DAS EFX ANNOUNCES THEIR COMEBACK PLANS!

One of the most innovative duos in Hip Hop history reveal their comeback plans, curious relationship with EPMD, and working with Marco Polo on his latest LP.

This year’s ingoing college freshman class were likely in utero when two Virginia State students abandoned their English majors to pursue higher learning off campus in the music biz. After meeting during their freshman year at VSU, Andre “Drayz” Weston and Willie “Skoob” Hines subsequently united their individual rhyme talents to form what would become one of the most innovative duos in Hip Hop history, Das Efx. After being courted by EPMD at a club in Richmond, Virginia in 1991 following a talent show that Das were competing in and Erick and Parrish were judging, Drayz and Skoob soon found themselves leaving the south and returning to their east coast homebase to record what would become their platinum-certified debut album, 1992’s Dead Serious.

Hailing from Teaneck, New Jersey, Drayz (a.k.a. Krazy Drayzy) and his partner-in-rhyme, Brooklyn, New York native Skoob (“Books” spelled backwards), instantly impacted the whole country with their gold-selling, James Brown-sampling debut single, “They Want Efx,” and immediately took the reigns of the hardcore rotten apple Rap scene. With their Timbs-and-hoodies, “40 & A Blunt” steez and “Straight Out The Sewer” sound (courtesy of Skoob’s childhood friends, production duo Solid Scheme), Das easily scored a second #1 single on the charts in ‘92, “Mic Checka,” and solidified themselves as the arbiters of their unique iggedy-suffixed rhyme style.

Being influential however brought biters, and so on their sophomore offering, 1993’s Straight Up Sewaside, Das demonstrated they could effectively “Freakit” without their signature delivery. But for the group’s magnum opus, 1995’s Hold It Down, not only did Das resume their iggedy rhyming, but they also assembled a legendary lineup of beatmakers (DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Easy Mo Bee, DJ Scratch) to supplement Solid Scheme, which resulted in one of the most potent street hop albums of the 1990s. A fourth, and final, major label album would follow in 1998, Generation Efx, but by that Diddy-dominated time Drayz and Skoob’s sewer sound had become passé, resulting in a more commercial-friendly direction being forced on Das by their increasingly indifferent label.

For the better part of the last decade or so Das Efx (short for “Drayz and Skoob effects”) have spent the bulk of their time hustling internationally, performing steadily for their sizeable European following. But now one of the ‘90s most important groups are preparing to reintroduce their music stateside, as they are currently setting up a 15-20 city U.S. tour for the fall back-to-school season to pave the way for a new Das album in 2011.

“Krazy Wit Da Books” spoke with HipHopDX on August 6th about their comeback plans, (and how classifieds juggernaut Craigslist helped to put Das Efx biggedy back in the game). The Q&A below is a must read for anyone old enough to remember the reign of EPMD and their Hit Squad protégés, or anyone of any age who can appreciate Das Efx’s remarkably nimble flows atop some of the grimiest gutta goodness the ‘90s had to offer. “If Only” Hip Hop still sounded like this…

HipHopDX: Why did y’alls ad earlier this week on Craigslist looking for management turn into such a news story?


Drayz: I’m always brainstorming, trying to get ideas and think of how I can reach out to people… Because music isn’t like a regular profession or anything else where if you want a fuckin’ bagel you can go walk and there’s the sign, there’s a bagel shop… With my situation you can’t just go outside, go to a club, and there’s someone with a manager’s sign around their neck or over their head. So, I’m like, let me think outside the muthafuckin’ box – Craigslist, I’m not going there to fuckin’ smut out, I’m going there to fuckin’ try and think outside the box and put the shit up there and let’s see what happens… I got no shame in my game. I know I been getting calls from people like, “Yo, you gotta check out these [blogs], they’re trying to kill you [for posting that ad]…” I really anticipated that, but my thing is, if I was to ask a publicist to get me some press ads and let ‘em know me and Skoob, we’re trying to make a move, we’re really reestablishing [ourselves], rededicating ourselves to get this album done, it woulda cost – my publicist woulda cost me a couple of grand for her to be like, “Alright, let me get this shit together, let me get you guys on all these sites and get the shit going,” especially with no [new] music ready to blast off right now… So, it’s actually working to my favor. My email is flooded for sure. I’m getting shows out the ass… And guess what? I’m going right back to Craigslist to post some more information that we’re trying to get shit [for].

DX: So do you even need a manager or are you just gonna coordinate all this shit yourself at this point?


Drayz: We definitely need a manager. We’re starting a new venture with [The Fat Boys’ manager Uncle Louie] and [Prince] Markie Dee right now, from Fat Boys. That’s one of the things that materialized outta the [Craigslist ad]. You don’t understand, I’ve spoken [to] people from Providence to Germany to Hawaii within the last three days because of a single post on Craigslist, so I’m actually patting myself on the back like, shoulda done [that] a lot sooner.

DX: I just presumed prior to this that y’alls management situation was already on point ‘cause I remember you guys were doing a grip of shows overseas a few years back. So are y’all still touring crazy?


Drayz: Yeah, definitely. We just came from Paris…Canada… Me and Skoob, and my deejay, DJ Rondevu, that’s all we been doing amongst us three every single day. We wake up, we have conference calls, [and] we brainstorm. A lot of our movements is just word of mouth: promoters, they booked us and then we do a great show and then the word gets around… So we just came to the realization like, “On the fuckin’ team the manager manages, the players play. So I need to write – do what I do, make the fuckin’ music – and we need publicists, we need a manager.” When you’re a artist, and especially a artist without a deal, you kinda get comfortable and think [doing everything yourself] is the way it’s supposed to be. But, I actually come from being on a fuckin’ major and [having] the luxury of a label [so] when shit needs to be done shit gets done by people who that’s their position. So, I just kinda got fed up trying to wake up in the morning, make my fuckin’ coffee, start off checking my emails and try and make some connects, make some shit happen, then by one o’clock dedicate [to] writing, then by five o’clock run to the studio, then by 11 o’clock check the emails that I sent out – you know what I mean?

DX: Yeah, I just asked about the touring because I think Das Efx is a perfect example of why artists need to make timeless music they can perform 20 years after its first released and not just this [microwave] music for the moment bullshit, you knowhat I'm sayin’?

Drayz: I got’chu, man… I mean, why not do it like the Aerosmith’s and them? That’s one of my big gripes about Hip Hop is that, shit, when I was getting into this game I was about to drop out of Virginia State University and people from my parents to classmates to homeboys was like, “Nah, don’t do it!” After we did it they was like, “Oh shit! Yeah, do it…” And then when you get a certain age in Hip Hop they’re like, “Yo, you gotta retire, leave the fuckin’ game alone.” But I don’t see them saying that to fuckin’ the Rock dudes and the Country dudes. Dolly Parton been doing this shit forever! Nobody’s like, “Dolly, hang it up, do something else.” …I think it’s just a crazy double standard for Hip Hop artists.

DX: You mentioned earlier your daily schedule, have you stayed recording or did you guys set that aside while you were doing all this touring?


Drayz: …Unfortunately, we have kinda dedicated more of our time to shows and shows and shows. And when you spend let’s say two weeks at a time in Europe, [and then] you take a ten hour flight back to the states, it’s gonna take you three days to recuperate, and then on the fourth day you really wanna get your head right and say okay, let me get back to that previous schedule I just told you about. So, it kinda got into that kind of rut.

DX: And this situation you mentioned earlier with [Uncle] Louie, does that mean we’re about to get a new Das album?

Drayz: Yeah, that’s definitely what we’re rededicating [ourselves to doing] right now. Skoob and myself are like, “C’mon man, let’s really focus.” And it doesn’t help that we’re in different states: he’s in New York; I’m back and forth between Atlanta and Maryland. So, when you gotta choose tracks, and then send each other tracks via email, and record my verse and send it to him and vice versa, shit slows down the process… We’re about five songs deep [into a new album], and we’re only gonna do about 10 [songs] just to give ‘em a basic 10-12 [song] album. It’s been forever and ever, so -

DX: Let me go ahead and give you my wish list real quick: Premo, Pete Rock. [Laughs] Is that kind of lineup do-able at this point, or you guys more in-housing it?

Skoob: It’s a huge chance [of working with them again], but…I’m the type of dude like, I don’t care what your name is, as long as you got a dope beat, let’s rock. So I’m not really big on the name thing. Easy Mo [Bee], I just spoke to Easy Mo. Those is my dudes, but…if we can’t make it happen right now it’s not gonna happen. But hopefully at some point we’ll be able to do something… I’m leaning on [DJ] Scratch too. Scratch got joints…Matter fact, I spoke to [DJ] Premier the other day too. And [so] hopefully we’ll get the chance to make more history together.

Drayz: Premo is hard as hell to get up with. His daily schedule must be crazy. So he’s on everybody’s wish list... And in terms of in-house, because of the Internet it makes getting beats that much easier. I’m not sure if you’ve ever been to Europe, but there’s a lot of talented kids over there… Because of guys like Premo, a lot of these kids in places like Germany, they stepped their game up because they admire guys like Premo, and Pete [Rock] and Easy Mo Bee so much that if I came to you with a CD [of their beats] on any given day you might think it’s a Premo CD. And I’m like, “Nah man, it’s a freakin’ white kid from somewhere in Germany – Berlin.” I’ve just learned not to discriminate because you don’t have a big name. And I’m a definite fan of giving the underdog and the unknown a shot, because someone gave me a fuckin’ shot. EPMD gave me a shot back in the day, ya know?

DX: Yeah, that’s one name I forgot to mention: E-Dub. Is there any chance of that at this point?


Skoob: Yo E, I need some beats, E. [Laughs] Yo, I’d love to have Erick Sermon on board. That would be a great asset to the album.

Drayz: Erick Sermon? Um…you know what, man? Erick is a real interesting character. I have my history with Erick. I haven’t seen Erick in a couple of years. I mean, we’ve had a couple of EPMD shows that we’ve done with them, but he’s just a real interesting guy. That’s probably as far as I should go into that. He’s just a real funny guy and…I’ve seen him saying just crazy shit on the Internet when I thought all of us had put that bullshit behind us, let’s just say that.

DX: Well let me ask you about that ‘cause I did a feature interview with Erick in 2008 and he told me a Hit Squad/Def Squad album might be able to happen, “But now Dre and Skoob are having some troubles…” You know what the hell he was talking about?

Drayz: Really, we’re having some troubles?

DX: He didn’t elaborate…

Drayz: You shoulda did a follow-up question on that, because I’m not sure what he’s really referring to. But, that’s what I mean, he’s just a funny guy and I’m a straight shooter, man. If I holla at you on Monday and we’re choppin’ it up, and then when I call you on Wednesday I expect the same kind of shit when we was choppin’ it up on Monday. Don’t get all…funny.

DX: You guys weren’t on We Mean Business but Redman was on there, Keith Murray… Is it just more Def Squad at this point than Hit Squad?

Drayz: Um…those guys, they have a different relationship. I’ve only spoken to Keith Murray maybe a handful of times. And he’s actually a cool individual. Over the years we’ve had our differences, but…everybody matures. When I got into the whole Hit Squad back in [1991], Keith was already there, Redman was already there, and what I came to learn was Erick and Parrish [Smith] were already having their issues. So by that time, when I fuckin’ dropped out of college [and] came around these guys, sides had already been drawn. And I think what happened with Erick and Redman is they felt that Parrish was more the dictator, the leader. So once you have a muthafuckin’ revolt, the guys that wanna revolt, they have a strong bond [with each other]. [Like], “Yo, remember when we were down and we used to eat crackers and soup and it was just us?” [I know] because that’s how I came into the game with me and my partner Skoob, and our two producers [Solid Scheme]. We all were down and out [while] doing that first Dead Serious album. We used to do music and all four of us walk to the damn chicken wing spot, the Chinese spot, [and] scrape our money together to get one chicken wing box with rice and then listen to our demo that we’re trying to put together. So we had that kinda bond that they had.

DX: I just think it’s kinda fucked up for the fans that we haven’t formally heard y’all with EPMD since “Intrigued” way back on Back In Business.

Drayz: Yeah, I mean, I would of loved to have been on [Out of Business and We Mean Business]. Like I said, I think Erick was maybe – And I know [Parrish], he’s a real cool dude, so I just think for the sake of keeping everything cool, for lack of a better term, [I’ll just say] I just think they slapped the album together, [just] did what they were doing. [And] Redman is always there for Erick so [his appearance was] probably just a phone call away – [Keith] Murray I believe the same thing. But, me and Skoob had kinda drifted away from P. We didn’t have no beef with P, but we just kinda drifted away from P, did our own thing and…I guess we were doing us while they did the album.

Skoob: Actually, we were supposed to be on [We Mean Business]. My nigga 9th Wonder did the sick beat [as "Left For Dead"], B. I don’t know exactly why it didn’t go down, but it was supposed to go down. And whatever politics was involved with that, that’s what it was. I don’t know the exact reason so I can’t even tell you… Everything is good with us [and Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith]. We don’t really deal with each other for the most part, like on a personal level, but when it’s time to go out there and get money and eat, we all get together like the Transformers and form Megatron and it’s all gravy, everything’s good. All that bullshit that happened in the past, that’s over with. That’s the past, man. We just trying to eat. We grown men trying to feed our families. It’s too much of a short life to live to hold on to grudges. Life’s too short

CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT THE REST OF THE INTERVIEW:

http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/interviews/id.1584/title.das-efx-bakn...