Hip-hop from the 'burbs
Submitted by jstudent on Fri, 2006-02-24 15:04.Jersey swagger
DaCav5 wants A&R to wake up to the suburbs
By Joe Simek
Philly EDGE Correspondent
Artist: B-Roc from DaCav5
Where are you from?
We are from a small town called Mount Laurel in South Jersey.
Who is in your group?
B-Roc, o8o, BenOfficial, Lost Soul and Mikey P.
What's your latest album called?
The Most Famous Group You Never Heard Of
Describe your sound in five words or less.
Eclectic, fresh, entertaining, energized, progressive
What's your quintessential track and where can you find it online?
“Swagger” www.myspace.com/dacav5
How did the group form?
B-Roc and o8o created the group in 2000. After the solo release of B-Roc's album, B-Roc & o8o decided to start a five-man rap group to represent Mount Laurel, NJ. So over a four-year period, we auditioned nine emcees and only three made it: Benofficial, Lost Soul and Mikey P.
Your song "Tetris" blends an obvious trance beat with rap, and you guys seem to be adamant about not just being labeled hip-hop. Considering that is the genre currently dominating the mainstream, is it harder to get people's attention or book shows with your sound?
It's not about how good your lyrics are anymore, it’s all about how good your beats are, how marketable you are, and how good your flow is. For example: No one understands what Daddy Yankee is saying during his verses and hook, but it sounds good. That’s why he's gonna sell more albums than Jadakiss, who is one of the best lyricists in the game. The rap game is watered down right now and true lyricists ain’t benefiting like they used to -- and we are five of those lyricists. That’s why we crossed over; we are trying to survive in this rap game. The lyrics on “Tetris” aren’t good but the song as a whole is fire. Ten years ago, if I would’ve played "Tetris" to someone, they would've laughed and ejected the CD. But today, there are people that will have it on repeat. Why? It's simple. The majority of hip-hop fans now like up-tempo music that’s easy to sing along to. We mastered that and that’s why we have such a large fan base and why it’s easy for us to get performances, because we give the people what they want.
You don't often hear about hip-hop groups from South Jersey. Is the scene growing there or do you feel isolated?
We feel very isolated. We feel like we have to live in Georgia, New York or any major city just to get our big break There are a lot of talented emcees in South Jersey, but what A&Rs don’t realize is that some of the most creative emcees are from the suburbs. You don’t have to live in the hood to be an emcee. Your rap name could be MC Pinkslippers and you could live out in the woods on a farm, but if you look right and sound right, then what’s the problem? Look at Kayne, Pharell, De La Soul. They’re all from the suburbs and look how creative they are. Suburban kids buy the most CDs and attend the most concerts. A&Rs need to stop sleeping. The suburbs are where creative hip-hop lives.
What are your "mall sweeps” all about?
Mall sweep, party sweep, street sweep, club sweep -- any kind of sweep is considered “promotion" for us. We hit up these places and we sell CDs or pass out flyers. If we can’t sell CDs or pass out flyers then we do a face sweep, which is pretty much getting our faces out there. A few people do come up to us and they say: "Aren't you DaCav5 from Myspace.com?" or "Hey, your that group from the computer right?" So, a face sweep is just as good as any other promotion.
You are making videos for two of your songs, "Tetris" and "Swagger." Will these be self-produced? How important is it for you to make videos, especially considering your genre?
These videos will be self-produced, just so the people that live 495,745 miles away can get a visual of what we look like in real-time opposed to coming to the site and seeing a bunch of still shots. Each of us has our own style, our own image, so it’s important that we show that.
In your opinion, what's the biggest misconception about underground hip-hop and dance music?
For underground hip-hop, people always feel that underground artists can't put together music with a commercial swagger and mass appeal. For dance music, people always assume that because it’s more beat driven, artists/lyricists won't have any verbal substance.
What does the future hold for DaCav5?
World takeover! DaCav5 is going to take its regional success to help propel it to the next level. DaCav5 will shoot for a radio song in the next month and move on to a national presence and hopefully sign a deal before the end of the year. Then later down the line, we will launch solo careers in music, acting and modeling. So once we get our foot in the door, expect to see us around for a long time.
