Written by Derek Phifer
Wednesday, 19 September 2007
http://www.hhnlive.com/features/more/340
They say that time heals all wounds and Dinco D, former Leaders of The New School front man, is a living testament to that. These days he’s more concerned with working the independent grind rather than sparring over old beef. Armed with razor sharp lyrics and a clear head on his shoulders, he’s ready to put past issues behind him and do his part to rebuild this game that we call Hip-Hop.
HHNLive.com writer Derek Phifer sits down for an in-depth interview with former Leaders of The New School member Dinco D. Read on as Dinco sounds off on Busta Rhymes, the end of L.O.N.S., his future plans, living in the ATL and much more.
Dinco on Busta: “…lyrically I’ll eat him. I don’t care. He knows that.”
Dinco: What’s up man?
Derek: What’s good?
Dinco: It’s right. Everything’s right.
Derek: So when are we gonna hear a new album out of you?
Dinco: I’m workin’ on it man. I got mad material right now, you know what I’m sayin’, mad stuff. I got the EP that I did on itunes like a year ago. A year and a half I been workin’, a couple of different songs. I did a joint with Chris Lowe and Sadat X. That was a couple of years ago. I been doing production stuff and some independent movies, soundtrack stuff, me and Brown. I been workin’ with my man out of Manhattan. He do something independent with the Crook Brothers. They did Ghost Dog 2. I be working with them doing some soundtrack movie stuff for them. So just, you know, doing some shows, independent, underground. I been out in Atlanta, Connecticut, back and forth here, Cali just moving around and testing the ground.
Derek: Yeah, so what’s that grind like keeping independent rather than mainstream?
Dinco: It’s good it’s good. It’s a benefit because you reach an audience that’s vast, different, you know what I’m sayin’. It still carries on.
Derek: So are you looking to keep doing that independent thing?
Dinco: Oh yeah, always. I’m with whatever move makes better progress, something that’ll step it up. You know, if it makes sense, I’m with it.
Derek: Do you have your own independent label that you’re grooming right now?
Dinco: Yea. I Got Big Things Records you know what I’m sayin’. That’s like with me and my brother and my man Das. That’s just like my home team. That’s what I’m tryin’ to work on doin’.
Derek: Right, so do you have any artists signed to it right now?
Dinco: No I’ve got artists that I want to deal with on some of the songs. We got a lot of people from Kentucky, some of my producers from Atlanta, you know what I’m sayin’, it’s like 5-6 people that I put together on these albums that I plan to bring out. Once I get my music to the level I really want it at, where I can do something for them, that’ll be real beneficial.
Derek: Originally you’re from Hempstead right?
Dinco: Uniondale. Born in Brooklyn, raised in Uniondale Long Island. Uniondale’s the town of Hempstead.
Derek: Aight, I know a lot of people are going down to Atlanta. What’s the difference where you’ve got to go down to Atlanta to get something done? Is there something you can’t do in New York?
Dinco: I mean, you can do it in both places, but I mean, New York is just…down here, independently, you can build your base. Like Manhattan was back in the days, where you could in there and do shows and get noticed here and there. You can’t really, you know in Manhattan, that’s different now. It’s a lot of people in certain positions that just keep these doors the way they got em’. But down in Atlanta you can make your own way. Pretty much anywhere else besides New York or L.A. and stuff like that. It’s a good independent market if you want to come up. It’s a good place where you can set your own stage. You know what I’m sayin’?
Derek: Yea. So most people remember you from Leaders of The New School. Did all of you guys know each other growing up, or is that something that somebody just threw together?
Dinco: Well actually Brown was the founder. Brown’s brother used to DJ a lot of parties back in the days. He was the dude that introduced me to Bust, but we was all in school together at the same time. But you know, him and Bust got together and then he stepped to me like, “Yo, you want to form a group?” and he was like, “D, I think you nice and I want to do this group.” And he put us together and we clicked from there.
Derek: I read that you guys got your start touring with Public Enemy. Did you guys try to pattern yourselves after them?
Dinco: That’s who gave us our group name, you know what I’m sayin’, Leaders of The New School, Chuck D. He gave us that name. I mean, he gave Busta Rhymes his name, and he gave Brown his name. I’m the only one who kept my original name from the streets, Dinco. He was like “Yeah that just fits you.” We was up under them for about 5 years. We was tryin’ to come up under P.E. definitely. At the time they was blowin’, you know, we used work in the office. We watched everybody come up and move on. We worked with Eric Saddler. I used to sit in there and go over records and logos and drums. It was a school. It was us, Kings of Pressure, Young Black Teenagers that was like our school of learning.
Derek: So what are your best memories from those days?
Dinco: It was the early days when we didn’t have a dime and everybody was hungry. We was doin’ shows and people was lovin’ it and they was like yo, these cats is ready, they hungry. We were doin’ shows for free just to get noticed and comin’ up. The come up is always the sweetest time.
Derek: I remember that one episode of YO MTV Raps, you guys were seen arguing on stage.
Dinco: Fab 5 Freddie, yeah.
Derek: Yeah, is that something that had been slowly brewing over time?
Dinco: Yeah, it was over time. As soon as we got goin’ in the game, we was young, cats was just like (pauses)…basically the way the game goes when everybody whispering in the main cat’s ear; the cat whose makin’ noise in the group, you know what I’m sayin’? He ain’t comin’ back, he’s doin’ solo projects and cats is like what’s happenin’, what’s goin’ on, and just bein’ real secretive about it and nobody bein’ open, so. It’s the same thing that happens every group with the main guy who got the main focus at the time and solo deals. Certain business moves wasn’t being presented right.
Derek: Yeah, that seems to be the root of all group problems.
Dinco: Yeah, that’s just the path of music and groups since the beginning of time. It just happens like that.
Derek: So when you guys called it quits, was it a bunch of fuck yous, or was it like an I love you, but I hate to work with you type of deal?
Dinco: Yea, it was funny man. It was just the weirdest thing. We was on Rush Management at the time, that’s when they still had Rush Management, we was like the 30th group, the 35th, 40th group on Rush Management at the time because they had so many people. Everybody was ready to rush, but whoever was poppin’ would get the main focus and that was the key. After that shoot we went back to the office and Leo’s like “Busta’s havin’ hits right now. Either he’s with you or he’s not.” It was just basic, simple, mathematics. It was just a shot in the face like bow! This is what it is. And he told us that Elektra wanted to give Bust a solo deal, so, it was like a plot. The timing, we felt it coming and that’s why, basically, Brown was pissed and blew up. We already knew the situation. People was goin’ and talkin’ and everybody was tryin’ to hide it. It was just a lot of funny stuff, funny style business.
Derek: Yeah, it’s crazy. I can remember seeing y’all on the “Scenario” video back on The Jukebox music channel and the next thing I know Busta’s droppin’ solos. I never knew what happened in between.
Dinco: Yeah you know, but they was leavin’ the option open to do another album with Leaders and I guess they left it up to Busta. With Busta, I guess, you know he pocketed for his own self and created Flipmode. So that’s why there’s a lot of controversy and that’s why there’s a lot of animosity. Cats you put on Flipmode is cats we put on Leaders of The New School albums. Like Spliff and Rampage, these is cats that we carried down with us when it was just the three of us. But now you give us one song on your album and the beat wasn’t even all that. You gonna give us one of the worst songs? There was a lot of fuckery.
Derek: Yeah, I’ll give you that. I heard the song you did over his Touch It beat. Personally, I thought it was a great song.
Dinco: Yeah, it wasn’t something that I was trying to promote or something, because I know how the new generation and the average new listener would take it. It’s like he’s just comin’ at Busta because he’s ass, you know what I’m sayin’? And I’m like dun, I’m nice, I know I’m lyrically nice. I don’t have to sit here and lyrically bash him, but he talks a lot of shit. He’s done diss records and played them in my face in the past. I’ve sat there and really just thought about it like, this dude got the audacity to talk shit about me and play it in my face. And then when I talk to him recently handlin’ some business he was still talkin’ shit, so it was just time to do something for that. I didn’t even go hard promoting it. It was just something I did on Myspace.
Derek: I think your flow is better than Busta’s.
Dinco: Yeah, like I let him know, Busta’s good at being loud, screaming, and yelling. He’s good, he got that down, he’s got the loud voice, but lyrically I’ll eat him. I don’t care. He knows that.
Derek: Is that why he’s been able to have more commercial success, that whole screaming thing?
Dinco: Of course, of course. That’s what he’s known for, screamin’ and yellin’ on the record.
Derek: Yeah, I’ve been to one of his live shows and that’s pretty much what it consists of.
Dinco: Yeah, screamin’ and yellin’. If he don’t scream and yell you will not pay attention to what he’s doin’. And he talks down to the crowd as he yells and screams.
Derek: Yeah, he held up the show for like an hour because two dudes wouldn’t stand up while he was performing. One dude had a broken leg and the other one just didn’t feel like standing up.
Dinco: (Laughing) and he made a show out of that just yellin’ at them for about 2 hours. I’ve been there. I’ve seen them shows.
Derek: What about the rest of The Leaders, are you still working with them?
Dinco: Well they cool. I try to work with them man, but it got to a point where everytime I would get with cats it would be emotional and they’d talk about Bust. I’m like listen man we got to move on and we got to make things happen, fuck all that. We got to really put it down and it was just hard because all the old cobwebs would be there when I try to get back and do somethin’ with cats. I’m like yo, I’mma just do me. I mean, I’ll always do music with them dudes, I love them, but one of us gotta take it to the point to where we can be able to get beyond all that and just have a better time. I feel like I’mma make it happen and I think I can make it happen, so I still be talkin’ with them cats and makin’ songs. Actually I was tryin’ to setup some shows this summer before I had to take care of some things, so hopefully I’ll still be able to set that up for the crowd that still wanna hear some of that stuff. You know, I’m tryin’ to get them cats back in the field.
Derek: I know you cats were down with the Native Tongues Posse, which I think is one of the best collectives of hip-hop artists ever, but who’s holdin’ it down for them cats right now? I haven’t heard anybody biggin’ them up in rhymes or anything.
Dinco: You know what I mean, it’s hard to get together. Me and Phife, when we was in Atlanta it was cool and everything, this is like ’95-96 when I first moved down to Atlanta, and we was doin’ some things. I did some tracks in the studio when he was first workin’ on his solo LP, but it never came out. He did it and he kept moving around to who he was gonna do it with you know, it’s just hard. I see Q-Tip, it’s cool, you talk to these cats in the clubs and the street, then when you call these cats and try to get up and really do something with them it’s just a whole different thing. You know, that club talk man. I don’t really be into that no more, but I try to call cats and keep a connection. If it work it work; if it don’t it don’t. Cats really respect checks and money right now.
Derek: Would you change the context of your rap to make a little more money? Everybody’s pretty much rappin’ about guns, drugs, and bitches, right now you know?
Dinco: Ummmm…Nah, nah. If I talk about it it’s gonna have a point of value for what I’m dealing with. I mean, it’s just not to sell a record like every other rapper. I just make hot songs. I try to make a song, a song. I don’t just go after whatever market. I make the market me.
Derek: What independent label are you signed to right now?
Dinco: Well, I started my own. I did something with Avatar records out of California, Planet Asia, and a couple of other people. Then I’ve got my own production company that I’m working with. I just show a video down here in Atlanta. It’s on Youtube called Up All Night. Another song is gonna be called Spin Factor. You can check that on Youtube. D-I-N-K-O on Youtube. They spelled the name wrong, but I gotta take care of that. It’s a video I shot down here. Me and my brother, we put our heads together and shot it ourselves.
Derek: So you got a website for people to hit up and stay up to date with what you’re doing?
Dinco: Yeah, www.myspace.com/Dinco We hit the Internet with Soundclick and myspace. And Dinco on iTunes.
Derek: Anything else you want to say before we wrap this interview?
Dinco: I just wanna say get ready for some real hardcore Hip-Hop man. The future needs some glue and I’m comin’ with it man.
The Hip Hop Cosign 