The big homie, Hassan, at ThaTrunk.com recently chopped up with Devin the Dude to get his take on hip hop, the secret to his keeping his loyal fan base, and of course, matters involving WEED. Here’s that interview.
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From Hassan…
You don’t expect to see a legend standing alone with his back to the wall as if he was nobody to be heard, but that’s what he was doing when I first saw him. Laid back “In the cut” waiting for his time on stage. Moments later fans lucky enough to be in VIP were throwing bags of green at him, quarters and halves at a time. Assuming he wanted his space before he went on stage, we wished him well and left him to it.
Standing just outside VIP, we begin to smell the” herbal essence” wafting from the door. After turning back to see what was going on, we were pleasantly surprised to see surrounded by a cloud of smoke, rolling papers and coughers is Devin the Dude again, not surrounded by bodyguards yelling at people to get out, but chillin’, smoking, laughing, drinking and conversing. Like any man with half a brain, when a fine specimen of the opposite sex walked by, he looked. If she stopped and spoke and/or smoked, he greeted her like a southern gentleman, no rush. Though a Texas legend in the eyes of many (mine included),at that moment he was just an average man, like you and me. After passing me a Fireman’s 4 while on his way to take a few behind the scenes photos, I almost forgot I was kickin’ it with “The Dude” with the southern melodic flow, the cat that made “Boo Boo’n” and “Lacville ’79” those southern playa classics that the hood affiliates and backpackers alike roll to and roll up to.
It was an honor to interview him earlier that day, as he told us about the new album distributed through his team so aptly named “The Coughee Brothaz.” He let us know that Independent Hip Hop is the way to go, unless you’re getting a deal with a major that’s only short term. Staying Independent and still having a voice is something that young rappers have the advantage of doing these days, versus what Devin had when he was coming up.
Hassan Johnson: Big Devin, what’s going down man?
Devin the Dude: Oh, man, coolly cool man. Headed to Austin[Texas]. How’s it goin’?
Hassan Johnson: Chillin’ man. You have an autograph signing coming up and a show tonight, right?
Devin the Dude: Yeah man, we’re goin’ to Mr. Nice Guy’s first man. Then ah, head on over there to Antone’s later on this evening.
Hassan Johnson: Okay, we’re gonna catch up with you over there as well. A lot of our fan base is made up of independent hip hop artists and, you know, we told them we were gonna interview you today and everybody went crazy. So they hit us with questions about how you came up in the game. They just want to hear it from the horse’s mouth, so to speak.
Devin the Dude: I’m originally from St. Petersburg, Florida, but I moved to Texas in fourth grade. In third grade I was pretty much a DJ, man. I collected records. We lived in front of a radio station, WRXV, which is still there. I used to collect all the records. Every Wednesday they’d throw some records in the trash and I would go get them.
I mean I had been collecting and enjoying music and kind of writing lyrics and stuff. If they [the records] didn’t have the lyric I’d try to learn them. I’d pull the needle up and down after a sentence or a line or two you know, and write the lyrics down to the whole song. I was kind of into that for a minute. I thought that I would make a career out of it, but at the time, you know, I just enjoyed the music.
From there I went to breakdancing, man. We used to breakdance in crews, and moonwalk; we were called the moonwalkers in the sixth grade and then moved into breakdancing. After breakdancing I just eventually started rapping man. So that’s what we started breakdancing to.
Hassan Johnson: Why do you think your fan base is so loyal? People live and die for Devin the dude.
Devin the Dude: [humbly laughs]. Oh man. That’s good to hear man. But uh, I just appreciate music, and I love music, different kinds of music, and different kinds of artists, you know. I have different favorite, artists that I listen to, and bands, and, and solo artists and what have you. My appreciation of music, I guess it goes through the music that I make. I guess they can appreciate that.
And the weed got a lot to do with it too, you know what I’m saying?
Hassan Johnson: [laughs] That’s a good segue, man. One of our fans wanted to know what’s your favorite strain?
Devin the Dude: White widow. White widow. When it’s grown properly, then, that would be my favorite. There’s so many other kinds. I mean, I, I enjoy a whole bunch and I have a lot of close seconds and thirds but white widow’s my favorite.
Hassan Johnson: Who would you say your favorite artist is right now?
Devin the Dude: It’s hard to say right now. All my favorites are mostly old school cats. Whomever you grew up on, I guess that’s like most people. Not taking anything from the artist out today because, you know, things change. If you’re doing hip hop and making a career out of it and feeding the family, it’s all good.
Hassan Johnson: Would you consider yourself a mainstream artist or an underground artist?
Devin the Dude: Probably an underground artist. I mean if you say more than 2 cuss words you’re an underground artist. I mean they’ll place you where they want you. Other people kind of, you know, place it, I don’t. I don’t put a brand or name on it.
Hassan Johnson: With the digital world the way it is, independent/underground hip hop market is the best it’s ever been. Now as an independent you can get your voice out there without havin’ to have a record deal. What’s your opinion on that? How’s the game different from your perspective versus 10, 15 years ago?
Devin the Dude: Yeah that’s pretty much true man. As far as being independent that’s pretty much the way to go, but first you gotta kinda establish a name or establish a promotional idea and marketing, and a good band or artists or what have you. You gotta kinda get the name out there, you know.
Getting going through a major sometimes is good for a lot of people. You know a couple of years, a couple of albums with a major, they can build a name for themselves and then break off independently and make it happen.
There are different avenues, but independent investment is pretty much the way to go. You get to control where your album lands, the strategy on it, and the longevity of it, because a lot of labels will promote you for a few months and then move on to the next one.
Hassan Johnson: Who are you with right now?
Devin the Dude: I’m with Coughee Brothaz. That’s my label man.
Hassan Johnson: Do you think you’re gonna work with Dr. Dre on his new album?
Devin the Dude: There are a lot of people involved on that too man, if I get a chance to make it that would be cool. But if not man, I’m still supporting and you know. There’s a lot of talents that’s always gonna be associated with his album.
Hassan Johnson: Are you interested in working with artists that are coming up, and if you are, how do you determine which up and coming artists get on the track with you?
Devin the Dude: Oh man well, we built a relationship over the years working with local artists and independent labels cats who are hungry and down for it. You know they know the business or are willing get to know the business and doing it right. So yeah man that’ll be cool to work with local independent artists. To go about it is just a matter of timing. You know, you run into somebody with a CD or a freestyle, or something that catches your attention. Just be hungry and love your craft and be real serious about what you’re doing. For the most part it’s the music. The subject matter we’re about or what’s happening. That’ll kind of inspire me. Sometimes I just wanna jump on the track because I like it already and it means something and it would seem like it will stick around for a while.
Hassan Johnson: This is the last question. What do you want to tell your fans about you and where you are right now in the music game, whether that is creatively, business-wise, anything?
Devin the Dude: Right now, it’s just a matter of having enough people to have a meal over the years, you know? I got the next album coming out with the Coughee Brothaz. We had one called “White Nocturne” that came out with Select-O-Hits, and this’ll be with Select-O-Hits again to build a little catalogue there. Those are some pretty cool cats over there too. We’re going to come out with another one (album) here in, March and April then hit the road.
Guest Writer:
Hassan F. Johnson
CEO of ThaTrunk.com
http://twitter.com/ThaTrunkdotcom
