interview

01/10/04
brought to you by joe90

So says one of the trio that is DKD. I don't know if its Dego, Kaidi Tatham, or Daz-I-Kue. My guess is Dego, due to the abruptness of some of the answers to my questions, and because they probably couldn't get Kaidi to sit still for long enough, but it doesn't really matter, because when they work as well together as the DKD album proves they do, they clearly all walking the same path.

Although these guys are quick to big up their peers, they are characteristically reticent when it comes to shouting about their own work. Others talk of bombs dropping; they talk of 'likkle somethings'. Others mention a great meeting of musical minds, they say 'it's a rinse between some like minded producers. It's not false modesty. They don't do false modesty. They do future. Future rage.

We all know about the single 'Future Rage'. Born of a studio jam, it's the kind of record that stops traffic and caused many a roadblock of enquiring eyes and grasping CDR fingers when the major headz were dropping it in clubs. The album is less immediately rabble rousing than the single and it sees the three producers seriously reachin. Dego has obviously been at the top of his game for years, but Kaidi and Daz-I-Kue are probably not even there yet.

They describe the record as 'an eclectic mix of London boogie hip hop and funk!' and yeah, the beats are broken but only in the way that they take what most recognise as hip hop, house, Latin, soul, techno, and funk rhythms and twist it to their way of thinking. That's what 'broken beat' is anyway isn't it? Not a description of a particular rhythm, but a state of mind?

Conceived in the Bugz In The Attic studios, and a joint release between Dego's 2000 Black label and Bitasweet, DKD and 'Future Rage' is just another example of the increasingly fertile ground that the Bitasweet collective is breeding down there, and this record is a statement of intent, a shot across the bows for 2004.

"This isn't even an artist album", say DKD. "Our labels 2000 Black and Bitasweet aren't powerful or networked enough to make a really big impact but we have one good thing on our side, a loyal following and great qualities musically."

And the future? "Bootlegged and penniless! Ha ha ha ha…"

This article used with kind permission of iDJ

do yerself a favour. bag a copy of the album here