs?

Shout out to J Hatch aka Mogul Status, my brother from another mother!

Shout out to the whole HipHopDx staff & the whole Maad Management Staff!

Shout out to Nico The Beast, Chic Raw, Jakk Frost, Rox, KoKo, Oz, Nachural, 2ew Gunn Ciz, Boardroom Show, Brook, Don DiNapoli, Dino Blanco, Big O, Jodie, Ccelli, Rhythm J, Rob from Who Mag, Diana & Mig From AudioMaxx Studios and more!

Shout out to every single person who has influenced me in a positive way, and shout out to every person who has hated on me for no reason.  And, a special shout out to the teachers who told me I wouldn’t amount to shit when I was younger, no biggie pun intended!

I could go on for hours naming people! Shout out to every single follower I have on twitter!

If you’re looking to catch up with Mike about music or getting onto the Get Your Buzz Up showcase in Madison, here’s his information:

www.twitter.com/mikeofhiphopdx

www.twitter.com/getyourbuzzup

www.facebook.com/michael.trampe

www.facebook.com/getyourbuzzup

email: info@maadmanagement or getyourbuzzup@gmail.com

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An In Depth Interview About Important Things With A.P.R.I.M.E.

This Saturday AUTOMatic (A.P.R.I.M.E. and Trellmatic) is releasing the follow up to their beloved first album so I thought that it’d be important to try to get ahold of the recluse to ask him important questions about the most important things in the word.

The show is at bSide, Saturday, starting at 10PM, with special guests JDL, The Night Krawlers, Element, and Raze helping AUTOMatic out throughout the night.  Peep the poster for some info.

A.P.R.I.M.E., is there any truth to the rumor that you are an advocate for used popsicle sticks being recycled into artistic sculptures, or do you hate the environment?

That is a false statement! Please reveal your source…I’d love to smear honey on them and toss a hornet’s nest at them. But, to answer your question, I’m a fan of sculptures made of toothpicks and used sunflower seed shells.

When you sit down to write a song, how many cans of Lysol do you spray into the air to damage the ozone layer, if any at all?

I used to go through two with each songs until I was beaten nearly half to death by a gang of angry native americans…which was odd because I thought that they were more peaceful than that. I didn’t even get a warning…

What does being a Mutant have to do with your ability to spin in circles while chewing bubble gum?

Absolutely nothing. My mutant abilities allow me to do cartwheels while drinking a bottle of YooHoo.

Why do you like dirt?

I’m gonna tell you a secret…you and your readers have to put this in the vault…if you mix dirt and water…it makes dirt…shhh.

If you could be any animal in the world, would you ever consider being a panda bear? I’ve heard that they are endangered and could heavily benefit from people morphing into pandas.

I’d consider it…for like…a minute, but I’d never be one. Pandas are endangered, so clearly, they’re stupid little dumb dumbs. I’d be a wolf because I saw New Moon and I’d be able to go shirtless to show off my rockin’ new bod for a whole movie.

What color that doesn’t exist to known man is your personality?

Electric Willow…but check with the good folks at Crayola to make sure that it really doesn’t exist.

You speak words. That’s not a question, but I think it was important to bring up. React to it.

Tis’ true. I also speak numbers…and flip flurps which is gobben bleeps to jizzle womps.

When you and Trellmatic hang out, do you ever save people’s lives?

There was this one time that we were out and this guys car spontaneously combusted in front of us. We were totally gonna help, but these girls were checking us out and it’s not really sexy, smelling like charred Jetta…so that would be a no.

We know that the world isn’t flat, and that it is indeed round. However, wouldn’t it be fun if the world was a triangle?

I think it would be a blast if the world was a hexagon…that would totally rock!

What is the most dangerous thing you’ve ever experienced while sleeping in a bed on a space ship that happens to be orbiting Saturn?

Aliens attempted to kidnap me…not even the little green space kind…the one that can’t get green cards…it didn’t happen, though. Thank God for utility belts.

Are you real?

I’m actually a hologram, an awesome one, but a hologram nonetheless.

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Him & Her: Spinning Hip-Hop, Drinking, Smoking…All In A Night’s Work.

There’s Him.  There’s Her.  They’re DJ’s.  Milwaukee is their playground.

Both Jank One and DJ Venus have been rocking the 1′s and 2′s for a while but it was only recently that they joined forces to create a unique duo, a male/female DJ “crew”.  While this isn’t unique to the world, it’s something that I believe is rare in Milwaukee.  I don’t know too much about the history of the DJ scene and am not extremely up on all the different DJs out there, so if it isn’t a rare thing, please excuse my lack of knowledge.

What I do know is that they use each other’s specific talents to fill in the weaker spots of their personal styles in an attempt to create maximum satisfaction at whatever party/club/bar/etc. they rock.

Sometime last year, you two decided to join forces to become Him & Her.  What led to you coming together professionally?

Him: I saw her spin a few times and one night she played something that really caught my attention, I believe it was Mos Def.  I then begged her to spin with me and after weeks, she finally agreed.  She was really against DJ’ing with somebody else, but she tried it and loved it. 

Her: We had our first night together (yes, after a lot of begging) at the River Horse one night (in April of ‘09) and he played ALL my songs, and at the same time turned me on to some things I didn’t know about as well.  After that, I realized how nice it was to have a partner, especially one that has such similar taste in music.  After that first night, I never really wanted to have my own night again.

You two have distinct differences in your approach to DJ’ing.  Venus, you will play more familiar and updated music in your sets and Jank, you like to come out of left field on occasion with what you play.  How do you complement each other when rocking a gig/party together?

Him: We play off of each other.  I listen to her set and I tend to play the music I prefer which is more underground but still blends really well with what she plays.

Her: I think the question says it all.  We like a lot of the same stuff, but then each verge off into different directions.  Jank will go and play more things that are much more underground or that old school heads will get into and I’ll play more of the popular (yet not necessarily commercial) singles and dancy stuff, while still trying to stay true to real hip hop at the same time.  That’s one of the best things about us (in my opinion), that no matter who is in the crowd, they’ll be happy.

I’ve noticed that you guys are pretty busy with gigs each week.  What is your weekly/monthly schedule?

Each and every Tuesday at the Uptowner.

Every second Wednesday at the Riverhorse.

Every first Thursday for the “Rock Hop” at Mad Planet.

Every third Friday at the Riverhorse.

Certain Monday’s for “Sucka Free Mondays” at the Highbury.

Various shows and parties elsewhere.

You cater to more of a Hip-Hop crowd generally, and you happen to DJ in Milwaukee…so how important is local Hip-Hop to each of you?

Him: It’s our core audience and they help us get gigs and help us get shows so it’s very important.  I’m personally not into a lot of local artists but i can appreciate what they do.

Her: A lot of my first DJ’ing gigs were for local hip hop shows so without them, I wouldn’t have the experience that I have.  I appreciate that a lot.  When I DJ, I do try to play the local artists I like as often as I can.  When I’m not DJ’ing, I try to attend events and support artists/DJ’s/bands etc. as much as possible.  There are a lot of local artists that I do really like, I just wish they would grind harder to get their stuff out there on a more national/global stage, so sometimes that can be frustrating on a personal level.  There is quite a bit of talent here and the “scene” is bustling lately.  It’s kind of an exciting time for Milwaukee hip hop, I think.

You two started doing podcasts in which you play a few songs, but mostly just give your thoughts about a myriad of topics while drinking and smoking…making it feel like the listener is sitting in your living room with you.  What’s going on with that?

Him: We’ve been slacking on that a little.  But, that was exactly what we were going for.  We get drunk, talk shit, and play our favorite songs.  We keep it comfortable.

Her: Yeah, we’ve totally been slacking on recording more podcasts.  Let me just say too that I was initially very reluctant about the whole podcast idea.  I just didn’t get it.  But, Jank talked about it constantly and eventually made me listen to Kevin Smith’s smodcast which really convinced me of how good of an idea it was.  I’ve grown to really enjoy doing them. 

Every week you see posters hit the net for this party and that party.  With all the competition that pops up, what makes Him & Her the DJ duo to be around versus the others out there?

Him: Nobody really plays underground hip hop here consistently.  There are some that claim to, but they really don’t (except for a few like JDL and T-Money).  People who want to hear the real shit, come out to see us and we give them a good show every time.

Her: There are no other DJ duos out there…and we play good shit.

What’s the goal of Him & Her?  Are you looking to expand on what you are already doing?

Him: I’d like for us to travel more and do more out-of-state gigs.  I’d eventually like for us to make it overseas where I hear they appreciate hip hop a little more. I also want to get more free shit.

Her: Definitely.  We are just in the beginning stages of Him & Her.  We have lots of plans and I think we’re about ready to start making those plans happen.  We are ready for big things.

If somebody wants to hit you up to DJ a party or gig, how can they contact you?

You can contact us through djvenus.com, djvenus2012@gmail.com, or dsjphotog@gmail.com.

People are curious about your personal relationship.  Can you tell us anything about that?

Him: No.

Her: No.

Any shout outs?

YES!  Big shout out to 88.9 Radio Milwaukee and the Mad Kids Show on 91.7 for always promoting our events/gigs, and anyone that has put us on their shows/events and chosen us when they could’ve got any slacker from down the street…everyone who comes out and supports our nights…you…and you…and you.

CHECK OUT THEIR NEWEST PODCAST RIGHT HERE!!!

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Dave Derrilykt – He Wants To Make You Sound Real Good (interview)

Dave Derrilykt is a guy who has been around for a while in the Milwaukee music scene.  Recently Dave has gone through a sort of rebirth into Milwaukee Hip-Hop after a short break.  Last year he was one of the main sources that helped Panic to put his album out and this year he turned the success from that into recording projects for SPEAK Easy, SPEAK’s group Same Difference (with Frankie Flowers, Maal Himself, and TKS), and others.  Dave also engineered the single version of my song “Dribble” (produced by 88-Keys)…so this guy has been busy.

Between the Miltown Beat Down and some of the artists that you are working with, I’ve been hearing your name a lot lately.  Who are you all working with right now?

Right now I am working with SPEAK Easy, MAAL Himself, TKS, Frankie Flowers, Panic, SunE-P, Lone One (Texas), Patrice Downey and several other young up and coming artists.

You do sample based beats as well as organic beats in which you build everything by playing the parts yourself.  Which style do you enjoy doing more?

Man it’s really hard to choose.  Sampling is nothing but fun, but there are limitations.  The fact that you can find some super dope, unheard of, weird, and cocky samples, is usually what draws me to sampling.  ”Organic” beat making is super fresh though too, because there really aren’t any limitations, as in you can pretty much just make it up as you go.  I admit that sometimes I take it a little far and add way too many instruments and then it’s no longer a beat….it’s an instrumental.

What is your process when sitting down to compose a beat or chop samples?  What are you weapons of mass production?

I use Reason 4 along with Recycle for sampling…I usually just find a song that peaks my interest enough that I want to sample it.  I load it into Recycle and chop it up where it makes the most sense.  I usually chop up the entire song because there is always something in there that you might not think will work until you start laying out the drums and bassline.  I usually use the DR. Rex in Reason for the sample I chopped.

As far as composition, I take a different route almost every time.

The software I use is of course, Reason, Recycle, Acid Pro 7, Sound Forge 9, and T-Racks 3.1 Deluxe with a SHIT TON of plugins.

You have worked with a lot of local artists as well as some national artists over the past decade or so.  Looking at the Milwaukee scene as it is right now, what do you see?

The Milwaukee scene is different.  We have a lot of clicks, we have a lot of Hollywood artists that think there shit doesn’t stink…we have a lot of overly cocky “Producers” and Emcees that kind of make the scene lame at times…at the same time we have some of the best artists that stay humble and stay involved in making our HIP HOP scene a positive, cooperative, and enticing scene to be involved in.  We have a very limited Record label base, though the ones that I do see really have a passion for what they are doing and they keep our city alive by backing and promoting our local artists…and that’s just dopeness.  Our little city has come a long way from not having a damned thing really happening to an explosion of basement studios that are putting out some nice music…OUR VENUES NEED TO BACK US MORE THOUGH!!!!!

(in a Forest Gump voice) That’s all I have to say about that!!!

We’ve talked a little bit about your producing, but now let’s switch to your engineering.  You did Panic’s album a little while back and I know that you are doing SPEAK Easy’s different projects right now.  When it’s time to mix and make sure everything sounds right, what processes do you use to yield the results you want to hear?

The Process of mixing is fun man, it’s a never-ending road that has many intersections of “well what the fuck am I going to do with this one?” type shit….LOL…nah really for me it’s just getting my pre-sets set up on the tracks, bussing what I need to bus, and EQing what needs to be EQed.  PLUGINS PLUGINS PLUGINS.  I got a real nice kit from Raze called WAVES and its nothing but SICK (shout out to Raze Blackie Chan Norris) once I get a mix I like at high DB’s then i crank everything DOWN and finish the mix-down quiet enough to have a whispering conversation, that way I can really hear what’s going on with the song.  Other than that, I plead the 5th!!

Some may not know this, but you are also an emcee…though that was more in the past…how come you put down the mic?  Is there any possible return to the mic coming in the near future?

Emcee? who?

Yeah man I was rappin, rappin, rappin, for quite a while.  When I was with Starving Artists PerfeXshunists and ShutDemDown records, I just had a craving for making as many rhymes as I could.  I always tried to keep them complex and my cadence was pretty bananas but I couldn’t find in my mind anything else to write about.  I lost inspiration and I had a lot of recording, engineering, and beatmaking to do.  Maybe I will one day decide to start spitting again.  SPEAK is always kind of telling me I should.  We’ll see!!

If somebody is looking for studio time, how can they get ahold of you to talk about booking sessions?

You can call me at 414-779-5959.  Email me at derrilyktdave@gmail.com or Facebook me at DaveAUDIOPILOTmiller.

As a producer and engineer, what is the most important thing you hope to convey through the music, or for people to take away from what you do?

I just hope that they appreciate the time I put into my mixes as well as the consistency of my quality.

Any shout outs?

Peace to all my brothers and sisters over at UNI-FI Records, House Of M, Panic, Sam Winters, all the artists managed by IV Tin Soldiers Management, and of course my family:  Amanda, Zoe, Maddy, Pilot and of course Dexter.

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Haz Solo – Taking Chances In The Name Of Growth (interview)

If you like Hip-Hop and specifically the Milwaukee Hip-Hop scene, there is no possible way that you have missed the name “Haz Solo”.

With a steady stream of beat tapes, mixtapes, albums, and other stuff, Haz is one of those artists that shows his dedication to his craft and beyond that, he is going to take chances.  Those may be musical chances or they may be life chances, either way, he is intent on living on his own schedule and he is motivated to make music his career, beyond just being his life.

The road of Haz Solo the artist has been an interesting one.  You’ve been a part of a super group, you’ve done solo releases as an emcee and as a producer, you’ve teamed up with a close friend to do an album, you’ve released a project with people met via the internet, all which has led you to move to Los Angeles.  What’s the plan from here?

Get cake.  Next question.

You took the route of getting out of Milwaukee to pursue music professionally.  Do you personally feel that moving to a music capital is going to be the only way a Milwaukee artist breaks or do those who remain in the city have a chance of gaining enough attention to maybe draw consumerism their way?

It’s all about strategy, who you know, skills, and working smart.  It’s not about where you reside that’s holding you (artist) back.  I don’t think that builds up the confidence in Milwaukee, nor the artist.  We have to think beyond the city in order to grow.  Can’t stay inside the house all your life.  You have to see the world and what it has to offer.

With the world getting smaller thanks to overnight delivery and the wonderful internet, more and more people are doing projects with artists from all over the planet without needing money to fly them here and there.  Technology is pretty wonderful in that way.  You recently did an EP with a guy from California and another guy from North Carolina.  What was that experience like?

Yes Yes!  Keno and Wallsauce, better known as theOTHERSIDE.  I found out about these cats through this cat King Alga who randomly hit me up on Myspace telling me about a clothing line.  He introduced us virtually.  From there, after the first record we thought it would only be right to start on an EP.  I’ve worked with a lot of folks online and it’s a great resource.  I’ve met tons of talented artists online.  I wish I could work with all of them or at least link them with other dope artist.

You have a really good musical relationship with Dylan Thomas outside of your friendship.  Your album All Jokes Aside was really enjoyable.  What was it like crafting an entire album together?  There has to be some good (true) stories you can talk about.  (Note: *true* is included because Haz and Dylan are quite the jokesters when it comes to many things, specifically each other)

HAHAHA!  Well working on AJA was a cool experience.  It was still sort of a long distance thing since he stays in Racine and I was in Milwaukee, so we sent tracks back and forth via the net, to having meetings at the Jackalope Lounj exchanging beat CD’s.  We’ve also written a few songs together in the same room as well as recorded them.  As you stated we are both jokesters but we got the job done.

1 story:  Ya momma.

Whaz seems to be another kindred spirits of yours.  How do you guys work together when he’s designing for you?  Do your minds seems to meet on an etheral plane where you just know what each other wants?

Yes, you are exactly right!  Most of the time we collab on projects, I have the music already done which gives him an idea of what to create visually.  I’m usually not there while he is being creative.  One of his things I guess.  I like to be surprised on the final outcome as well.  Never surprised on how ill it turns out though.

A friend of mine recently moved to L.A. to make it in music (he’s a dope singer/songwriter) and he loves it out there.  He of course misses some of the aspects of Milwaukee.  What do miss, if anything, about the Cream City?

Family, friends, Speed Queen, weather……yup that’s it.

Not only did you make a move across the country, but you also recently took some time out to visit Japan.  How was your trip to Japan?  What was experiencing such a foreign culture like that like musically?

Japan was amazing to say the least.  It was definitely inspiring just being out of the states.  Being on turf on the other side of the world was an eye-opening experience for me.  I did create during my stay.  I made a slew of beats and wrote a few rhymes.

If my memory serves me correctly, your father is a musician.  In your estimation, how did that affect your approach to composing beats and rhymes?

My pops is amazing.  Very talented man.  Like father like son…end of story.  No for real, he has inspired me to go far beyond my limits musically.  You’ll see a growth in my music soon.  I’m just now putting the advice he has given me to use.

You tend to have a lot more fun lyrically, and are filled with punch lines and quick turns of a phrase.  Where did you get your sense of humor and how did you decide to apply it to your rhymes?

Thank you sir for that compliment.  Truthfully, I’ve always been witty.  Since I was a child I would sit back and observe everything funny.  It’s just natural.

Doom is an interesting person who loves to play his character and misses shows on occasion saying that people are there to see his character and not necessarily him.  Being that you are a Doom fan, how do you feel about that?  Also, have you ever filled in for Doom when he hasn’t felt like performing?  Was that YOU in Chicago several months ago?

He is an artist!  He can do whatever he wants (#villain).  If you choose to purchase a ticket to a DOOM show after knowing about his stunts and get mad and rowdy, you should be ashamed.  It’s all a part of being a super-villain.  And, NO that was not me in Chicago.  I was on the last train to Paris…no Diddy.

When you are creating a beat and are looking for a sample to cultivate into something more, how do you begin your journey?

I usually start off by a random grab at a stack of records.  I look for smooth rhythms.  It doesn’t have to be soul music, it could be rock, jazz, reggae, etc… then I chop away.

What do you like more:  Emceeing or Beatsmithing…and why?

Right now my thing has been producing…it has taken the lead of HAZ SOLO now.  I still write and love to write rhymes, just haven’t been on that lately.  Producing and creating different sounds inspires me to write now…I spent so much time rhyming over industry beats I figure I make some ill shnit to catch wreck on.

Any shout outs?

Shouts out to Milwaukee, all my folks in L.A., Chicago, The Racine Bully (Dylan Thomas), JIMIJAMES <=She’s everything, all of my friends in Japan, Whaz, my blood cousin D. Ellzey, Papa Hun all Day, UMG, The Cranberry Show, House of M, DJ Madhatter, Tarik Moody, Darren Cole, Signif, theOTHERSIDE, NOah Deeakili, Frankie Flowers, any and everyone who has been an inspiration in my life I thank you ALL.  Nothing but LOVE.

To catch up with Haz on Twitter, hit him up at @HAZxTHEWORLD.

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Dana Coppafeel – The Man Never Stops Working (interview)

I’ve said it before and I will say it again:  Dana Coppafeel is one of the hardest working people in Milwaukee Hip-Hop.

All you have to do is look at the resume of the man with the suggestive name and you will have proof of the previous statement.  He’s released numerous projects, featured on numerous tracks, performed hundreds of shows, hosted tons of parties and events, brought lots of quality Hip-Hop to Milwaukee, and often goes beyond the music by designing art for other rappers, as well as custom hats, etc.

Coppa has been very busy so far this year so I thought half way through 2010 would be a good time to catch up with Dana to discuss what’s already been done and what’s to come.

So far, as a solo artist, you’ve released a well received album in Coppa’s Welfare Foods and you just dropped The Feature, a mixtape that has strung together a lot of tracks that you have been a part of over the past few years.  What else do you have on tap solo wise for this year? 

I’m hoping to drop a few more solo things, so to speak, this year.  Maybe two EPs, possibly.  I’ve been working on a project with my homie Josue (aka Da Ricanstruckta) out in Madison…we’ve been good friends for a long time.  We used to be roommates and had a group together when i was living out there.  So, I’ve been taking trips out there lately to record an EP with him.  We are getting real close to finishing it, just a few more tracks to record, but we are taking our time with this project just to make sure everything sounds right.  Hopefully we can drop it this year.

The other EP I’m working on is with Reason from 4AR.  He has produced a lot of stuff for KingHell lately, and, well I’ve been talking about doing something with him since he hit me with the “Money Off The Tilt” beat.  I’ve been going out to his studio to work on that and it has been real cool.  We have a few tracks recorded with a few solid ideas ready to go and I hope this will be ready by the end of the year too.

We don’t really have any names ready for the projects yet.  We’ll just see what we come up with as we are wrapping them up.

Last year you had a super busy group year between the KingHellBastard EP that yielded “Danger” and the House of M’s first album.  This year you have both a KHB vinyl EP and an album coming out.  With so any different interests, and constantly being busy with music or designing posters/promo stuff/hats/etc., how do you keep everything straight?

Honestly I don’t know.  I just try to channel the person I want to be at the end of my goals and focus on that.  I just do what I need to do when it’s time to do it.  It’s really nothing more than that, outside of the fact I love doing all this stuff so it makes it easy.

Tell me about the KHB EP.  The release is right around the corner and there are some fantastic features on the project.  How did you pull all of those features together as well as decide to only release it on vinyl?

The name of the EP is Remember The Name which kind of speaks for itself.  There are 8 tracks on it, which one of the songs is a remix, so actually 7 songs.  Feature wise we have Sadat X of the legendary Brand Nubian, Raasahan Ahmad of Oakland’s Crown City Rockers, Stricklin of EMC, Akrobatik of the Perceptionists, and White Shadow of Norway. 

Our homie Coolzey hooked us up with both Sadat X and Raasahan Ahmad.  Coolzey is good friends with both of them and has toured quite often with both of them.  A lot of the time, we hook up the Milwaukee shows for those tours, so through Coolzey, we were able to build relationships with both of them.

Shemp from KHB has ties to both White Shadow and Stricklin.  He was in a group with White Shadow called Pizdamen and he knows Strick from the old Top Floor days before Stricklin signed to Tommy Boy.  Our DJ 1L has been good friends with Akrobatik for many years now so it just seemed like the right time to utilize the connects we made over the years to throw all onto one project.

The vinyl idea was kind of my idea.  Over the years I’ve dropped a few vinyl projects and always got back some great feedback about them…what I mean by that is feedback from other countries that my cd would never get touched in.  I felt like with the big names on this project that we could generate some decent noise in other places that were still open to vinyl and the underground aspect of Hip-Hop.  A lot of the artists that we have on this vinyl have a bigger crowd outside of the U.S. and maybe we can use that to our advantage.  Nobody around here really puts out vinyl except a small group of people, and all of those people who have, have received great opportunities because of their dropping vinyl.

We are going to put out a digital copy on iTunes so that we can still get it to the people who don’t have turntables.  One of the songs off the project, “Ma’waukee” is being used right now as the opening song for the Grind Time Now BrewCity BarFights series, which two of battles that are out right now from that series have about 20,000 views together.  There has been some good feedback from that as well, people wondering and asking about that song, so to not get to those people on a digital format would be stupid on our part.

The release party is going to be August 21st at Mad Planet.  Raashan Ahmad will be there along with a few surprises.  Also, we’ll be shooting a video that weekend, teaming up with Alphabang’s own D Wood again for “I Believe”, featuring Raasahan, while he is in town just to give our project a little more push.  A video for that song just seems right because 88.9 Radio Milwaukee has put that song in to regular rotation now.  Everything is really coming together for this project nicely.

Earlier this year you did an interview with the Milwaukee branch of The Onion’s AV Club that caused some controversy.  You took the Milwaukee media to task saying that they weren’t doing what needed to be done to seek out and support Milwaukee Hip-Hop and it really ruffled the feathers of Steve Hyden, the Editor of AV Club Milwaukee, to the point that he even wrote a blog post responding to your comments.  Now that there has been a few months for all that to breathe, and the AV Club made sure to cover the release of your new mixtape, what are your thoughts on how all that went down?

The thing is I never really felt that I wasn’t getting any cover in the media and I wasn’t crying for more.  I do just fine.  The problem I was trying to state was that these media outlets here do a lot of recycling of names and the questions when covering local Hip-Hop in general.  The funny thing is I got a lot of love from people who work at these publications, who sent me private emails, who agreed with me.  Even Steve Hyden said he likes a person who is bold and honest, and that he respects me for speaking out.  I think that article is part of the reason why Milwaukee UP is up and running now, am i wrong?  I just didn’t want to use my time to talk about me blowing up.

I know that you and your fellow KHB’ers are playing a tour for the late summer/early fall.  How is all that coming along?  Do you have any details you can tell us about yet?

Everything is starting to come together.  We’ll be on the road for about 3 weeks more or less.  I think we are going down south and over to the east coast within that time frame.  I can’t really give more than that because a lot of the dates are still up in the air.

Dana Coppafeel is known as a guy who brings quality Hip-Hop artists to Milwaukee as well as putting together interesting and unique events for the Hip-Hop community.  Recently you were able to bring a Grind Time Now event to Milwaukee.  How did you manage that and how did it go?

Actually, they contacted me about doing a Milwaukee event.  The person who contacted me was the Midwest league’s President, Sonny Bamboo, which was super fresh.  My homies from Covert Empire; Rye Bread, Fresco, and Avyee; are the ones who put me on to Grind Time and all 3 of them have been featured in many battles that Grind Time hosted.  They definitely put a good word in Sonny’s ear about Milwaukee wanting to do an event.  Flow Clothing was all about using their store as a venue and everything else just fell together.  It has been a good connect for me as well and we hope to have some more Grind Time events here in the future.  Sonny must have had a good time to because he just invited me to be a judge at the next event in Chicago on August 25th.  I just see it as another way of getting Milwaukee out there to a whole different audience.

On the side, you occasionally design stuff, most notably the Think Tank 59/50 New Era hats you did.  Are you working on any designs right now?

Yes I am.  I just submitted my new designs to New Era about a week ago.  I’m just playing the waiting game now to get my proofs back from New Era before they go into production.  Last year I designed 7 hats which is just crazy to me.  I designed the 2 Think Tanks and 5 Brewer hats for Flow Clothing.  I think that has been my biggest accomplishment.  I always dreamed of designing hats.  I’m an artist, I graduated from an art school, I did graffiti in high school…my whole life I was drawing.  I used to draw my own Jordan designs and team hats.  With these new Think Tank 59/FIFTIES I’m going to team up with my homie Rick from illwaukee custom sneaker (http://www.illwalkees.blogspot.com/) to do some exclusive releases of limited skateboard decks, custom Think Tank shoes, and t-shirts for the launch party.  I’m truly amped for this next batch.  This is all exclusive with only 36 of each style of hat ever going to get made and you can only get them from me…THINK TANK.

You have seen Milwaukee Hip-Hop grow and shrink, ebb and flow, in your years of experience with it.  How do you feel about the scene as a whole right now?

Milwaukee is growing and the talent is only getting better. Out of all the years that I’ve been here, this is like the best I’ve seen the scene to be honest.  As a whole, I can say that I’m proud of our little scene. 

Any shout outs?

To everybody who has supported me in one way or another, thanks.

KINGHELLBASTARD

HOUSE OF M

UNI-FI RECORDS

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