DNG
Interview By Black Dog Bone
Photo by Vin Rock Ent
How did you get your name? What does DNG stand for?
DNG stands for Dedicated N Galvanic. Dedicated has to do with my passion for Hip Hop in general and the fact that I’m still active as a rapper/producer after all these years. No matter what type music you’re making, I think you got to be a fan and appreciative of the music first in order to be a good artist yourself. Study it, know its history and then create your own legacy in the genre you consider yourself to be part of. I always chuckle when I hear rappers, that (trying to) make a living with rap music, say they don’t consider themselves being a rapper or part of Hip Hop. If that’s the case, why didn’t you pursue a music career as an ukulele play
er in the first place if you don’t care what type of music you’re making? Just be Dedicated to what you’re doing. Galvanic has to do with the energy I love to generate when performing. I like to put in serious work live on stage. Give people what they came for, a galvanic and entertaining performance. Of course your music itself also has to get people amped, but on stage you got to give the crowd something extra.
I wonder where most of the Netherlands Rap comes from and if there are different rap scenes in many parts of Netherlands?
Rap music has been spreading like wildfire these last couple of years, especially with the growth of the internet and the fact that you really don’t need a record deal to get your music out there. In the early days, rap music used to be more of a big city thing because that’s where most of the minorities lived who immediately identified themselves with Hip Hop when it first hit Dutch soil. I’m talking about Amsterdam or Rotterdam, these were like the places to be back then if you wanted to be taken serious as a rapper. Both cities still have a strong rap scene today. But nowadays, it’s not where you from but where you at. A lot of noise is being made by rappers from different regions in The Netherlands right now. It has definitely evolved for the better which you can also tell by various rap festivals that take place in different parts of the country.
Has the Netherlands Rap movement been going on for some time or is it more of a new thing?
It has been going on for quite a while, I think since the mid 80’s. Definitely not a new thing.
The roots of Hip Hop are American, but have you taken it and evolved it to make a Netherlands style of Rap?
The Netherlands style of rap nowadays simply means rapping in Dutch, something that was very uncommon in the early days when rap was still considered something that had to be done in English. It started in America, so that’s how you wanted to look and sound like. But throughout the years, more rappers have chosen to spit in Dutch. Even though I don’t rap in Dutch, I got to pay homage to Extince. To most folks he’s considered as the first rapper who showed and proved that rapping in Dutch can sound fly as fuck. Dude flowed like water and had sick wordplay and rhythm. Still has it though. His debut album was definitely a blueprint for a lot of rappers out here. Me personally, I’ve always continued to rap in English because I don’t feel like spitting in Dutch. I’ve tried it a couple of times, but it didn’t sound to my satisfaction. And secondly, it’s a big plus if your music can also be appreciated and understood by people worldwide. It creates more opportunities.
Does The Hague have a distinct style of Rap?
Back when most rappers used to spit in English, I dare to say that the majority of rappers in The Hague had more of a gangster twist in their raps. But nowadays, I don’t think there’s one particular rap style that’s really significant for The Hague. Certain slang or pronunciation in Dutch at its most, but other than that I’d say no. But there’s definitely something brewing in The Hague at this moment, a lot of new and hungry rappers in my area.
How does Netherlands Rap compare to other Rap styles in Europe?
I’m not really that deep into the rap game of other European countries, but based on what I’ve seen and heard is that rap music is just as or even more popular and bigger compared to the Netherlands. I think the history of Hip Hop in France, Germany, the UK and the Netherlands is quite similar compared to Eastern European countries. But at the same time, the Czech Republic is where one of the biggest European Hip Hop festival takes place every year. And if you look at the tour schedule of US artist: when they’re heading over to Europe, they’re all over the place. As far as comparing rap styles, I think it’s quite similar to the Netherlands: rappers that deliver in their native tongue and rappers that spit in English. But I can’t get really call out names for you to check out.
How is the lyrical content of Netherlands Rap different from American Rap? What are the main topics you discuss in your raps?
The lyrical content is pretty much the same: everybody’s on that swagger shit right now, drinking Rosé! Naah, but on the real the content varies. It deals with situations rappers are going through or think they’re going through. I’m not the one to say what’s real and what’s not. So the content varies from smoking grass, hanging on the streets with goons selling grams of Snow White, political raps, party anthems, battle raps etc. If I look at my album, I keep it close at home. Of course I can write anthems for hustlers on the streets or write something for the clubs, but that’s not what I’m going through in real life. Some of my lyrics have more like a battle edge, where the emphasize is more on wordplay. Another song deals with gun violence or the love for my wifey and kids, you know. I’m just doing me and rap about stuff I can relate to instead of adjusting my content to what’s on fire right now to please the masses.
Which city would you say was the first place to embrace Rap in Netherlands or were they listening to it all over the country?
I would say the cities that have a large population of minorities. Looking back at the 80’s, the only thing we –minorities in the Netherlands- saw or heard on TV and radio that looked anything like us were Different Strokes, Webster, The Cosby Show and B.A. Baracus. And if your parents could afford a Jherri Curl, you wanted to look like Michael Jackson. That was basically it. So you can imagine what impact this new art form called Hip Hop –performed by black innercity youths in the US- had on the youth over here. It’s was a movement most of my peers immediately identified themselves with. I’m pretty sure that it also got embraced in the “outskirts” of the Netherlands where not too many minorities live, but city wise I’d say Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague.
Is your Rap style very different from American Rap? Does it incorporate the traditional or current music of your country?
It’s more traditional compared to what’s popular right now. Some people listen to my music and say it sounds real American which I of course take as a compliment but I wouldn’t really define it as American rap. As stated earlier, I keep things at home as much as possible. Especially when I’m dealing with topics. Add some wittiness to it and that’s it. Can’t rap about lowriders, drinking Old English and eating chitlins while we out here pushing Volkswagens sipping Heineken and eating sprouts. I like to incorporate Dutch words or personality’s in my lyrics that also sound slick when pronounced with an English touch.
What kind of American Rap were you listening to, West Coast or Southern, East Coast or Midwest? What was really popular in Netherlands?
In a previous question I stated that The Hague had more of a gangsta twist in their rap style back then because West Coast and Southern Rap was very popular out here in the early 90’s. That had to do the fact that we also had a bit of a gang situation over here. Of course we listened to East Coast grandmasters such as Public Enemy, Rakim, BDP, EPMD but the lil street gang I used to roll and rap with definitely preferred West Coast and Southern rap over East Coast. Good thing Yo! MTV Raps was also broadcasted because that automatically kept you in tune with the latest flavors coming from the US. It’s not an understatement when I say that Yo! MTV Raps was the closest thing to televised crack for a lot of peeps out here. Other cities I believe were a bit more into East Coast rap, that typical boom bap sound but I doubt that they didn’t listen to legends like Ice Cube, Ice-T or Scarface just because they were West Coast/Southern rappers. Maybe like two years ago a former radio programmer, who had very popular show called Dutch Masters, stated in an interview that they preferred playing East Coast records which of course had an influence on the rap and production style of quite a few rappers. But I wouldn’t say you had like different camps or that East Coast rap was more popular than West Coast or Southern. I don’t think so.
As far as a style of Rap would you say that you are more into the lyrical side or maybe more of a dance sound or more hardcore? How would you define your sound?
I would define my sound as positive and bullshit free music. It’s raw/hardcore to a certain degree, but positive even though my album cover might make you think otherwise.
What is the Netherlands sound as far as production and making beats?
Some producers prefer to follow what’s dominating the US right now. Other producers add more techno or Dubstep flavor in their music. The next one digs in the crates for classic Dutch records instead of American ones. So there isn’t one particular style that signifies Dutch production. It’s very diverse.
Do you have a live band when you work in the studio?
I did work with musicians on my album - shout out to Michael Varekamp and Jon Sandell. That’s something I’d like to do more in the future. But for the most part, a MPC 2000Xl and a Roland Soundmodule and Protools are all the utensils I’ve used making beats.
Would you say you have your own sound, not just a copy of American Rap? Have you come into your own sound, not just the Netherlands sound but a sound that’s all your own?
Production wise it’s very soulful. Me and my brother Loeki who also produced a couple of joints on my album like digging in the crates searching for samples and add keyboards sounds to it if suitable. On other tracks there are no samples included and we strictly used drums and keyboards like I did on Milk & Honey and Welcome to The Hague. Like to give a big shout out to mr. Napalm for remixing that song. His remix, a last minute call, is crazy but sound wise it didn’t really fit the sound of my album so I decided to insert it as a hidden bonus track and kind of gave it an apart status. So my sound is all around.
Who would you say are some of the up and coming exciting rappers in the Netherlands Hip Hop scene right now?
Tough question because there’s a lot of talent around here, but from an international point of view, I’d say Mr. Probz, La Melodia, GMB, my boy
Jon Tarifa, L4, Kain Slim and a girl named Gin Dutch who has been doing
her thing in the Bay Area recently. Gifted MC’s that can definitely hold it down in English and already made some international moves. Also got to give it up to of old school cats like Deams, Sugacane, E-life, Committee Gunmen and Cousin Steve who kind of paved the way for English rap in the Netherlands. As far as rappers spitting in Dutch, too many to mention but if you had the ability to fully understand Dutch for let’s say 9 hours, I’d recommend listening to Extince, Winne, KernKoppen, Zwart Licht, Hef, Crooks, Zo Moeilijk, Typhoon and Zire. Of course there’re more artists, but to me these names – and of course yours truly- kind of give a nice overview on what kind of styles the Netherlands has to offer in English and Dutch as well.
The other artists you talk about, are they from all over the country? Do they all have very different unique sounds of their own?
They’re from different parts of the Netherlands and they don´t sound alike.
Right now in America a lot of musicians from different parts of the world are really popular, like K’naan from Somalia and M.I.A from Sri Lanka. They bring a new sound to the music because they’re coming from different environments. Do you think you bring something new to Hip Hop as an artist from Netherlands?
I would say I bring something new cause my content deals with who I really am instead of what you might expect to hear based on my looks or image. That´s the reasons why I chose for a dark album cover with locs on, a straight up gangsta image. If I wasn´t DNG, wouldn’t know anything about him and would see the cover in the record store I´d expect to hear music to driveby. Classic album by CMW by the way. But once you listen to my album, you´ll notice humor, wittiness, lyricism, personal joints, and choruses by vocalists some of which I’ve written myself, melodies. So it´s 360 degrees and in tune with who I am and what I really like. Gimmick free and positive music for your eardrums.
Kind of refreshing based on what seems to be the norm nowadays.
In the States there are legendary record labels like Def Jam, Sick Wid’ It, Cash Money. Do you get that in Netherlands?
In the States Def Jam was the label to be signed as an artist if you wanted to go nation wide. That was until artist in the West (i.e. $hort/E 40)/South (i.e. Cash Money) were able to push like 100k units on their own in their region which eventually led to them being signed at bigger labels like Jive or Universal. A similar situation has been going on in The Netherlands for the last couple of years: a lot of artist make moves and create a buzz independently through the internet. Some of them get picked up by a bigger label, others continue releasing music independently. The biggest label out here is Top Notch, they’re the one that released Extince’s aforementioned album. Other independent or platforms out here that also made their mark: Noah’s Ark, Zware Jongens, Raen Music, Wilde Western Records. The biggest difference between the US and the Netherlands is that there’s way more money involved in the States because rap music went corporate a long time ago and is embraced by mainstream media. Corporate America has recognized the capital value of rap music if you look at all these endorsement deals and (digital) album sales that go through the roof. The Netherlands has so much potential but it hasn’t come to a point yet were it’s fully embraced, accepted and respected by mainstream media. So business wise, there’s still some progress to be made. Slowly but ‘sholy.
The label that you are on, is it an independent label or a bigger label? Do they put out mostly Hip Hop?
I´ve released my album on my own label, Bloodstream Music. I didn’t really feel like shopping for a record deal. I did look around for distribution though, but like I told in the previous question: from a business perspective distributors and labels prefer to distribute or sign rappers who have already generated like 100K views on youtube. Understandable, cause at the end of the day it’s all about making a profit and recouping the investment. So that’s the reason why I decided to release the album on my own label and calls the shots for myself.
What about magazines in Netherlands? Are there any that cover Hip Hop and Rap?
Of course. There are a lot of magazines out here that strictly promote Hip Hop, both national and international artists. Just to name a few that have showed me some love along the way: State Magazine, Raptalent, PP2G, HipHopInjeSmoel, HipHopLeeft, HipHopGemeenschap, 101barz en HW4.
Who supports your music in the media? The radio, the television? How do you promote?
Besides aforementioned magazines I’ve received also received support from
radio programs that do push rap music. JuizeFm has showed me some luv, Afterburn Unlimited, Straightup! HipHop, Stork on Air. Also gotta give it up to Hot Spot, a Hip Hop program on Amsterdam’s local TV channel AT5. Promotion by mainstream radio or TV is still farfetched cause they don’t yet fully embrace rap music unless of course you’re able to reach the top of the charts with a single. And to accomplish that, you’ll have to compromise and water down your music to the fullest until it’s sweet enough for mainstream radio to get their Jim Jones on and make the masses drink the Kool Aid. I ain’t down with that…yet. Hehehe.
Do you get your name out touring and passing out mixtapes. Or do you use the internet more?
At this moment, I’m working the internet but my main aim is to perform live on stage. Getting it in with the crowd.
What have you released so far?
I used to be part a rap group called Coup deVillz with whom I’ve released two albums: Chrysalis in 2002 and Monarchs in 2008. Besides group efforts I also kept working on solo material and dropped my first mixtape and video in 2006.
After we split up in 2009 I started recording songs for my debut album Regardless, released in November 2011.
What are you working on now?
I’ve received a couple of new beats that I’m writing some new lyrics to. Also need to go through my own archives again, spice up some beats. I’m planning on releasing an EP. Maybe 4 or 5 songs. Not a complete album though, smaller projects. Also planning to shooting some news video’s with Vin Rock Entertainment who’s holding court behind the camera. Sharp Eye Washington 2.0. Much love to him!
What kind of music are you listening to?
Mainly rap music. That’s my number one choice of music. Sometimes I listen to a pop music, like Coldplay or something or put on some Bob Marley or salsa legend Hector Lavoe.
Is there anything else you would like to say?
Yeah. To everybody who’s reading this, check out my debut album Regardless
that’s available through the merchandise section of my website
www.dng-online.com. Follow me on twitter @DNG_ONLINE and subscribe to my youtube channel www.youtube.com/070DNG to check out my video’s.
To all the promoters out there, bonafide or janky ones: hit me up at
contact@dng-online.com if you have serious opportunities for gigs on US
soil for a Hague City MC like me. oNe Luv!!! DNG
