DAE ONE  (August 2007) | Interview By: Nima

As ever, you can read and listen to this exclusive interview and we urge you to leave feedback on our forums or email them to nima@dubcnn.com.

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Interview was done in August 2007

Questions Asked By: Nima

Dae One Gave Dubcnn A Shoutout! Check That Here

Full Audio Interview Here

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Dubcnn: Dubcnn hooked up with the producer Dae One. What's going on with you man?

What up man, what's cracking?


Dubcnn: For those who don't know you, can you give a little introduction to who Dae One is?

Who am I? A new producer coming up out of the West Coast, daily focused on music, giving it to the masses. I've previously worked on a few projects with everybody reaching from Scipio, Roccett, Taje, Bishop Lamont to Glasses Malone. If any of those names sound familiar, then you may have heard my sound before.


Dubcnn: Where are you from?

I'm from Hawthorne, Hawthorne, California.


Dubcnn: You've been pretty busy his year, who have you been working with?

This year? I was on the Damizza & Butch Cassidy album that dropped "Back B-4 You're Lonely", I did a few works on there. I've been on pretty much all of Roccett's mixtapes, I was on Taje's "Hotbox Vol. 1", I executive produced Scipio's "Angel Dust", I also executive produced Lil Bam's "20/20 Vision" and did three joints on there, I was on Noni Spitz "W.I.M.S. Radio"... I've been pretty much all over the place, just working really, working!


Dubcnn: Taje's single "House Shoes" got some airplay, tell us about that song.

Yeah, the "House Shoes" record actually was kind of crazy, cause he came to me with this idea, him and Mike Anthony was joking one day like "Man, you [Taje] always wearing house shoes, you need to make a song about house shoes!" Mike Anthony pretty much gave Taje the idea, and he came to me, sat down, had the sample he kind of wanted me to flip, that old Kurupt verse from "Doggy Dogg World". I had to change it up a little bit, but that was it right there man, just constructed it.

A week or two later it was on the air, on the radio, it was crazy. It pretty much took on a life of its own. It was kind of unexpected, but it's kind of just due in a sense. Like me previously helping other artists and getting other artists on the radio, it was only right to get something cracking for my team, it was inevitable.


Dubcnn: What's next for Taje and you, what can we expect?

We're wrapping up "Hot Box Vol. 2: The Second Hit", which should be done soon, it's gonna be hosted by DJ Warrior, Cali Untouchables, he's gonna go ahead and host that. That should be out within two to three weeks, it's gonna be a joint venture between me and Taje's company LNS Ent, in conjunction with Baby Ree, Damizza's company. So we're going to partner up and get that project to the streets and see how people react to it! "House Shoes" is on it, it's gonna be a dope project, you're going to have producers on there ranging from me, DJ Khalil, Diverse, it's a lot of fresh stuff on that record.


Dubcnn: It's a mixtape though?

Yeah this is a mixtape, the album is coming right after that. It's even some stuff on the album that was meant for the tape, but it was so hot we had to hold it back for the record. It's gonna be pretty interesting man, so that's what's next up for me and Taje, you're going to see that very soon, I think a few songs have already leaked out online and here and there, from you [dubcnn] and on the radio, so stay tuned!


Dubcnn: What equipment do you use when you make beats?

Man, to tell you the truth, I'm a hardware dude, I like using the MP2000 XL, the Triton, the Phantom... I don't really like dealing with the software programs too much, not to knock them, but I just can't really get into using Reason and stuff. Not that I can't, just that I feel more at ease using hardware equipment. So you're going to hear a little MP, a little SP1200 if I can get my hands on it, a little bit of everything.


Dubcnn: Who would you describe as your influences?

Musically, I would say a cross between J. Dilla and Dr. Dre. Outkast was a big influence on my music when they first dropped, the whole West Coast at its peak, anything from 93-96, Tupac, B.I.G., Big L, it's so much. I'm influenced by a whole lot of music, I listen to a lot of stuff, anything from Jazz to classical music, a little Herbie Hancock, Billy Holiday, Jimmy Hendrix, White Stripes. *laughs* Anything that's fresh!

I listen to all that man, and I really do that because I try to keep my sounds so diverse to where I don't really like people hearing a track of mine and saying "Damn, that Dae One right there." I really like people to come at me and be like "Damn, you did that? I didn't even know you did that beat!" That makes me feel better, cause I'm not keeping myself in a box, sounding the same way on every track, or having a signature sound.


Dubcnn: What made you want to become a producer initially?

Man, to tell you the truth, when I was young I was a rapper first, I was a MC at first. I started making beats cause I couldn't find producers around my area that could make beats the way I was hearing them in my head! So I would go pay for studio time and the producers that they would have there just wouldn't fit what I was trying to do. So I started asking questions like "What do I gotta do to make my own music?" It pretty much took from there, cause I couldn't find anybody that could make the beats the way I wanted to hear them, I always tried to explain it to them, and they couldn't get it. I ended up begging my momma one year for a drum machine, she bought me the drum machine and a keyboard, and it was over from there!


Dubcnn: Which producers in the game are you personally feeling right now?

I got a couple of personal favorites! Right now, it's probably DJ Khalil! I think DJ Khalil right now is one of my favorite cats killing it, he's ill. Black Milk is dope, Young RJ is incredible... It's a lot of cats that's doing their thing out here on the West Coast that I really look up to, and although we look at each other as equals, I still hear their music and get excited, like 1500 Or Nothin', THX, Terrace Martin, Focus on Aftermath is always killing, J-Hen is dope, Dem Jointz, Diverse.

Diverse always keeps me on my toes, cause we always think that we pretty much have a similar sound, and we're always trying to make our best shit, that keeps me on my toes. I'll hear Diverse's shit and be like "Damn I gotta go home and make some beats!" When me and Diverse get together and make beats, they're always super-stupid, super-smashing. King Karnov is dope, it's a lot of fresh producers I look up to, Chordz, it's a lot of dope cats. If people don't know these people's names, they need to find a way to hear they're music! I'm pretty sure all these people got MySpace pages. But on some other shit, I think Khalil is killing it. I've been hearing a little stuff here and there that Dr. Dre has been doing too, he's the man. That joint he gave Stat Quo is bananas!


Dubcnn: You mean "Here We Go"?

Yeah! Whooo.. *laughs* That's killing it. That shit was dope. That's shit's on a whole other level man. I'ma feel bad cause I'll end up leaving out people I really like, it's too many dope people out here, I'm glad the West Coast is getting its shine back though like it should be, that's how I feel. It's about time for that.


Dubcnn: How heavy is the pressure to adjust to what's hot in the game right now musically?

It's kind of hard, because it makes artists and producers want to compromise their sound. I try to stay away from the snap music as far as I can, and I've never even done a snap beat, but at that point, that's all a lot of artists were coming to you for as a producer. Like "I need some kind of crazy..." you know what I mean? The stuff on the radio, I'm not really feeling it like that. It may be two or three records on the radio right now that are cool to me, but most of the stuff on the radio I can't even listen to it, cause I don't feel like it's music at it's best, that's all.

So when you gotta compromise your sound and make your sound different from what you're normally used to, that's how you get a lot of these one hit wonders, cause they adapt to something they normally wouldn't do, and then they couldn't come with nohing else. So I try to stay away from that as much as possible, I try to stay in my own zone and listen to what I like. If I listened to the radio too long, no lie, I'd get depressed! I'll listen to the radio and feel like "Damn, am I not tight? Is it me or is this what people really wanna hear?" And I ask people that don't even do music, and they're like "I don't know why the radio keeps playing that same damn record!" I try to stay away from that as much as possible. I listen to stuff that gets me inspired, I'll throw on some Stevie Wonder or something, and then I'll feel like making music. But if I listen to the radio, I'll probably not feel like making beats.


Dubcnn: Which artists would like to see yourself working with in the near future?

It's a lot of people I'd like to deal with. I wanna hear what it would sound like if me and Crooked I did something. I would like to see that, that might be kind of dope. On some real shit, I'll do a record with Yolanda Adams, cause I don't wanna put myself in a box to where I'm stuck in this perimeter of doing the same kind of music. No one in particular though, but if someone likes what I'm doing and wants to get a bar of it, we can get together, it's nothing.


Dubcnn: If you were to produce an entire album for an artist, who would you pick and why?

Aside from what I've done already? It would probably be Andre 3000, I wanna do a whole rap record on Andre. Why? Just cause people wouldn't expect that.


Dubcnn: How would it sound?

Incredible! He's a beast! I'm a monster! It would be Halloween all day, trick or treat, the whole record! The whole album! I think that would be kind of fresh, aside from him being one of my favorite rapper of all time. Him, or Slick Rick! I'd do a record with Slick Rick right now!


Dubcnn: Which project can we expect to hear Dae One production on in 2007/2008?

Look for me of course on Taje's "Hot Box". Me and Noni Spitz about to do a record, I'ma be rapping and producing on it, the group is going to be called No One, look for that real soon, I'm just trying to pick the sound we're gonna go with for the record, but that's gonna be pretty fresh. You can catch me on Butch Cassidy's solo record, we're cutting records for that right now. We're pretty much mixing the records for that right, I got Butch Cassidy's first single!


Dubcnn: What's it called?

It's called "All I See", featuring Snoop Dogg! You're going to hear me on Damani's record, me and him got two records, one I did with David Banner, and the other song... Oh you've heard the record! *laughs* The cookie... *laughs* Haha, yeah...


Dubcnn: Yeah we ain't gonna let everybody know what's up with that yet, they're gonna hear about it later!

Yeah, we'll let them hear it on their own. Then, I'm on the "Caltroit" record rapping and producing. That "Caltroit" is coming out so incredible, it's so dope! I don't even wanna put too much on it, but I'm just going to say it's hot, in my opinion. It's not even a mixtape or nothing, it's a album, it's a well put together album. It's gonna show a lot of diversity in mixing up a lot of artists together at the same time, which is going to be real crazy.


Dubcnn: When is the "Caltroit" record dropping?

Hopefully, if all time goes well, I can't depict a right time cause it depends on two artists who at the same time are doing two other projects and travelling the country, but I would say we're about 75-80% done, so within a few months. I don't wanna say it cause I can't pinpoint a date, but witin the very near future. I'll be on that Blu Division mixtape that Glasses [Malone] is doing right now, me and Quiz just did a record that dropped online. Me and the homie Young Dubb from South Central are cutting some records, me and the Bloc Boyz are in the lab right now. What else is going on... Me and Kenny Kingpin got this smash man, I don't even wanna say too much! You can catch me on Mykestro's album, I'm all over the place! I got my hands in it! I believe Lil Bam is doing a compilation for Long Beach, I got something on that. I got some TV stuff coming up too, so just look for me!


Dubcnn: How can people contact you to work with you?

People can always hit my MySpace, it's myspace.com/120daeone, people can always hit me there, send me a message a comment or whatever. That's the best way to reach me right now, my MySpace connect.


Dubcnn: Is there anything else that you'd like to let everybody know?

Yeah, look out for that Sir Jinx project "Game Warden" that's coming soon, my big homie Jinx is doing his thing, that shit sounds incredible! Check out the homie young Eastwood, Tri-Star... Keep God first and don't ever give up a good dream, that's some real talk!