| After leading the
lost souls at Gyeah.com to the Supafriendz album, and me being a fan of the crew for some
time. I thought it be more than appropriate to get an interview from one of the hottest up
and coming MC's in the crew...Danja Mowf. I finally got a hold of the man, as we touched
on the creation of his rapping name, the music he listens to, and the whole Missy
"situation". Sit back, and take a look. Vigilante: Did you always want to rap? If so, when
did you realize that making music was what you wanted to do?
Danja Mowf: I didn't want to do music. Music was the
reason my father was never around. I didn't want to be like him in that respect so I
stayed away from music as more than a listening thing. I started rhyming back when
it was the thing, back when hip-hop was the thing. I was a beat-box/breaker, until I
wrote my first rhyme in '84. In '88 I hooked up with Dollar Bill and he taught me
how to work the equipment he had back then. I went to college and continued to
record, but it wasn't until I graduated that I knew I had to do it, or let it go.
The period beginning in '95 was when I realized that I had to give it my best shot.
Vigilante: The name Danja Mowf, where did you come up
with that?
Danja Mowf: I heard someone on TV call someone else,
"Mighty Mouth." I thought that might be a cool name for a rapper but that
Danger Mouth would be iller. I would go around and ask people if they had heard of
this rapper named Danja Mowf and that he was dope! Then I would ask what they thought
about the name. So I just started writing as Danja Mowf.
Vigilante: How did you meet up with some of your fellow
Supafriendz like Skillz and Lonnie B?
Danja Mowf: We all used to come up to the University of
Richmond's Radio station WDCE, where Mike Street had a radio show. Mad Skillz and
Kalonji the Immortal would host it and there was a freestyle clinic at the
end. Rappers from the city would come up to rhyme, and most of them ended up
recording with us at some time.
Vigilante: How do you feel about some of today's
"mainstream" hip hop artists?
Danja Mowf: I enjoy all music; I think some of the images are
shown too much. I like creative thought and cleverness. I think Jay-Z is very
clever, but some others are saturating the sound that is working for some. I have
respect for the Cash Money's, 666 Mafias and No Limits because they started as underground
in their set and built it up. I think that it all has a place in hip-hop, and that
no one side should dominate the charts.
Vigilante: Is it frustrating to see some of these
artists out there lacking the talent you, and the rest of the Supafriendz have, but
selling more records?
Danja Mowf: I think there are many different talents in the
world. The talent to be an artist is not the same talent as selling records.
On person may be a talented lyricist, but lyrics don't sell records. If you want to
sell records you have to do something that the masses of people can digest...that in
itself is a talent. Most underground cats are complicated, while most regular record
buying girls are simple and want to dance or hear about something that they can relate to
are aspire to be. I understand from being with Missy where the line is, and as a
label owner now I have to put my artistry in check, and let some young girls see what they
think about the song in general... because we would like to compete in this game now on
all levels. Some compromise is evident. But this is all dependent on your
personal direction... if you want to be an artist, then don't worry about selling records
or having people like them, just do you, do shows, and be happy. The moment you want
to sell records you begin to compromise. Rawkus Records, one of the strongest labels
doing underground music, may change in the near future because the owner's father is tired
of losing money. It all comes back to profits in the end when you are in business.
Vigilante: Are there any artists out there that you listen
to, hip hop or otherwise, and who are some of them?
Danja Mowf: I'm listening to Musiq, Jill Scott, Outcast, Dr.
Dre, NoiseMakers(local) and our stuff. Most of the time when I'm riding I'm
listening to something we are working on, or taking a break from it.
Vigilante: What do you think about all these rappers turning
into actors?
Danja Mowf: I think it's wonderful. People need to eat
and that's a sign of success.
Vigilante: In Your first album, "Word of Mouth",
you laid down a lot of knowledge on your rhymes? What do you do, or how do you prepare
yourself, when you roll into the studio to lay out a track?
Danja Mowf: I've always recorded in the house for the most
part, so everything happens around there. I will go and drive with a track to write
to it. I did research on records like Strange Fruit and Jack and the Weedstalk
before I wrote them. I hope that answers your question.
Vigilante: A lot of people don't know you used to be on Missy
Elliott's Gold Mine Label. What happened with that? Any blad blood between you and Miss
Misdemeanor? Tell us about the "Dangerous Mouths" incident.
Danja Mowf: No bad blood. She signed me after the
Aaliyah Remix joint, and I thought it would be cool because Skillz was with Tim.
They never brought us into the camp. I wanted her to work with me, and I was left to
do records and submit them to her. If I was able to do some real bangers, like I'm
doing now, things may have been different. I doubt it, because she has a pattern of
having artists who come out and fade away or never come out. Nicole Wray, Mocha, TC,
this other little kid I heard about... and me.
Dangerous Mouths was just politics. Redman didn't want to be on this other record,
so they asked him to do that record with us, but his management didn't want him to be on
the record with her new artist. They said in order for him to do the record it
had to be just him and her. She said she would put me on something else, but that
never happened. I fault her for being star struck enough not to realize it was more
important to promote her artist, and I fault me for not having a verse that would make
Missy tell Red he was crazy if he thinks she is going to take my hot ass verse off that
record!! It was wack that she kept the name, but that's life.
Vigilante: What can we look forward to from Danja Mowf,
musically, in the future?
Danja Mowf: BIG THANGS! Jo Doja LP, SupaFriendz, Danja
Mowf, Lonnie B. LPs. This is the year.
Vigilante: Finally, the staff here at Gyeah.com want to know.
What are your favorite albums of all time?
Danja Mowf: The Chronic, WU Tang Clan, 36 Chambers, Cuban
Links, Illadelph, Adventures of Slick Rick, Pharcyde, Bizzare Ride, Emenim, Midnight
Marauders, BDP(1st Joint), Public Enemy... Word of Mowf... Plenty more but I gotta
go. Check out www.danjamowf.com. Peace.
Thanks for your time Mowf, and we here at Gyeah.com look
foward to one day seeing yo ish on BET. |
