Driven by Life: Exclusive Interview w/ Dannu of The Visionaries

"...since I base a lot of music on life...life drives me to express through music..." - Dannu


Dannu's debut solo album Virgo Summer (which dropped early this year) gave us the chance to experience a season of laid-back vibes with an intelligent and analytical yet straight-forward individual. Nevertheless, this poet's talent sure as hell ain't seasonal and has been keeping fans musically fulfilled for years. The Visionaries MC and co-founder provides TheHinH with an in-depth look at his journey through Hip hop and what continues to drive him.

The Hip hop in Her (TheHinH): What drives you to keep making music when you've already achieved so much?

Dannu (D): I don't feel like I have accomplished half of what I am capable of...but since I base a lot of my music on life...life drives me to express through music...and that's the drive....life.

Rockin' the crowd at Paid Dues

TheHinH: What would you say was the turning point for you in becoming a hip hop artist?


D: When I moved to LA from SD in '92, I told my parents I was moving up to go to college (which was true as I enrolled at Long Beach State), but in reality it was to be closer to the bigger music scene there...and I dove in.

TheHinH: Who were your first music icons? What role did they play in molding your personal music style?

D: Music icons I have plenty - from Smokey to Michael to Prince to Rakim, KRS, Kane....even Grover Washington...too many to name....my style is defined by the style of music that is in front of me to paint on...

TheHinH: How important is it to have experienced being in a crew?

D: It has its pros and cons, but the biggest thing to me was the diversity of the people.  We learned to become a family of music and understood what we could ultimately give to the world....and that was LOVE no matter what your background was.  Musically, we pulled each other's strengths and refined them to fit in our sound.

TheHinH: How about maintaining crew even when you're on the solo tip?


We all understood that ultimately we were a crew, but as the albums stacked and the fans began backing our crew, it went from crew to group...and we ALL know that the fans back the group more than the solo joints. As musicians though, we needed to do solo joints.  It's healthy.  Some needed to do it more than others...but that's life.

The Visionaries

TheHinH: The Visionaries have worked with an impressive roster of heavy hitters like Nas, Common, Mos Def, Talib Kweli and the like; who else would you like to collaborate with? 

D: On most of our albums or solo albums, we always had at least one song that had several MCs from old school to current groups. I would love for the Visionaries to do a song or album with the Beat Junkies with our lyrics and their DJ and Producer skills.  If it was a master producer album, I would like to see what we can do with Premier or Dre or my favorite band The Roots.

The Legendary Roots Crew and The Visionaries on wax? There are no words  for how sick that would be.

TheHinH: You're considered a veteran artist. Which new school heads impress you the most?

D: Blame One isn't considered new school to me, but his time is coming so check for him....there's a few others from LA and SD, but lets keep it simple.

According to Dannu, Blame One's "time is coming".  Here's a lil' somethin' somethin' for those that don't know this fresh MC.

TheHinH: How connected are you with your Filipino ethnicity? What's the most "Pinoy" thing you can share about yourself?

D: Wow dat's a berry weirdo question, you know, did you know dat I was trying to be on da wow wow wee but I only got da wow wow wubsy? LOL. Seriously, I am a very proud Pinoy and several years ago, to show my pride, I was inducted in the Apat Na Alon Tribe aka Mark of the Four Waves tribe and had a tribal band on my right forearm.  My parents are from Baguio and La Union Rosario so trust me when I say I have been a proud Filipino since I was younger. I understand the Ilocano dialect, but need to learn Tagalog. My cousins are Pangasinan...I love my Pilipino community! Manny Pacquiao is my hero and I hope to do songs with other artists down there.

Proud Pinoy - his logo even has a map of The Philippines in it

TheHinH: DJ Rhettmatic [fellow Visionaries member] made it out here for The Do Over: Manila. Any plans to visit the motherland?

D: I have been wanting to go back for awhile now. Maybe you can bring me and Rhett back someday!

TheHinH: Though the Virgo Summer sun hasn't set for us avid fans just yet, what can we expect from you next?


D: Ahhh Virgo Summer...I guess people want agressive battle lyrics nowadays...I'm working on things now, but we shall see if I will release another album. At this point, I am making music for the love of making music and will continue to do so. Thanks! [f]

Debut solo album still available on iTunes, www.accesshiphop.com, www.fatbeats.com, etc.

Capital G, Capital Q: Delivering A Message From Knowa Lazarus on Launch, Album, & More...

One of the first people that offered feedback on this site when I started it last month, was Q-York member and Capital G Shop partner, Knowa Lazarus.  He had a lot of great ideas for articles I could come up with and how I could build this venture.  While I was half-hearted about taking this site seriously at first, he was one of the first people that made me feel as though there was concrete purpose here after all.

So the other day, I had a little chit chat with Knowa to expand ideas and to discuss unity through hip hop, mediums in hip hop to do the same, and several things that his crew is up to. All I know is, this crew is making moves.

First things first, Q-York, known for coining a number of terms in filipino hip hop such as "edutainment" and "mahalla", are at it again with their current single "Yuoy" (a combo of "yo" and "hoy"). It's great to see more and more hip hop heads on the airwaves so lets keep it there and do our thing in voting and promoting.

Secondly, Knowa hooked me up with a "secret link" with access to their whole "Q-York City" album, under Homeworkz, distributed by Universal Records, and available in all records bars (of course, at Capital G Shop).  Real talk, it might be easy for heads to stereotype "Fil-Am" music, but Q-York provides a multi-dimensional tracklist that has a little something for everyone. You have the club banger debut single, the song for the ladies "Could It Be You", the patriotic anthem feat. Jazze Manuel "Balikbayani" (more original terminology!) and the straight reppin' "Champion" (Remix) feat. Gloc9 and Chelo A. to name a few. As a duo, Knowa Lazarus and Flavamatikz are dynamic in their mission to "edutain" and with the All-Stars and other featured artists on their album, they make a solid stand.

Lastly, one of the aforementioned mediums to unify through hip hop has been Capital G Shop. The first branch in Greenhills, has been actively hosting CDs, merchandise, and a range of workshops (connected with the All-Stars dance studio) for a couple of years now. On Friday, August 12, they'll be launching their Robinson's Galleria branch in what is said to not be an event, but "an experience".  Indeed, what you can experience is a day filled with live performances, workshops for MCs/DJs/dancers, and a party for all.

Peep this poster and video for more details:

Given that the whole idea of "unity" should stem not only from a conversation between 2, but between many; I believe that the Capital G launch would be a suitable place for the idea to grow.  These "balikbayanis" are working hard so lets give them a hand and show our support.

See you all there!

For more info on Q-York or Capital G, you can find them on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/QY0RK?sk=info
http://www.facebook.com/capitalgshop?ref=ts

The Recipe: Hip-hop as The Main Ingredient

Straight out of Dubai, UAE, embodying that breakbeat flavor through multiple hip-hop elements, is a crew known as The Recipe.  The ingredients being MCs, producers, DJs, and a beatboxer; the members go by the names DJ Flash B, Hirabeat, Jabbar, Kaz Money, Perfect Storm, and Swerte.

L-R: Swerte, Jabbar, DJ Flashbeat, Hirabeat, Kaz Money, Perfect Storm

They've rocked crowds with big international names like Snoop Dogg, De La Soul, etc. and have won over the hearts of their local listeners due to their collective high energy, original skills, and tastefully comedic live act.

Each contributor to The Recipe has a unique story of their own - from backgrounds to musical influences to achievements.  For this very reason, when you click on the "ABOUT US" portion of their website http://www.therecipedxb.com, they each have personal bios giving individual focus.  That being said, while it wasn't mentioned in his writeup, Manila heads may recognize half-Filipino, half-Indian member Hirabeat as one of the co-founders of Beatbox Pilipinas as well as beatboxer for People's Future. He actually has Manila to thank for birthing his passion for hip-hop and we have him to thank for giving us knowledge on this supergroup.

Check out their latest video "Shit Like This" front-lined by Kaz Money off his mixtape "The Ridicule - The Opposition", which can be downloaded via this link: http://www.mediafire.com/?lkidonw69pp7pat

Strictly reppin'. So much of what drew me to hip-hop in the first place was the self-expression, artists just going at it and not giving a what. Some humor in there never hurt either. These 6 heads bring just that, steady cooking up The Recipe, with hip-hop as the main ingredient.

For more info on The Recipe, check out their website (link seen above), on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/therecipe or on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/therecipedxb

Ruby Red Hot

I'm officially a fanatic of yet another female MC.  She isn't exactly new on the scene and some of you may have already heard of her, but I felt the need to give focus to a Pinay with exceptional English/Tagalog juggling skills over free verse - Ruby Ibarra.

This young lady has a pretty wide array of videos on youtube and through the same, she is now doing her thing with other artists that I highly respect like Rocky Rivera, Bambu, etc.  She has, in my opinion, the perfect blend of: poetry, venom and representation of her culture as a Filipina.  Despite not being homegrown, Ruby has definitely done her part in doing her heritage homework and it is very evident in one of my favorite videos/tracks by her titled "Who I Am".

Over Cormega's "The Saga" instrumental, in this song, Ms. Ibarra gives a detailed account of her acceptance and understanding of who she is and where she came from. The first thing that came to mind when I heard this was: Snap, I wish Kuya Kiko could have heard this.  Not only because "Mga Kababayan" was sampled in the song's intro, but because she seemed to embrace everything that he stood for in her words and in her actions.  Even without an official HD video, as a viewer and listener, I was able to absorb the sincerity and clarity of her message nonetheless.

To learn more about Ruby Ibarra, check her out via these sites/channels:

http://www.youtube.com/user/rubyibarra

http://www.facebook.com/rbibarra?ref=ts

http://www.rubyibarra.tumblr.com

Don't sleep on Ruby - red hot!