Kidz in the Hall will bring their water gun antics to the 9
Although Kidz in the Hall started out making music about college life, the duo says they are unconcerned about being the big men on the hip-hop campus.
“I don’t think it’s about breaking into the elite because our music is already elite,” said Double O, the producer of the group, who is headlining the Crowd Control tour at the 9:30 Club on Sunday night. “I want to break barriers and gain true fans — people who will slap somebody or break up with their girlfriends if they say we’re not dope.”
Double O and his partner-in-rhyme Naledge’s latest album, Land of Make Believe, released March 9, is all about feeling comfortable with the level of musical success the University of Pennsylvania graduates have achieved. Songs such as “Do It All Again (I Am)” discuss maintaining artistic integrity instead of aspiring to be ultra-popular.
The insistence on uncompromising music may sound like an excuse from artists whose three albums have yet to crack the top 10 on Billboard‘s rap albums chart. But Double O said he and Naledge aren’t in denial and know they have a bit more to do in terms of securing their legacy.
“The hardest thing is to get people to care because there’s so much music out there in our ADD society,” Double O said. “We have to get people to buy into who we are as men and buy into our lifestyles.”
And that’s one of the reasons why Kidz in the Hall is breaking away from their old live show format, which was a simple emcee and DJ set-up that didn’t fully engage the audience. Most people at their performances were probably only familiar with a couple of songs, such as the TRL-featured “Drivin’ Down the Block,” and may have had trouble understanding Naledge’s lyrics and catching Double O’s beats.
Double O said being stuck behind the turntables was “too restrictive,” so attendees of their concert at the 9:30 Club can expect a more energetic, crowd-participatory showcase that involves water. When pressed for more info, Double O and Naledge chuckled and said it’s meant to be a surprise.
“But don’t wear anything too cool, you might get wet,” Double O warned.
That air of mystery is meant to tempt fans to buy tickets. Kidz in the Hall entered the new-school hip-hop class with a backpack of marketing tactics. Formed about 10 years ago when Naledge was a freshman communication major at Penn, Kidz in the Hall quickly realized that the demo CDs they recorded in an off-campus apartment weren’t strong enough to serve as promotional materials. Tangible records were on the way out, but Internet MP3s were all the rage.
“We were some of the original blog rappers,” Double O said. “We realized that the blogs and somebody’s opinions online can be the dictator of what will be dope.”
Kidz in the Hall’s 2006 debut album may have been called School Was My Hustle, but they started turning tricks in the music business after graduation. They said they created a fake public relations persona, Joe Scratch, and published a newsletter under that name. They hyped up Kidz in the Hall in the faux objective newsletter and gained industry connections.
By 2007, Duck Down Records took notice and signed Kidz in the Hall. The group released its debut on Rawkus but inked a deal with Duck Down partly because it appreciated the fact that the label recognized its promotional skills.
“[Duck Down] bought into our work acumen even before they heard our music,” Double O said.
But if one were to browse through the Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Duck Down Records roster, the song “One of These Things is Not Like the Other” may come to mind. Duck Down is run by affiliates of the Boot Camp Clik, made up of Timbaland-rocking, grimy ’90s rap legends with names such as Buckshot, Tek, Steele and with songs that include “Whoop His Ass.” Kidz in the Hall, who sport ties and have more songs about relationships than Rugers, seem like the out-of-place Sesame Street in Duck Down Records’ hood.
But the fact that Kidz in the Hall are currently as successful as many of their gully label mates serves as evidence that hip-hop has experienced a cultural shift. Street cred is no longer a job requirement, for the Ivy League grads are part of an ever-expanding class of young, average Joe hip-hop acts.
“Hip-hop grew up and shifted out of the hood,” Double O said. “Hip-hop became a fabric of American youth culture and broadened its horizons by reaching the trailer parks and the suburbs, where kids listened to it and processed it in their own way. … They have other struggles that people connect to.”
And a great amount of hip-hop heads can relate to Double O and Naledge’s middle-class upbringings.
“I grew up in the urban, predominantly black south side of Chicago, but I wasn’t on the corner slinging rocks, and I wasn’t a balling, trust-fund kid,” Naledge said. “I couldn’t afford everything, but my parents worked hard to give me certain luxuries like summer camp and trips to amusement parks.”
Double O, who was born in Brooklyn but moved to suburban New Jersey as a teenager, also credits what he refers to as an “eclectic upbringing” in diverse neighborhoods as a musical influence. But he said his parents value prestigious 9-to-5 jobs, so they aren’t always too pleased with his choice of career.
“I have a little bit of a battle with them over that,” Double O said. “But whenever a new musical development happens, like we get on TV or something, it keeps them at bay.”
They may never be chart-topping artists with more money than the white collar professionals Double O’s parents hoped he would model himself after, but at least Kidz in the Hall have plans to tear up the stage on a multi-month tour.
Kidz in the Hall will perform at the 9:30 Club with 88-Keys, Izza Kizza and Donnis on Sunday. Doors open at 7 p.m. and tickets cost $20.
arush@umdbk.com
