DAWAUN PARKER (PART ONE) (October 2007) | Interview By: Conan Milne

       If an appearance by the elusive Dr. Dre at the MTV Video Music Awards didn’t convince you that Detox is coming, this feature might. Dubcnn tracked down the eclectic keys player dubbed The Dr.’s Apprentice, Dawaun Parker, for an exclusive interview.

We explore Andre Young’s rumored swansong, as well as the process of recording with and auditioning for the Doc. However, the feverishly anticipated Detox is just one of the many high profile projects that Boston native Dawaun is contributing to.

As a result, the multi-talented musician awards us a greater insight into working with Eminem, Busta Rhymes, and other Hip-Hop stalwarts. Among several other topics, there’s also the impeccable sounding GodBody debut to discuss. Dawaun guides us through this “baby” of his, a carefully nurtured collaboration with Boston MC Tre’ Guevera.

Delve into the mind of a gifted producer; songwriter; MC, and an Apprentice set to become the Master of his craft.

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As always we have the transcript for you to check and please feel free to send any feedback regarding the interview to: conanmilne@dubcnn.com

 

Interview was done in October 2007.

Questions Asked By : Conan Milne

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Dubcnn: Let’s start off by talking about GodBody. Tell us about that project.

Okay. Well, The GodBody is a Hip-Hop duo, which consists of myself and an MC. His name is Tre’ Guevera. You know, we formed, like, our last year of high school. I’m from the East Coast. I’m from Providence, Rhode Island originally. The Boston area and all that. Tre’ is from, uh, outside of Boston. We met like the last year of high school. It was just formed by an affinity for the same sort of Hip-Hop and the things that we liked about music. We just came together in terms of rhyming. We weren’t a group or anything then. We just used to hang out and listen to beat tapes and stuff like that. I had started producing and making tracks at the time with some kids in Rhode Island. Yeah, we were basically – it was pretty casual. We would get together and rhyme and all of that. Just before I started college – this was about 2003 or something, 2002 – we decided we wanted to take it a little bit seriously, bring it to the next level, and we formed The GodBody. It kind of formulated over a course of time – the vision and what we’re about, and what we wanted our music to be a part of and everything. We’ve just been keeping it moving with that.

We’ve been working on our record presently at Dre’s. You know, Dre’s studio. We’re about halfway to sixty percent done with the record. It’s been a long time coming. We’ve played a few shows. When we play live, we play with a live band. Uh, we have a band called The GB’s. You know, like James Brown had The JB’s? I play with the same group of cats. They’re all incredible, incredible musicians. They went to Berklee as well, which is like a premier music school or whatever. They’re all doing their own things, like around the country with their own bands, and own projects, and all that stuff. We all get together to form The GB’s whenever we play live. It’s a big part of who we are because the live show is kind of becoming a lost art. In terms of our opinions on, like, the Hip-Hop and R&B game, it’s becoming so much about your single, and just about a popular song and whatever. Unless people go to shows or whatever – the festival circuits and all that are still a big part of a lot of peoples fan bases. You know, we want the live element to be retained and to be progressed and pushed forward by doing what we do. You have to know that you’re going to get a different experience – and, for some people, a better experience – when you see us play, because of the musicality that we bring to the project and all that.

On our record, besides some overdubs and everything, it’s mostly me and Tre’. We’ve got some good collabo’s going, man. I’ve got a song with Dre. We’ve got a song with Busta Rhymes. I’ve got some co-production stuff. I produced a couple of tracks with Just Blaze for Game’s next record. You know, I’m trying to get him for ours as well. Uh, me and (Hi) Tek. Everything will be my production except for, like, a couple of co-production things. We’ve got a Dre track as well, besides a verse from Dre, where I produced that along with Dre. It will definitely be my coming out party in terms of you hearing me on a full-length – like a little more than on Busta or something, to where I was on a bunch of his tracks but not the whole record. The GodBody is, you know, it’s my baby and it’s going to be a beautiful outlet for what we’re trying to do and what I’m trying to bring to the table in terms of how I get down on production and how I flex my musicality.


Dubcnn: Wow. Congratulations on all of that! The GodBody album sounds like it’s coming together well. Obviously I haven’t heard the results, but the idea of you and Just co-producing some tracks sound great.

Ah, I appreciate it, man. It’s, uh – we got to rock at Encore in Burbank a little while back. You know, Encore is a fairly popular studio that’s in L.A. A bunch of people have recorded there: Em, and Doc, and all that. We worked on a few things, and I was able to catch a vibe that, you know – I’m a big fan of his and have respected his work. I’ve always been a credit reader, since, like, ninth grade or something. Maybe even before then! So I was always in to who was making the tracks on what records and all that. That was before I even really decided I wanted to become a producer. From the beginning, when I first heard about him, I’ve always been checking all his stuff and I was a big fan. You know, when I go to work with somebody, I’ll kind of have it in my mind – I’ll definitely have an open palette and an open mind about what we want to do. I think with my knowledge or whatever of history of what they’ve done, and kind of how I would interpret what they tend to do stylistically, I pair that with what I could do or whatever. I say, “What if we did this sort of thing?” I just kind of follow directions of it and the results so far have been pretty positive. He’s been pretty interested in what we’ve wanted to do, and the ins and outs and everything. He’s really chill, man. We just talk about sneakers and video games.


Dubcnn: Well we definitely share that passion for credit reading. Through that, I started seeing your name pop up frequently. I was like, “Damn, Dawaun is doing his thing!”

I appreciate it. It’s been a blessing, man. The whole experience and the whole thing of really being, like, Dre’s apprentice. You know, he’s like a big brother to me. He’s taught me so many things, man, besides just production. And a lot of it – most of the things aren’t really verbal. You know, we work together and we track together and I just pick up a lot just from what’s happening and what’s going on. It’s not him necessarily verbalizing a lot of things to me. It’s my whole life, from music to just getting in shape and stuff like that. You know, just like overall of how you can kind of be a master on all points. You know what I mean? I’m trying to learn that through him rather aggressively. It’s been a great thing, man. I got the start – I got to meet him, like, two days after I finished school. It was right after I finished all that and it’s definitely been a dream experience ever since then. It’s been good.


Dubcnn: It certainly seems to have been a wild ride. Back on The GodBody project that we were discussing, how does MostArt, your GodBody moniker, differ from Dawaun Parker? Is there a difference at all?

Hmm. I wouldn’t say – I would say that any kind of alter ego or different personality thing would be something that would be developed and that the people will see as I come in to fruition and as I come in to my own with what’s going on. I think that it’s more of a moniker than anything else, you know? I feel like I sort of bring the same kind of things to the table. Maybe MostArt is me exclusively putting on my Hip-Hop hat. More of me, you know – most of my credits, making sure it was “Dawaun Parker” was so I could kind of prove that it was what I was doing! If it came out as something else, people could be like, “Well, who’s this guy? How do we know you’re that?” or whatever. But, you know, I can prove I’m Dawaun! You know what I’m saying? The first couple of credits I got, they used my real name. It was like, “Okay. I’ll just run with this, and (MostArt) will be more with The GodBody stuff. We’ll start to push a little more about what the alias is, or the other moniker.” You know? And there’s a couple more on the way too. You know everybody got three or four names now!


Dubcnn: Oh yeah. Now I know that in the past The GodBody has expressed a love for what’s been labeled the ‘Golden Era’ of Hip-Hop. Many believe those years ended about a decade ago. How satisfied are you with the current state of Hip-Hop?

(Laughs) Uh – it’s hard to not sound like a hater, man, in the sound, and be another one of those guys that says, “Oh, Hip-Hop is dead. I like where it used to be,” blah, blah, blah. “What is going on ain’t good now,” and whatever. You definitely have the modes of you hear a terrible song, or a song that you don’t feel people put much work in to. Then you say, “Look at the state of where it is.” But I think that at the same time it’s gotten more eclectic and more musical and more genre bending. It’s just that it might not be exposed as much. I think with, with the industry being more and more dominated by corporate holders, and more people getting into positions of power, and labels who aren’t necessarily music lovers. They look at numbers, and they look at, “Well, you know, this particular type of sound has been a hit – blah, blah, blah – so we’re going to run with this. Keep this thing going.”

I think that as a result of that, people realize that it’s got to be more than about music for them. They’re trying to eat. They’re trying to live or whatever. When you’ve got all these different corporations or A&Rs or whoever saying, “We need that,” it’s hard for an artist to come out doing everything they want to do if they know that’s going to alienate people. I hear the struggle. If you’re going to make music just for yourself, then make it in your room. You can do exactly what you would want. You know, when you make music for the world and for people to hear, hopefully the balance can be that what you would want to make in your room is also what would be really acceptable in the rap business. You know what I’m saying? And I think that if people can keep just holding close to that and just try to really put quality in their stuff then they’ll be – it’ll continue.

I think the Hip-Hop of yesteryear is gone. I think that it’s kind of foolish or, uh, too much of a task to hope that you’re going to bring the “Golden Era” back. You know, 1995 or whatever. Thinking that you’re going to be able to get that back, when that era is gone. While we appreciate the aesthetics and the qualities that made that a great time, we’re not about trying to bring that back at all. You know? We’re more about trying to move forward or whatever, with the principles of that time. That was making the best music that we can make, and saying the best lyrics that you can make, and of course having styles, delivery, and all that stuff. Really trying to make dope music because you’re a musician. Not trying so hard to be ‘hard’ or anything.

I think that’s the thing with now. Most of the people that you had back in the day were musicians or were MCs or producers or whatever. They were people who might have been from the street, or might have been from the ‘hood, or whatever, but weren’t really hustlers. They were cats who loved the music! They were able to hop on the music. When the street content or whatever became such a big thing with Hip-Hop, and that being synonymous as a ‘rags to riches’ or ‘from the corner to the booth’ type of thing, you’ve got all these people now in the city who might be hustling or doing whatever. Now they’re like, “Oh, I’m going to make it with this Hip-Hop thing.” They get twenty, thirty G’s or whatever and then they form Streetsweeper Recordz or something with a ‘Z.’ You know? Get Money Entertainment or something and then they form a little indie label and their whole thing is about all that stuff. So the people who they sign probably were hustling and all that, so now all of the content is all about that. It gets simpler and simpler.

But I think that, uh, this went on before. When you think about the Planet Rock, during that period of music, it got really synthy and simple and a bunch of people started to bite Bambaataa and all of that. It got to like, “Man, all this music’s sounding like that.” Then, you know, there was a resurface. There was a rebirth, like something else happened. I’m looking for that to happen now. There have been people who’ve been making the efforts to try and help that like Kanye and different cats. They’re trying to provide some kind of alternative to the whole – if we’re going to say, like, the snap movement right now or whatever is winning. Or the very synth, (humming) “doom doom doom,” kind of track. That very simple thing. There’s people doing an alternative. I think it’s just a thing to find the balance. You know? I think it’s still possible to still make Hip-Hop music, and still be a dope MC and make that a valuable thing. Lil’ Wayne has done that. He’s got a lot of respect, you know? He’s been able to get all of the kids and all of the youth on his side and all that, and he has not dumbed down lyrics at all. He’s found a clever way to keep that going and all of that, so I think it’s possible. I think you just need to find a link.


Dubcnn: Continuing on from what you just said, I think it’s fair to say that Hip-Hop needs revitalizing. Can one project alone provide that, or will it take a combination of things?

I don’t know, man. It’s funny because me and Doc had a conversation about this not long ago. He was talking about how he thinks it could be an individual, it could be a project, or it could be an album. To me, I think it could be something that could be real new. I think everything takes unity. You know what I mean? Anything that you’re trying to do on a major, major level, it takes other people to line up in a line with you in order to make an even bigger jump. One can slay ten thousand, yet two could get a hundred thousand. You know what I’m saying? I kind of agree with that concept, and I think that it’s going to take, on some level, people lining up together and saying, “Let’s agree to do this. Let’s agree to not compromise.” I want people to say, “We’re going to do this or do that. We’re going to make sure that our music has this content and make sure that we make this kind of thing.” That would be a much more effective outcome. But, I don’t think it should stop anybody from feeling like they can make an impact because they’re by themselves either.


Dubcnn: Okay. So I would describe the contributions of yours that I have heard retaining a somewhat jazzy sound. With that in mind, what sort of music did you grow up listening to?

Growing up, man, I was a big Michael Jackson fan I guess as a little kid. Of course, whatever all the popular stuff I guess that was on the radio, that was pretty much what I was exposed to. Then when I was about ten, eleven, you know, my moms started going to church pretty heavily. I wasn’t playing an instrument yet. I learned how to play drums around that time, so gospel was a big part of it for me. It was your typical, Black, Pentecostal type of church - that kind of environment. I’d been listening to Hip-Hop, man. That got me since I was like six or seven. I listened to it pretty aggressively. Public Enemy’s It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back was like my favorite Hip-Hop record. I memorized that whole thing. I used to listen to that all the time, and that was in like elementary school. Today I would think that little kids don’t really understand anything that Hip-Hop records are saying. I’m starting to adhere to that. I felt like I understood a lot more than my other friends.

You know, “Yo! MTV Raps” and all of that was a big thing for me. That’s mostly how I knew who a lot of the MCs were. I knew kids who had older brothers, so I knew all about Big Daddy Kane and Rakim and all of that. Before what would be considered the new Golden Era, I knew about the first Golden Era, like Pete Rock and all that stuff. You know, ’87, and that whole era. That was a big part of it for me. Once I went to High School, I got into Jazz. Also, in, like, ’94, ’95, when of course what everyone considers the (Hip-Hop) classics – you know, Wu Tang, of course Dre and Snoop, Jay-Z, and all of that stuff. Obviously, I’m a big fan of all that music. I discovered J Dilla around that time. He became my favorite guy, like anything that The Ummah produced collectively. Everything from the Pharcyde to De La. You know what I mean?


Dubcnn: I remember reading before that Dilla was a huge influence on you. That made me think, and I realized that you do really remember the first time you heard Jay Dee’s work. The first production I heard by D was “Let’s Grow” by Royce Da 5’ 9”.

Oh, okay! Yeah, yeah, yeah! I liked that too.

Dubcnn: I just remember thinking, “Damn. This is hard.” It was also noticably different to the Hip-Hop productions I’d heard beforehand. Personally, I always loved the way the beat came back at the end.

Yeah, and the way the beat slowed down, like (humming) “duh – duh – duh.” It was like half time or something. For me, it was that Busta track, “Still Shinin’.” Someone hearing that now might be like, “How, how is that significant to you?” I like almost screamed the first time I heard that! The chord changes and the way that it settles was like what was in my head. The thing that I loved about Dilla – and there’s been a couple other people once I got into him – is that what he did stylistically was always kind of like, “Man. If I was to make a track this is what I would do.” It’s like it came right out of my head or something. You know what I mean?


Dubcnn: It’s weird, though, how it’s the little melodies that you pick up on. I remember being young when I overheard Snoop’s “Who Am I? (What’s My Name?)” The opening to that track always stuck with me.

(Laughs) Yeah, it’s very cool.


Dubcnn: In the past you’ve mentioned how Busta’s “Get You Some” also has a special significance to you. It’s true that the energy of that track rises dramatically when your keys come in.

Thank you, man. Thank you. It’s interesting. I went to Berklee and every now and then someone would call me up during the first few months that record came out. As different people started to hear it, they were hitting me up and they were like, “Yo, I know you did them chords on that joint, man!” It’s cool, you know, because I definitely – if I was to say, I think that’s a pretty good, accurate example of my approach and my sound.


Dubcnn: The energy that it brought kicked off the album perfectly. How would you describe the construction of that project, and working on The Big Bang?

Man... it was a pretty awesome experience, man. Like I said, I feel like I worked on a full length album. It was my first major foray into - at least from our approach in the Aftermath camp - how we do records. The very first record that I was on and did some work on was just one song off 50’s soundtrack for his movie. That was just the one thing. In between that stuff, we were just making beats. Once it came time to do Busta’s record, uh – I was on eight tracks on that. It was pretty much half the record, or a little bit more than half the record. It was very cool just to get that experience of overall – from doing overdubs to different conceptual things. You know, being there during the conversations like, “How should this go? What’s the direction for this?” I was there for all of that.

Busta is very, very cool. He’s been great. He’s easily one of my favorite MCs. You know what I’m saying? He’s in my – if not my Top 5, then my Top 10. Nah, I actually think he’s Top 5. I’m a big fan of Busta, and always have been. I felt that this record was definitely a new direction and it was different for him in terms of content. Like, how heavy he got with some of his stuff, and some of the stories and everything that he was throwing on the record. I got to talk to him about how I discovered his music and how I learned about Dilla because of his album. I told him how I’ve always been a fan of how he’s been willing to make sure he balances his record with those kind of beats – like, with Hip-Hop stuff too. I’m such a fan of that music. I think people forget that he was in Leaders Of The New School. They were rapping about space and stuff! You know what I mean? They’ve always been into the whole thing. It’s real cool seeing that dynamic with him and with everyone involved in the project.

Obviously, I’ve got favorite songs on the record like, “Get You Some,” the joint with Nas (“Don’t Get Carried Away”) I really like the joint with Missy (“How We Do It Over Here”) I mean I like the whole record, but working on some particular tracks was great. If you think about it like a retrospective process from making the beats from scratch or whatever, then seeing how it becomes a song, it was the first time of me really seeing all that. Well, from top to bottom anyway. It was great. It was great.

Dubcnn: I thought it was a great record. I feel it’s an album you can come back to and rediscover. I don’t know how but the track with Nas never immediately immersed me. I was playing the album the other day and it suddenly struck me as one of the standouts.

Yeah, I agree! I think that there’s always stuff that slips through the cracks. I think that the record proved that pretty well. Of course everyone wants to go Diamond or whatever. You don’t always understand everyone’s choices with singles and what records get released and all that. The feedback from that track (“Don’t Get Carried Away”) has always been really great. It’s definitely a proud moment for me I guess. It’s something that I’m proud to say I’ve done on my resume, and Nas is my favorite MC. He’s my all-time Number One. It’s been cool to have been on something that he’s on, and to hear his approach and all that. It’s just been very cool. I hope I can work with him again before he gets out the game. Oh, and Busta’s working right now! He’s working on his next joint, so make sure you look for me on that too. Also, like I said, he’s on a track with GodBody. Keep an eye out.

Stay tuned for part two of this exclusive interview