With the release of their debut album, The First Draft, Deep Foundation is heating up stages across the US. I had a chance to catch up to them recently at the Asian Hip Hop Summit's AM Classic Hip Hop Showcase in N.Y.C.'s Public Assembly. ILL Poetik, MUG Shot, Proseed, and CJ spoke about the history, the inspirations, and the future of Deep Foundation.
How did you get started?
It started with us knowing each other from back in the day but we all started writing at the same time. Pros and I met and we started the whole writing thing around the same time. He met CJ and everybody else in the group and they were going out with friends from Queens and they were like 'Hey MUG Shot is dope and they were going to freestyle with us and we asked them to join our group. They lived in Jersey so it was friends first and became better friends and we started shows, college shows in New Jersey and became more serious.
Are going to stay in the area like New York and New Jersey or plan to branch out?
We've done stuff in Boston, Mid-Atlantic, and once our album comes out we will try to go back to the Mid-Atlantic and California, Southern California to the [San Francisco] Bay.
Are you doing more shows with other artists such as the AM Classic or your own shows?
We do both. Sometimes we put together our own show and someone will contact us to do an event or a showcase. We perform for colleges. Whatever represents us or we represent we want to be part of it. We don't do a show for the sake of doing a show and we want to be part of it.
Do you have any influences?
Each individual has his own influences. Tribe Called Quest, Wu Tang Clan, Biggie. Definitely Jay-Z has to be part of it, Mobb Deep, like the early 90's hip hop, Black Star. But we don't limit ourselves to underground or mainstream. Any dope hip hop is dope hip hop. Common, and Jay-Z like we said. Public. DMX. The first album was crazy!
Usually when I say influences I mean lyrics but do you have any influences for showmanship such as when Snoop Dogg hits the stage he takes over. Do you like any artist's style on stage?
It has to be high energy groups I would think because that's the type of hip hop we love. You'll be a stranger to their music or never heard of them but the moment they take the stage it's crazy, energized, it's infectious. Wu Tang, definitely Busta [Rhymes], cats with high energy. In terms of stage presence it has to be like those dudes. The Roots too. They always give audiences something new like a new remix of one of their songs.
What's your plans after the AM Classic?
We have an album set to come out in early October called The First Draft. Basically the story behind it is a lot of our songs have a lot of storytelling elements to it. It's like the whole c.d. is a book and since this is our first album it's the first draft of our story. It's supposed to come out early to mid-October. After that we are going to try to do a Mid-Atlantic tour and then the Cali tour to promote it. It features artists like Geologic and Bamboo. Some of those cool cats of the West Coast. Also has Hydroponikz, Kiwi and Illmind. We're trying to showcase talent of all kinds but especially Filipino, Asian-American.
Any recording contract in the works?
We're just rapping now. I think everyone would love to experience that but at the same time it's still fun because there's no one telling you what to do. It's all about you and exactly how you want it. It's also a learning experience. We've never done this before on this level, this professional level so we're learning every step of the way.
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Non-T.W. images are courtesy of Michael Violago from his Deep Foundation Album Release Party Album. The First Draft is on sale now and can be purchased by visiting the D.F. MySpace: www.myspace.com/deepfoundation
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