Durrty Goodz on "Rap News"
Taken from
http://rapnews.co.uk/?p=1156
Durrty Goodz
September 10th, 2007
We interview the most exciting rapper in the UK right now about his latest EP, his incredible flow, what artists he's feeling and his take on major labels and the UK scene.
First up, please introduce yourself to the people and tell them what you do.
Yo, I’m Durrty Goodz the Grimy MC, representing true Hiphop and Grime foundation from the UK.
Where abouts are ya from?
I’m from everywhere I’m at. I rep every side that backs me.
Are you part of a crew or affiliated with any other heads?
Nah, no crew at present. I’m affiliated with anyone I feel is hot! All Hot MC’s outside the M25, holla at me. I want to work with the best MC’s and beat makers from all over the UK, not just london.
How long have you been making music and who are some of the names that first inspired and influenced you?
Ever since I could talk I’ve been doing this. I got hooked on the music that was coming out of that little radio in my Gran's kitchen. I used to love listening to Dennis Brown, Bob Marley and Gregory Isaacs, but when I heard the DJs I was enamored by the spitting. It started with U-ROY through to Shabba, Tiger, Ninja, Papa San and Supercat. While all that was going on, my uncle put me on to KRS One’s 'Criminal minded'.
It took one blast from the Blast Master and I was hooked, and from that I was into Big Daddy Kane, Slick Rick, Rakim, Public Enemy, Ice Cube, EPMD, LL Cool J through to Demon Boyz, Hijack and London Posse.
What releases have you put out up to now and how has your style changed since day one to where it's now at?
To be honest I count 'Axiom EP' as my first official release as the stuff previous were freestyles that where leaked and bootlegged.
Tell us about 'Axiom'. What's the title mean and what can people expect on there?
'Axiom' means self evident truth. I’m a firm believer in that old maxim 'quality over quantity'. My favorite albums have less tracks than current albums and I feel that the music was more focused. I can still listen to classics like 'Illmatic' and 'Thriller' from beginning to end without getting bored and that’s what I wanted to show within Grime/Hiphop.
How long did you spend on it and who's handling the beats?
Well if anything, I spent the most time thinking of concepts and trying to find the right beats to fit the vision. I learned while making my upcoming album, not to just work on tracks in isolation, but to view the whole thing as a body of work that can be played from beginning to end.
I try to zoom out of the picture I’m painting. This gives me a clear vision of the track listing and needed dynamics while I’m writing the songs. I try to view each track as a scene in a movie script that just needs the right music score to bring it to life. don’t believe in wasting time in the studio so I wrote the lyrics in a week and then booked studio time when I felt it was solid. I feel that studios should be used to execute the idea and capture the performance so I laid the vocals in a day and a bit and that was it, but with all the mix and mastering took about 2 weeks to complete.
I got beats from many different types of beat makers so I could simply bring them all under one roof and make it be about good music and not all this genre splitting stuff. I got beats from DVA, Coki, Kromestar and F1, Young Dot, Bass Clef, Fireworkz and Ignorants.
You've got one of the tightest flows in the UK. How long have you spent developing and progressing it?
We’ll I’ve been doing this since I can remember but as of perfecting it, I’m always doing that because I’m never happy. I’m always looking for new flows and rhyme schemes to exploit. I write all my lyrics in my head and feel my flows and breath control come out a lot better than if I was to use a pen and pad. I feel that writing mentally gives me the edge when recording as I normally one take it as standard.
We've been trying to think of who you sound like and Ludacris was a name that came up. Reckon that's right?
Thanks, that’s a complement as I feel he is one of the tightest percussive spitter’s. I suppose it’s human nature to compare, but I honestly think I’m a mixture of a few MC’s from the passed rolled into one 'Durrty Goodz', haha.
What new projects are you working on and when will they see the light of day?
I’m currently working on 'Durrty Whurll 2' to be followed by the album 'Born Blessed'. I’m trying my best to make 'Durryt Whurll 2' a street classic. Just looking for the perfect beats. If anyone out there’s got some future classics, holler at me on my Myspace. Upload the fire and send me the link. Jokers need not apply! Myspace.com/officialdurrtygoodz
Are you happy to keep it underground or is linking with a major label something you plan on sorting?
I’ve done the Major thing before and I’m doing the ground work they cant do anyway. If the right deal was on the table, hmmmmm, maybe. Then again, maybe not as I don’t feel like being the next Urban Tax right off, haha.
On the real, being on a Major label right now is way risky in my opinion as they still operating on an outdated business model, trying to flog a flawed currency. It’s about getting the music to the people and as far as I can see, the indie’s are doing that just fine right now. Whole tight to Prince.
Which MC's do you most rate right about now, and who'd you like to get a collaboration going with?
I rate Dizzee, Kano, The Movement, Bashy, Sway, P-money, Task force. US, I rate KRS One, Busta, Luda, Twista, Pharoahe Monch, Talib, Redman, Eminem and Kanye West.
You smashed it on Logan Sama's Kiss show a while back. How much practice goes into such militant rhyming?
I’m always writing something in my head. I just decide to focus on radio for a couple days and write or think of freestyle lines strictly for radio specific radio shows. I don’t like spraying the same bars everywhere I go. I used to but now my think is about having bars tailor made for the show that I’m on.
How much of it's pre-written and memorized and how much are you making things up on the spot?
To me it’s all a freestyle 'cause I don’t write anything down anyway. The only difference is one is done in real time and the other is not.
Would you enjoy hearing more Grime MC's trying a genuine freestyle in the traditional sense, rather than having bars pre-planned?
Would be nice. Not impossible but very awkward as spitting on double time beats and triple rhyming is a bit much and will get messy. Haha. I can do it but it’s so much easier over slower tempos as you have breathing space to think of your next line and it doesn't all have to be technical with triple rhymes. Basically the rhyming grid is extremely tight in Grime and a lot of MC’s would be tripping over cordless mics trying to do it. Haha.
Have you got any shout out's you want to throw out there?
Big up to all my Grime fans and all true participators in real Hip Hop culture!