The Mighty Underdogs
Smart, innovative, and more underground than a sewage line, the Mighty Underdogs are proof that the ethos set forth in Hip-Hop's genesis are still being represented to the fullest. Composed of veteran MCs Gift of Gab from Blackalicious, Lateef the Truthspeaker of Latyrx, and producer Headnodic of the Crown City Rockers, the Mighty Underdogs maintain that creativity and originality is paramount to commercialism.
I caught up with the guys to talk about the current state of Hip-Hop as well as their debut album Droppin' Science Fiction, which is available now on Definitive Jux Records and features artist such as DJ Shadow, Damian Marley and MF Doom. Here is what was said:
StopBeingFamous: In an effort to switch things up a bit, I'll begin with this question: Lateef and Headnodic, you have been making music with Gift of Gab for a while now-what is one thing about Gab that people may not know?
Lateef: One thing that people don't recognize about Gab- I'll give you two things. One is that he's very prolific, he writes a lot of stuff. For as much of Gab's stuff that is out, there is five to ten times as much stuff that hasn't been released. The second thing is that when Gab starts rhyming fast, people usually write it off like "Oh, he's not saying nothing." If you get a chance to record some of his rapping at extremely high speed, and go back and listen, it listens like a paragraph out of a book. It is unreal.
Headnodic: Gab's a chill, funny dude. He's right here, so it's odd saying it. Often Gab's lyrics are very serious in tone, but after knowing him this long, he's actually a funny cat.
SBF: Individually, the three of you have toured a great deal. What would you say is different about this tour? Is there a higher level of motivation?
Gift of Gab: The Mighty Underdogs are definitely building our name separate from Crown City Rockers, Latryx and Blackalicious. I would say that we have our own chemistry, in the studio and on stage. That chemistry is growing. We did a run last year, and our record [Droppin’ Science Fiction] came out in October, but with our set, we are constantly growing. We're making the show evolve. It feels good to rock in front of crowds that might not know us. It's always a good challenge and feeling to be able to win audiences over.
SBF: A lot classic artists have been vocal about the current state of Hip-Hop. As original contributors to the art form, what is your take on its current state?
Lateef: There is an age divide and lack of history in terms of rhymes and skills. Some young cats that are rapping haven't even listened to Big Daddy Kane or KRS ONE; [but] if you look at rock acts, they tend to go back and study Lynyrd Skynyrd and Led Zeppelin. With Hip-Hop, there is certain amount of writing off that goes on. Also, when we were coming up, we could do shows and sell records. We could make a living doing this- but a lot of the opportunities that were around then are not available anymore due to the Internet. With the Internet, I wonder if younger artists are going to perform at 30 and 35 when there is not an industry anymore, and they can't make money doing it.
Gift of Gab: The flip side of the Internet factor is that if you have something extremely undeniable and revolutionary, you have the ears of the world.
Headnodic: The Internet has become the open medium for artists that are not supported by commercialism. When I was young, it was taboo to do any commercials, like when Kid N Play did a Sprite commercial, it was like, "What?!" The St. Ides commercials were cool because they featured a new song by artist like Geto Boyz and Ice Cube. Since then, you can sell anything and if you're a top artist, that's what you're supposed to do. There was a time when Skittles commercials started putting scratching in their shit and we were like, "What's happening?" Now that Hip-Hop is the most commercial thing you have, there is a different value system that I personally didn't grow up with.
Lateef: To sum up what Headnodic said, when I was coming up, selling out was something you didn't do, now selling out is part people's marketing plans. It's the thing to do. If you want to actually be respected now, you have to sell out and be making money.
Headnodic: When I was kid, the worse thing you could be in Hip- Hop was a "biter" [a person that is unoriginal]; now, the worse thing you could be is a "hater." There are no more checks and balances of people selling out, now it's, "He's just hating." If hating is the worse thing you could do, then that's fucking ridiculous. Hip-Hop was built on "hating" and critiquing. I'm a fucking hater[Laughing]. I won’t be specific on who I hate, but you get the idea.
SBF: Reflecting back on your careers as MCs and musicians, is there anything that you've become better at?
Lateef: I have gotten better at being able to write under any condition. I can sit here right now, you could give me beat or not give me a beat and I will be able to write a song. I've been under the gun and have had to write on the spot. When I first started writing, I had a zone I had to be in, in order to write. I had to be at home, smoking a joint. Now, I can do it where ever I am at.
Gift of Gab: My answer is similar to Lateef's in that I've learned to write better under pressure. I try to write as much as possible. I meet a lot of aspiring MCs who are like "How do we get in?" or "Yo, we finished this song and now we're shopping this deal." If you're shopping a record deal and that's your primary goal, there's nothing wrong with it, but if you're neglecting the craft, you're not being an artist. An artist creates, whether they're making money or not, because that's what they do.
SBF: Barack Obama is president- do you imagine this will change Hip-Hop culture?
Lateef: I think it's going to be interesting. Obviously it's an incredible thing to have had happen for all kinds of reasons. As for how it will impact Hip-Hop, it's interesting because all of a sudden a lot of anti-government, revolutionary- that kind of vibe of Hip-Hop- is deflated a little bit. It's going to have to be different, you know? There has always been certain kind of almost "anti-America" aspect of Hip-Hop from the time it started. Now, you think about artists like X-Clan, Public Enemy- the relevance of groups like that now, already it has decreased over time, but its position is even more indistinct. It has to be defined by those groups how they're going to be "political" in situations that aren’t necessarily anti-president.
Gift of Gab: Honestly. I'll be honest- this is the first time I ever voted. I never felt like [the government] cared about "certain" people. We've already heard Young Jeezy and a lot of cats supporting the president. You never heard of rappers and Hip-Hop support the President of the United States. That in itself is a change, and I think as time goes on there will be more "minorities" in office and they will get more support. As time goes on, there will be artists who will hold [politicians] accountable because Hip-Hop always checks itself. Hip-Hop always grows, then it evaluates itself, and checks itself.
SBF: What can we expect from the latest album?
Lateef: The unexpected [Laughing]. If you like Hip-Hop, if you like Slick Rick and just that kind of era where people were imaginative, you’ll like our album. It takes you to different places. If you don't have money to go on vacation to Hawaii, you can put on our record. That's what the record is, and that's what we wanted it to be. There are songs on there that are real; the song with Damian Marley, “So Sad,” it's real; but we didn't want the record to strictly be real, we wanted it to be surreal.
Gift of Gab: There's a lot of fictional storytelling and it's a fun record. Our past albums have been more, I won’t say serious, but more introspective. With this one, we're just writing stories. “Ill Vacation” is a song about being on an ill [i.e. fun] vacation- there's even monsters. We used our imaginations on this record; people will love it. End of Interview.
