Hey Jay, forget dirt: Canrapper DL Incognito has a chip on his shoulder and it would take a fucking bulldozer to brush it off. Maybe thats a bit of an exaggeration, but the Ottawa-bred MC is hungry, and has directed his rage and frustration at the anti-meritocracy that is the commercial rap biz. He has a point: the fact that one of the best MCs Canada has to offer isnt anything close to a household name in his native country is an injustice, one that Organic Music for a Digital World will perhaps help to rectify. But DL isnt really bitter; his third LP is positive, conscious hip-hop, and not in the syrupy, pseudo-spiritual way, either. DL is direct, honest and angry, and is driven more by his passion for hip-hop than anything else. With the gradual convergence of indie and corporate rap over the last decade, DLs anti-mainstream, underground bomb-tossing persona seems refreshingly 1998. The fact that hes armed with a quick delivery, prickly wit and smooth voice plus catchy beats helps, as does the way he explores a variety of topical tracks and resists the urge to skit. DL Incognito is sick of being ignored and its a good thing: Organic Music for a Digital World deserves attention in a big way.
Do you think theres an anti-commercial rap element to your message? I dont know if I have a pro-underground or anti-mainstream kind of message, but its mostly trying to concentrate on doing good music as opposed to necessarily following the trends that are happening right now with urban music. I mean, from a fans perspective, and obviously Im a hip-hop fan first, it is kind of disappointing to see how the machine has been kind of able to infiltrate a culture that at one time was so pure. It seems as soon as the money came into hip-hop, as soon as artists started selling big numbers, the focus is just on making money and the commercial aspect and it takes away from the art.
Was it a conscious effort to keep your album skit-free? Definitely. Ive never been a big fan of a lot of skits. Ive never been a big fan of extra talking, so on this record we did make it a point to not have any guest appearances or any unnecessary skits. We really just wanted to focus on the music, and originally we were just going to do about 12 tracks, but there were a few other tracks we really wanted to get in there.
Where did the title come from? Organic Music for a Digital World is looking at the state of, not just music, but the world today. It seems that were a little bit lost, were a little bit out of touch with our so-called organic side and were so dependent on computers and new media and everything we do. Now artists could go into a recording studio, and if you cant really sing you can pitch-shift your voice. I still feel like the music Im making is organic, its sample-driven. Were not building anything from keyboards, were using stuff musicians crafted and were digging into crates to find rare breaks that people havent used.
(Urbnet)Do you think theres an anti-commercial rap element to your message? I dont know if I have a pro-underground or anti-mainstream kind of message, but its mostly trying to concentrate on doing good music as opposed to necessarily following the trends that are happening right now with urban music. I mean, from a fans perspective, and obviously Im a hip-hop fan first, it is kind of disappointing to see how the machine has been kind of able to infiltrate a culture that at one time was so pure. It seems as soon as the money came into hip-hop, as soon as artists started selling big numbers, the focus is just on making money and the commercial aspect and it takes away from the art.
Was it a conscious effort to keep your album skit-free? Definitely. Ive never been a big fan of a lot of skits. Ive never been a big fan of extra talking, so on this record we did make it a point to not have any guest appearances or any unnecessary skits. We really just wanted to focus on the music, and originally we were just going to do about 12 tracks, but there were a few other tracks we really wanted to get in there.
Where did the title come from? Organic Music for a Digital World is looking at the state of, not just music, but the world today. It seems that were a little bit lost, were a little bit out of touch with our so-called organic side and were so dependent on computers and new media and everything we do. Now artists could go into a recording studio, and if you cant really sing you can pitch-shift your voice. I still feel like the music Im making is organic, its sample-driven. Were not building anything from keyboards, were using stuff musicians crafted and were digging into crates to find rare breaks that people havent used.
