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Durty Goodz

  
 
illmatic
16:21 / 09.07.07
So, following on from the Trim thread, I'm really liking Durty Goodz. I know fuck all about him - I'm guessing East London (but then, who really isn't from East)? Absolute baddest track I've heard so far is an unreleased freestyle They Back Me (caught it on Logan Sama's show on Kiss) which is well worth seeking out. Very different from Trim, killer high paced delivery, very frenetic - more "grimey" I suppose.

His Axiom EP is out now - you can hear some of his stuff on his Myspace. Best moment for me is on Keep Up when he gets a little pissed off with a stray house beat. Boi Dem is currently really reminding me of Roots Manuva's Witness the Fitness but better. I'm going to do a a proper post as soon as I've got the EP - www.ukrecordshop.com as before.
 
 
illmatic
16:24 / 09.07.07
Hmm, I'm seeing why people find this whole grime thing so seductive. I'm listening to MP3s of radio shows and scanning the track lists for Durty Goodz bars.
 
 
illmatic
15:27 / 02.08.07
Okay, if you wanna here some Durty you can download copy of Logan Sama's show on Kiss. The entire second hour is taken up with Durty Goodz, a big interview and lots of tracks. He is absolutely on fire, I'd go as far as to say the best MC in the UK right now. Check it out.
 
 
illmatic
09:04 / 22.08.07
Because I like talking to myself:

I now have the Axiom EP and it is absolutely fantastic. He is the sickest MC out there. The speed of the flow reminds me of Twista or Kool G Rap (at his fastest), but with he's got the whole kind of UK Jamaican inflection/patois thing going on as well - think Rodney P. All the highest of compliments as far as I'm concerned.

I'm going to have to give it several listens with no distractions to get all the lyrics. They are really rich, and I'm looking forward to unpacking them all. Very different from a lot of grime I've heard which can be a bit disposable. What really gets me about him, from the few interviews I've heard, is that he's got a real pride in his music - absolutely trying to do the best he can, and you can hear that in the way he varies his flow, use little effects, stop starts, varies the beat etc etc. I'll post an interview in a second that demonstrates this.

I think the best example of this on the EP is Switching Songs, which begins with a narrative of the changes in the UK grime scene, and his place in it. He absolutely rips it over about 10 different beats from two step to grime to drum and bass. This isn't even my fave track currently off the EP but I'm going to stick it up to show his versatility. See the Myspace above for more.

Switching Songs YouSendIt

Every track on the EP has something that makes it stand out, from beats (dubstep producer Coki does one track), to lyrical switches, characters (The Youngers) and some emotional expression that you wouldn't expect to find in grime. I got my copy from Uptown Records on D'Arblay Street. You can also order from UKrecordshop.com
 
 
illmatic
09:08 / 22.08.07
Here's the interview. From UTZ, via Dissensus:

AXIOM HAS MADE A BIG IMPACT,WHY DECIDE TO GO WITH AN EP RATHER THAN A MIXTAPE?
I was listening to a few mixtapes and wondered why I end up putting them down after one listen and thought “why do I keep replaying early “Michael Jackson” albums like “Off the wall” and “Thriller”? The answer was quality over quantity,

My favorite albums consist of 10 Good tracks as opposed to 25 weak ones also I like when you can replay the whole CD so you really get into the words.

The other thing that annoys me about current Mix CD’s are pointless feature’s for example:
I get excited when two great artists build up there brands and then do a one off special collaboration like:
“Eminem and Jay-z” ,”Redman and Eminem” “Jay-z and Nas” etc

Aimless feature’s on mixtapes and albums cheapens the game IMO. I also think that rappers cheat the public by doing 2 minute songs, spitting one 16 bar and then calling there friends to do the other verses cause they cant be bothered to write a whole track by themselves.

WHATS THE CONCEPT OF THE ALBUM AS ITS AMAZINGLY DEEP AND KIND OF UNEXPECTED?
Axiom basically means self evident truth.I wanted to show what could be done within a 10 track limit and that I didn 't have to be a cliché to pull it off. I also tried to show a bit of expansion and innovation within the Grime scene like:

1. Switchings up the beats on “Switching Songs 2
2. Tempos being slowdown on “Axiom”
3. The alter ego characters on “Youngers” and “Keep Up”
4. Emotion on “A Letter to Titch”
5. Double time story telling on “Give me the Music” and “License to Skill”

WHEN CAN WE EXPECT THE RELEASES OF THE HIGHLY ANTICIPATED "BORN BLESSED" AND "DURRTY WORLD 2"? CAN YOU REVEAL ANY OF THE COLLABORATIONS?
Well that would be telling lol. Put it this way “Durrty World II” is coming very soon I’m trying to make a landmark Grime album with the best UK talent on it. “Beat Makers” if you got the craziest beats with big bass lines holler at me on my myspace and send me the download link.
I’m trying my best to make a classic so we can show the world real UK talent.

"GIVE ME THE MUSIC" IS QUITE A BLATANT "UP YOURS" TO CERTAIN ASPECTS OF THE SCENE,WHY DID YOU FEEL THE NEED TO SPEAK OUT?
We’ll for me music comes in two categories only “Good” or “Bad”.There’s too many names for sounds of music that are only slightly different from each other, it’s starting to confuse the listeners and course musical ignorance and bigotry amongst the fans.I represent “Grime” and I also represent Hip Hop,Reggae ,Drum n Bass etc.
I acknowledge that all of these style’s exist ,but at the same time I file them all under Hip Hop or Reggae as these are the main genres that gave birth to the rest and taught me how to flow.
I feel that I’ve always spat Hip Hop content on Grimy beats no different to RUN DMC rapping over rock style beats, but from the time they spat on it it was Hip Hop.
Grime clashing is Dance Hall clashing ,but over slightly different beats. I find all this talk of “bait Hip Hop” very disrespectful as the same culture some fans choice to diss they are actually participating in “New Era anyone”
All the genre splitting and fancy buzz words should come from the press not the fans. That’s why I say “just give me the music..I’m sick of the bullshit”

YOU HAVE MANAGED A MIX OF GRIME HIP HOP,GARAGE AND DUB ALL ON ONE EP,WHAT PRODUCERS HAVE YOU BEEN WORKING WITH?
I gotta big up my boy Scratcha /DVA for bringing me “Keep Up” Coki,Kromestar & F1,Bass Clef,Firewokz,Y Dot and my home boy’s Ignorants for given me the fire.

YOURE ONE OF FEW IF NOT THE ONLY U.K M.C OUT THERE WHO RESORTS BACK TO BLACK HISTORY(WITH ACCURACY) IN HIS LYRICS,DOES IT FRUSTRATE YOU THAT TOO MANY ARTISTS ARE SPITING PURE RUBBISH?
Well each MC is responsible for there on actions, I cant speak for them ,but I personally don’t think you’ll go too far with all them shank bars. I try to only speak about things I know about and have been through,
I’m crap at being someone else so I just do me.
I’m a foundation MC so I believe in roots I simply follow these blue prints and they keep me grounded. Also I’d like to be able to listen to my tracks in ten years time without cringing.

YOU WAS PREVIOUSLY SIGNED TO A LABEL ARE YOU FINDING IT EASIER AND LESS RESTRICTING NOW YOUR INDIE?
To me there’s no difference, just less people in my way so I can make decisions and act on them quicker. Major labels are too big at present there like big ships it takes them too long to turn around. When I was on a major I did the same things I’m doing now, you have to be strong in there or there’ll change you, just listen to track 5 “License to Skill” lol.

ARE YOU DOING THIS FOR THE PEOPLE OR FOR YOURSELF?
I make music for the people and their reaction is my therapy. I’m an MC I’m here to uplift the people that’s why I try to spit with different content on Grime. I’m tired of people perceiving the Grime movement as a bunch of misguided Channel U thugs. Let’s get business minded.

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE IRRESPONSIBLE LYRICS THAT ARE BECOMING ALL TOO COMMON DIRECTING THE YOUNGERS IN THE WRONG DIRECTION?
What other MC’s choose to do is up to them ,but I choose to be as real as I can in my music. The fans need to realize that allot of MC’s are acting for street fame and it’s NOT “Real”. I’m on a path and I am trying not to do or say anything that is contradictory to the man I’m trying to become. Words are weapons so I try to use them wisely.

DO YOU THINK GRIME IS GOING TO FADE OUT AND NOT GET THE REAL RECOGNITION IT DESERVES?
Well Grime is in the hands of the MC’s,Producers and Fans.

1. As long as we do our part by sticking together instead of beefing.
2. Buying good music instead of solely downloading it, “hold tight UKP” .lol
3. Producers making an array of different beats with different tempos and sounds.
4. Be team players as opposed to a bunch of one man islands.
5. Realize that were constantly being divided and conquered by major company cheques.

As KRS One said “We're not just doing Hip Hop we are it”

So I say Grime has a future as long as we preserve each other.

WHAT WAS THE LAST ALBUM YOU PURCHASED FOR YOUR PERSONAL USE AND WHY?
Stevie Wonder “Songs in the Key of Life” to remind me of what real music’s supposed to sound like and what the real levels are.
 
 
Gypsy Lantern
13:20 / 27.09.07
Axiom is my favourite record of the moment. I haven't really listened to too much grime in the last couple of years. I loved the first 'Run the Roads' compilation, which just exuded freshness, energy and excitement. But some of the major label releases that followed soon after, like the Roll Deep and Kano records, just didn't really do it for me. They didn't really have the same sort of passion that you hear on the pirates and which I tend to associate with grime.

I hadn't really kept up with what was coming out, and I'm sure I've missed loads of great stuff that went under my radar, but Axoim (alongside Trim's Soulfood mixtape 1) is a bit of a revelation. I think it's a really interesting progression of the form of grime from where it was at when Run the Roads came out. The interplay between grime and dubstep is really prevalent on this record, with some really fucking mental, sci-fi beats going on in certain places. I took King Tubby off the stereo and put Axiom on because I needed heavier and more psychedelic bass to test out my new speakers, which I think illustrates how mad and heavy parts of the record are better than anything I could write about it.

Then over the top of that, you have Durrty's mighty flow, which is just stunning really. There is so much going on lyrically that it's a bit too much to take in. "Switching Songs" is a good example of the sort of versatility that he has as an MC, as he effortlessly carries a narrative about changes in the UK scene over constantly changing beats for a good six minutes without once breaking his flow or making it sound anything less than fluid and natural, despite the beats shifting on him in tempo and style mid-sentence. And his bizarre use of the melody of the Bond theme as a chorus in one of the other tracks is both really funny and incredibly catchy, despite being totally ridiculous. As Roy Medallion mentioned above, there's some real emotional expression going on in a few of the tracks, especially the hidden one at the end of the CD, which is not really what you expect from a scene that is largely caricatured around its gangsta element. I've got no idea, exactly, what Durrty is actually on about in some of these tracks as his delivery is so fast and urgent, but certain lines seem to leap out and effect you more by the urgency and emotion in his voice than what he's actually saying.

I find it really difficult to write about music, so I'm not sure what else to say other than: spend your £7.99 and get it.
 
 
illmatic
14:04 / 27.09.07
RINGDINGADINGDING R-R-R-RONGDONGADONGDONG, Durty on a mission like James Bond...

I've always found UK Hip Hop a little lacking to be honest. The odd high point like Gunshot, Rodney P/London Posse, Riddla etc but it's never really done it for me, or seemed a viable scene as such. I think this is really changing with the potentiality of grime. There are so many awesome MCs out there, and it's all coming from one very small area of London! I've a feeling that there may be a creative upsurge from other areas shortly - perhaps Grime needs a bit of a "postcode battle", like the old Bronx/Queensbridge wars in Hip Hop? Actually, dubstep is heavily associated with suburban south london and further out (Durty: Who says real East n**gas don't love South) - Croydon etc (the Burial LP even has a track on it called "Nightbus" which sums up the feeling of commuting back out to the 'burbs at 4am.) The intense "localism" of the scenes is something that is really striking, and the fact that such small scenes can be such creative engines is really exciting to me. the knock on/inspiration effect could be awesome. I feel with grime, we get an authetic UK voice at last.

I mention all this because I started thinking about the he James Bond riffage above - I think what we're getting is the kind of lyrical innovation that I love about Hip Hop, but with a London/England flex. All the slang in grime, all the creativity - new words, new inflections - mirrors Hip Hop exactly for me, only it concerns areas I'm familar with and shows distinct UK influeces i.e. Durty's patois inflections show the influence of the UK's Jamaican diasporia.

Can't stress it enough - go and buy it.
 
 
c0nstant
09:57 / 29.09.07
I've always found UK Hip Hop a little lacking to be honest. The odd high point like Gunshot, Rodney P/London Posse, Riddla etc but it's never really done it for me, or seemed a viable scene as such. I think this is really changing with the potentiality of grime.

This is a stance that I've seen repeated rather too often, and one that I don't think really holds much water. Though it probably deserves it's own thread...Later, when I'm not at work I'll try and start one.
 
 
nighthawk
19:28 / 29.09.07
I don't have much to add beyond what others have said, but the e.p. is very good. I've been listening to it constantly over the last few weeks and its exciting stuff - in terms of his flow and the production across the record - especially as the new Kano and Dizzee albums were both quite disappointing.

Here's a video from the podcast he did for Firin' Squad.
 
 
illmatic
12:08 / 30.09.07
Cheers for the link Nighthawk, the track he's doing is They Back Me, mentioned upthread. Unreleased AFAIK.

This is a stance that I've seen repeated rather too often, and one that I don't think really holds much water.

Why so? Unpack it here. Seems to me there is a ton more energy and interest around the grime than there every was around an indigenous UK Hip Hop scene. I'm speaking as someone who can remember the beginnings of the UK scene... Saw the London Posse live in what? 87? Listened to all the radio, went to a fair few of the jams and brought the records. I think the grime scene is without doubt bigger, and more influential.

For starters, 3 points: with grime, you have a whole mini-culture built up and sustained through pirate radio (and to a lesser degree the net). UK Hip Hop never had this. I can't recall ever hearing a pure "UK Hip Hop" show on the radio. Second, it's arguable that you're getting a new model of distribution emerging with the mixtape culture that's taking off. (I suppose there were some UK labels like Music of Life back in the day, but still, what's going on now is different.) Also, you've a degree of critical acclaim and a sustained interest and criticism that UK Hip Hop never had. I still think the music is sidelined but if you check out boards like dissensus.com, there are many people who've been writing about and cheerleading the music for several years now. It seems to have attracted a degree of attention that UK Hip Hop never got. (I have my own theory that the UK Hip Hop a scene was really killed off by the rave scene, but that is defintely another thread.
)

Feel free to start new thread etc if you want to - copy this over.

U
 
 
_pin
20:45 / 25.10.07
Roy, over on the dupstep thread, said ""Take Back the Scene" by Durty is by Coki (that's my favourite track on the ep.)"

To which I must say: Really?

Now, that track does have some great moments. "Running around town with Trident guns / Stick you like the brother from Trident gum," for instance. And "Put your middle finger up to the label corruption." And I can confirm, after a long and rigorous testing process, that it takes me exactly as long to get from my desk to the guy giving out Metros at Leytonstone tube as it does for Axiom to go from 00:00 to the line "and guys like me who be riding them grimey beats for the lover of hip hop yeah." And the "text on the screen said... " call back in "License to Skill" is to the benefit of both tracks.*

But - and this goes to what I was saying about the difference between (the branding of) dubstep and grime right now in the other thread - it's a bit fucking dull, innit? I mean, I'm impressed that he can spend whole verses, and long verses at that, doggedly rhyming off a single phoneme without ever going "all gravy," but at the same time it's almost six minutes long. Dubstep's penchant for very long tunes that don't really do anything except one thing (even where that one thing really is a very fucking good and bonkers thing) just covers the whole track.

It would have, however, made a fucking great two-minute spit on a mixtape. Which brings me to how odd it is that of 2007's two defining grime products, Soulfood Vol. 1 and Axiom, it's the former that got the positive press, the profiles, etc, even though it's Axiom that follows the formula of the proper album, being more like a cohesive collection of songs (although it's not perfect at that: "Weather Man," I think, claims it's got 8 tracks and "License to Skill" he still calls himself Durrty Doogz).

None of which, ofcourse, deals with the most pressing matter at hand: why are we not going to grime and dubstep nights?

*And feeds into the almost rhizomatic structure of grime lyrics, which their emphasis on branding and trademark lines which can be lame (listening to one guy fluff a "freestyle" of "Celebrate"'s "album went silver" chorus over and over and over again, but then can be great, like when JME spends half of "Serious" (on his myspace) berating beefs and violence, and the other half telling people they can't say "serious," because that's his thing.

Serious.
 
 
illmatic
06:27 / 26.10.07
None of which, ofcourse, deals with the most pressing matter at hand: why are we not going to grime and dubstep nights?

We are. You have a PM forthcoming.

it's a bit fucking dull, innit?

No. No, it isn't at all.

Are you a mad person from Planet Crazy? DULL???The energy that Durty pours out on that track is amazing. One of my favourite bits is when he switches into double time at the beginning. It's the lyrical equivalent of sprinting.

I agree with you in that possibly the best thing is the whooping WOOOOOMM WAWOOOOM bass noise but his lyrical speed and dexterity floor me on that one. I love that "Trident" bit. Six minutes isn't too long for me -it's just long enough!
 
 
_pin
08:37 / 26.10.07
It's very good if you're paying attention, and I don't know what I'd cut to make it shorter because it's all quality.

It's just that if I'm walking somewhere, and paying attention to not tripping over instead of the track, then I start itching to skip on after about three minutes. It's very good that he can rhyme one sound for ever, but if you aren't listening properly it isn't that gripping a listen.

It's not "Swithing Songs II" is, I think, what I'm trying to say.
 
 
_pin
16:01 / 30.10.07
Does anyone else, for no discernable reason, find themselves wanting to do parkour to this?
 
 
illmatic
12:42 / 13.11.07
New interview with the man. Bit brief but interesting.

http://www.factmagazine.co.uk/da/64185
 
  
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