Interview met de Lords Of The Underground

Being in the game for a long time, you've probably inspired a lot of people. But who inspired you to do what you do?

Dj Lord Jazz: I'm a DJ/producer. So before anything, I listen to the music, the beats. DJ's like Marley Marl, Jazzy Jeff, Grandmaster Flash. So these guys had a big influence on me as a DJ. But for me, growing up in Cleveland, some of the local DJ's got me into . That was between 1980 and 1984. So my first thing in hiphop was checking out these DJ's.

DoItAll: My influence with hiphop was at one point probably not even hiphop . It was what my moms was playing. She was playing Motown records, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, James Brown offcourse . She was a soulfull singer, so she always played those type of joints, like the Whispers, The Temptations and all that. But for me it was the Sugar Hill Gang. It wasn't really their swagger, but what they were doing, how they started a movement. From there it went to Run , from RUN DMC. I loved Runs swagger, he was an ill MC. From there it went to LL Cool J, Marley Marl and T La Rock and so on.

You named a lot of names. Nas has named those names also. He did the track 'Where Are They Now' on his ' Hiphop Is Dead' album. You were on the remix, doing 8 bars. He obviously appreciated your influence on rap. Were you surprised Nas asked you for the remix?

DoItAll : Nas is a smart thinker. When it comes to putting out his albums, he always has some type of catch. Some type of thing that is going to grab you, whether it's the title or the way he puts a song together. So I wasn't surprised to hear from Nas . I felt like finally somebody reached out and showed Lords some love. Sometimes I feel we don't get the love we deserve for what we did for hiphop . But at the end of the day, I don't look at it like that. You just wanna be appreciated but as long as you know what you've done and you still do what you do....

DJ Lord Jazz: Let me add to what dude said. With the Nas thing, it wasn't like he said 'Okay, DoItAll can do a verse, and you, you and you can do a verse.' I think he sent it to a lot more MC's , but they didn't make it! He took the ones that he thought best fit the record, and dude's verse made it.

That joint captured the vibe from way back in the days. A lot has changed in hiphop ! What changed for the best, and what changed for the worst?

DJ Lord Jazz: For me personally, back then in the 90's when we first came out, you had a variety in hiphop . Every region did have it's own sound. You had like Lords Of The Underground from the Eastcoast , Dr. Dre from the westcoast . Then you had Outkast from down south, Bone Thugs from Cleveland. It was a different variety of hiphop , and nowadays everything is the same. If you got Lil or Young in your name, then you're that new shit, but back then it wasn't like that man! For me, it was more creativity. We took more chances. We weren't trying to be like other people....

You said the same thing on the intro off your last album. I see that coming back. Let me say this as a fan. I like the House Of Lords album, Fab 3 is my favorite track. Rise probably did that joint.

DJ Lord Jazz: Yeah, that is also one of my favorites. I love all the albums that we've done. It's like... when we go to the studio its just our vibe. We dont say like: ' Allright , tonight we gonna record a song for the radio or whatever. Just what the beat tells us.

And what do you tell to the beat? Because you make beats, what kind of gear you use? You still got them SP-1200's?

DJ Lord Jazz: My SP-1200 is back in America, I didn't bring it to Europe yet. I use my MPC 2000 XL, Logic, Cubase and even Fruityloops . It actually is doper than I thought. I used to diss that shit like 'fuck all that fruity shit.'

It's really easy to get into.

DJ Lord Jazz: Yeah, it really is. Once you start fucking with it you can really get down.

DoItAll : you agree with what Jazz said regarding to changes in hiphop ?

DoItAll : I agree with him. But just to add on.... Change can be either good or bad. The good thing is that we're in more countries, more cities. Due to technology the culture has been presented to the world, not just regions or cities. And when I say that, I mean ALL over the world. I wouldn't be surprised when some Marsians are hiphopping haha . It gives us a chance to make money from a culture that we love, and that is hiphop . And it gives you a chance over here in The Netherlands to be hiphop just like we are hiphop .

But what I don't like is is that the people come in the game and don't appreciate its founders, its creators, its history. With that, it kinda gets lost. When we came in the game it was really new. We researched soul singers, blues singers and we understood when an artist came out. We respected them cause we understood their grind and the presence they had. Those new artists don't know about that, so they kinda lose touch with the culture.

I'm not saying they aren't doing hiphop . Hiphop is doing what you know, what you believe in, whats inside of you. It's not like you doing 50 cent, or you doing Public Enemy. You got all those people trying to be other people. You got a thousand 50 Cents, a thousand Dipsets . Back in the day you had A Tribe Called Quest you could listen to, and then you could go listen to NWA. And from NWA you could go to Public Enemy. From Public Enemy to Lords Of The Underground, to Rage and the Dogg Pound. You had a variety of artists you could listen to, now everything is just starting to sound the same.

You are in Holland now. Do you feel there is a difference in the way people perceive hiphop over here compared to the U.S? Is that artistic variety you just described also to be found in different audiences all over the world?

DoItAll : The perception of me, with you guys, is that you guys studied the history. I'm not gonna say all of you did, but most of parts you guys studied the background of the culture, the music etc. You just said you liked our album, you named your favorite song AND you named the producer of the song! That shows that you're not just listening, but you're becoming a part of the movement. People don't become part of the movement anymore, cause everyone is so used to this 'microwave-rap,' meaning like:'I get the single. If that's not rocking I'm moving on to the next thing.' They don't even put the needle to the record anymore, they skip trough. Back in the day, if you didn't like the single that much, it might have been okay and you got into the whole album and you became part of his movement. And you guys outside of the U.S. still really do that!

Once you like a song, you get into the movement of the group. They don't do that anymore at home. That's why a person like Flo Rida (o.a . bekend van de hitsingle 'Low' met T-Pain) has a massive song, but I don't know anyone that can tell me anything about his album really. If you look at soundscan , he is at 190.000 units. But his single is like at 3.6 million ringtones. It's like, what are they really into? And thats my point. No disrespect to Flo Rida . He do what he do, it's just a different time. That just shows you that they aren't really into the artist.

Nowadays you even have ringtone artists...

DJ Lord Jazz: Yeah, that's what it is. Right now in this time and day, it's all about ringtones man. Like he said, it's popcorn rap nowadays man. When we first came out with 'Here Come The Lords' we had like 8 singles, 8 video's. We toured and worked that one album to death. We didn't even realize how big we were in Europe untill we actually came here.

You even live in France right?

DJ Lord Jazz: I got a crib in Paris , yeah. Since i've been there my whole outlook on America now has changed. I live here, so I see America in a different light. It's more real man. Like dude said about the fans out here. Once they are fans, they really are FANS! They study your work, they know the lyrics, they know everything about you man.

Can you tell me anything about Lord Gang. What is it, a company, a movement? Tell me.

DoItAll : Lord Gang is my company. Lord Gang Worldwide is my clique. It's a brand, a company, a DJ coalition. It's about putting the power in the hands of the independent, you know? We also put out the Dilla Gorrillaz mixtape , a Tribute to J Dilla . Check this free download! You can google it, so check it out! Get it out here, and see how y'all like it.

It's time for the last question. You've said a lot to and about you Dutch fans. You can shout em out right now!

DJ Lord Jazz: I just wanna say: Continue to support good hiphop , cause it's still around. It just doesn't get heard. I wish more underground DJ's and DJ's in general would just stop copying. Stop playing these easy records, those easy songs that you know people are gonna dance to. Play some new shit!

Yeah, break a record for Christs sake!

DJ Lord Jazz: Right, exactly! In my era, Dj's used to break records. We played new songs, and it was up to the DJ to make those people like it. Being a DJ, you got to control the crowd just like a MC! You have to look these people in their eyes and make em do what you want to. So what I'm saying: Be original man! Continue this thing that I love, called hiphop . Keep supporting Lords Of The Underground. We're still doing it. We're not dead, we never broke up! Just cause we haven't dropped an album in a while, people are thinking we broke up. I just moved to Europe, Mr. Funke moved to North Carolina, and DoItAll is still in New Jersey . But we're still a unit, still a group! Our last album, House Of Lords, is available on Itunes . We got a new album coming with my man 9th Wonder, called A.C.H.H, Adult Contemporary HipHop . Keep that support man, we're always here for y'all!

DoItAll : To my Dutch fans, first of all, I wanna say a big-ass THANK YOU! Thank you for supporting hiphop , thank you for supporting underground hiphop . Thank you for really being a fan of hiphop . Cause that allows me to come back over here and give you that real hiphop man. Definately thank you for supporting Lords Of The Underground, respects! Big up to Funkman , he'll be here next time. Get my new mixtape , called Dilla Gorrillaz . It's free, you can just google it! Thank you!