Philadelphia Hip Hop

Whats good Haj how did you form Dumhi?
Dumhi started basically by me making a bunch of beats and wanting to do a full project. Because I dont rap or sing.. I started recruiting folks who did initially with the goal of having various vocalists on different songs.Shameless Plug (NJ), Mash Comp (DC), and Flud (BK) were three of the first vocalists I collaborated with. Since then the list has grown and grown.

Who are all the members of the group?

Well.. each project is different. With very few exceptions, I have produced all of the beats and albums that Dumhi has released. That said… I have been blessed to work with a great deal of extremely talented folks. From rappers, singers, poets to web and graphic designers to various musicians etc etc… all of these people and their contributions have left their mark on the Dumhi projects and helped shaped and form the projects yknow? As far as I am concerned they are all a part of Dumhi.

Lets talk about the project your promoting right now?

The new project is called The Jungle. All of the beats utilize Ethiopian jazz samples and the vocals are anchored by one of my favorite emcees doing it right now, Reef the Lost Cauze who appears on 4 of the albums 8 vocal tracks. All of the emcees on this project are amazing tho. Ethel Cee, Random, and Burke the Jurke… Elucid and Che Grand, Jermiside, Flud, Oxygeen… I am still very psyched about this team of emcees.

I like to think of my projects as collages. They are usually 35-40 minutes and strung together with voice snippets and sound effects to hopefully create a cohesive experience for the listener. The type of thing you hopefully want to throw some headphones on for and then chill out and listen to from start to end. I think The Jungle may be my most cohesive collage yet.

Talk about some of the features on your project how did you link up w reef the lost cauze? what about Random?

I have been a fan of Reefs since his Feast or Famine album dropped back in 2005. In 2008 I put together a project called Yoga at Home and took a shot hitting him up about featuring on a song. We linked up and knocked out what was to become “Squeeze” and realized we only lived a few blocks from each other. A couple years later and we have a GRIP of songs together. Most of them no one has heard… YET!

I met Random years ago through a mutual friend, beatmaker/producer Dn3. Random also appeared on Yoga at Home (as well as a few other Dumhi projects). Great emcee and a good friend.

One of my favorite aspects of making music is the relationships that are built along the way. I consider both of these guys (as well as really everyone I worked with on The Jungle) really close personal friends at this point. I also think they are great at what they do and so just to have the opportunity to link with them on some family stuff AND on music.. well.. its really pretty special in my opinion.

What equipment do you use to make your beats?

Mostly.. turntables, records and Ableton Live software. I will use anything that makes noise though.

I know your on your grind hard and I bet your already working on the next project(s) can you let us know what you have in the works?

I am hoping to release the next Dumhi project “The Whole World is Watching” in the Fall of this year. Its pretty well under way and some vocals have already been recorded. Never know how things will play out during the production process so I don’t want to give too much away but… Reef and Random have both already recorded for it.

who did you look up to in the Philly hip hop game growing up?

Well.. I honestly grew up a fan moreso than a someone who participated in the “scene” so I think I basically liked what everyone else did. Ive been a big fan The Roots, Beanie Sigel, Freeway, etc etc. Jazzy Jeff, James Poyser, Bilal…. Philly has so much to offer man. I love Philly.

Lets talk about your video w Megaran & Ethel Cee. where did you shoot it at? and who filmed it?

Haha… thats my ‘backyard’. We didn’t go too far to be “on location”. Jimmy Giambrone filmed both the Dumhi Cannons and Philly Cousins videos. (Philly Cousins features Reef and was also shot in South Philly) It was straight bbq style. we talked about Random a bit above but Ethel Cee is another one of my favorite emcees (Grab her ‘Dirty Samples’ Ep for free if you haven’t already). We filmed their parts in the morning and then started drinking and grilling. It was a really fun day.

Thanks a lot man!

Peace!
Haj…

Dumhi – w Random and ethel cee – Cannons

dumhi-w reef the lost cauze- Philly cousins

Share on Facebook