Brothas Unda Madness
COMIN' UP smart, Brothas
Unda Madness are bringing
back the intelligence that
hip hop seemed to have
lost in the wake of gang-
sterism. Talking with both
Evocalist and D-Wyze gives
you a strong sense that
these brothers truly work
together and care about
their lives as rappers on
levels a lot deeper than
cashin' royalty checks.
-Jennifer Lehrer
Your lyrics say, "Take con-
trol/don't be a fuckin' fish
on a pole/labels will leave
you murdered in a river
with no soul." How did
you take control?
Evocalist: What we learned
is that it's not always a mat-
ter of being violent with
people or putting your foot
down. You have to know
what's going on with your
project. You also have to
know who to talk to and
how to talk to them. You
have to open up lines of
communication and keep
your mind open and always
be willing to negotiate.
When we first got together,
we'd hang out and bust
rhymes every Friday on the
KMEL Wake Up Show with
Sway and King Tech. They
told us to read these books,
Think and Grow Rich and All
About the Music Business,
to put us in the mindstate
where we could all work
together. They schooled us a
lot on what to expect and
it's all comin' true.
do
What kind of Impressions do you want your album to leave?
D.Wyze: First, I don't want kids to look up to me as a role model. They
should look up to their parents. They can take gains from what my man
Evocalist has written with "Who Gives You the Right That right there
can open kids' minds to ask questions. It's cool to look up to us and be
like, "Dang, I wanna be like him someday." but for them to get that wis
dom, that knowledge and that learning, that's from their parents.
But so many Idds can't even ask their mom for money to buy milk.
Evocalist: But they'd ask the big bully down the street and you know
he's gonna make them work for it. I wrote that poem because it seemed
it had gotten to a point where everybody was real judgemental about
what everybody else was doing, and basically what I was saying is that
we were just sent here to live, we weren't put here to kill each other, but
36 THUSHER
to progress. And you can't
progress if you're always
being critical of what the
next man is doing. You
have to pay attention to
what's going on in your life
and learn how to make
decisions for yourself. I'm
a father and I accept the
responsibility of role model
because I know a lot of kids.
see someone's video or
hear them on the radio or
when you see someone
doing anything in the lime-
light, you're going to want
to do what they do 'cause
you're young. So, I take on
that responsibility. You'll
never see me out acting
wild in public. Now what I
do in my private life is on
me, but while I'm out of the
comfort of my own home,
you'll never see me acting
wild. That comes just from
me having a daughter, and
I wouldn't like anyone
putting those types of
thoughts into her head.
Is there anything you'd
do in your private life
that you'd hide from
your daughter because
you wouldn't want her
to be influenced by it?
Evocalist: No. My moms
and dads smoked weed
and drank, not to an abu-
sive level, but it was
enough for me to know,
and so I didn't have to go
outside lookin' for it. I
didn't have to experiment
with anything 'cause I knew
the effects. My moms is a
very open woman, so I was always able to talk to her, and my dads
worked so much that he wasn't always around; he was out makin' money
so we could maintain. So my moms taught us everything we knew and
was open to anything we did, and there's nothing in my life that I would
try to hide from my daughter. I try to live right.
What kind of sound do you bring to your music?
Evocalist: The sound that we bring has no classification. There's no
stereotype. You can't label it as West Coast music. I think me and
D-Wyze have a lot of original stuff we bring to the table. You can't
really classify the beats: people have tried to say they sound East
Coast, but when you listen to East Coast beats, then you listen to
ours, they're more melodic and the sound is different. I think originality
is what we bring 'cause that's who we are.
The gentle art of making enemies.
NEDS ATOMIC
DUSTOON
FAITH
NO MORE
"brainbloodvolume" the new album.
featuring all I ask of myself is that I hold together.
WORK
חרדל
1973
KING FOR A DAY/
FOOL FOR A LIFETIME
Available as all the usual money-making formats, plus limited-edition vinyl.