Kidz In The Hall- Two Turntables & A Mic…
February 19th, 2010

In the music business, the word “chemistry” can be considered as a sacred one. It determine whether you’ll be around next year, or end up on an episode of VH1’s ‘Where Are They Now.’

For Ivy-League graduates Jabari “Naledge” Evans and Michael “Double-O” Aguilar, (known to the world as Kidz In The Hall) the chemistry they’ve shown on projects like their Rawkus Records debut, School Was My Hustle to Duck Down Records’ The In Crowd has been undeniable.

(more after break)

Now as they hit the trifecta with Land Of Make Believe the duo with a sound they can call all their own takes some time out to break down things like each other, their new record and now pressure isn’t part of their make up.

Double-O, how would you describe Naledge?
Double-O: To me, Naledge is a thinker, and that’s the best way to describe him… I think a lot of times he’s thinking and processing things a lot more then he’s just talking about them…
So Naledge, how would you describe Double-O?

Naledge: It’s pretty easy… He’s an engineer in every sense of the word… Everything has to be put together a certain way, and he’s very detail-oriented about that… He’s an architect, and everything is put together… Sometimes I improvise, and sh*t just falls into place, but that’s not Double-O; you know what I’m saying?

Sometimes I write a rap on accident, and people think it’s the dopest thing ever, or I might wear an outfit on accident, and people might think it’s cool… Double-O will put his together; it will have the same effect, but it was on purpose…

The Land Of Make Believe will be here before you know it, so how would you say this project differs from School Was My Hustle and The In Crowd?
Double-O: This is our most personal album, and it’s the definitive Kidz In The Hall album, and it’s a real introduction into who we are…
With all the positive feedback and attention you got from The In Crowd, did you guys put any more added pressure on yourself in order to duplicate; if not be bigger this time around?

Naledge: To me, pressure isn’t making music… Pressure is American Express telling me I spent $1,000.00 and they need it now [Laughs]… Pressure is getting pulled over by the cops, and my homeboy has weed in the middle console…

Music isn’t pressure because it’s the feeling and the vibe, and that’s why I got into Hip-Hop… Me personally, I never stopped recording… I was recording before and after The In Crowd came out… So success-wise, I don’t think we really thought that we couldn’t top it…

Is there any meaning behind the title of the album?
Naledge: The short story is that the industry is fake… The idea of wanting to be famous, and thinking that it’s going to change your life is fake… There’s so much that goes on; that you can’t even fathom…
Right now it seems that more and more MC’s are going with the one-producer concept like how it was during the 90’s. Why do you think that is?

Double-O: There’s a recession, and that’s the short answer… You can’t pay all these producers who are trying to get money to do stuff… People are also beginning to realize that a consistent sound means a consistent album…

In order to try and sell the last little bit of albums you can, you have to at least have what people want as a whole—as opposed to 12 different records, and 12 different producers…

Because then people would be like, “I like the joint you did with Swizz [Beatz], but I don’t like the joint you did with Pharrell.” But if it’s all Marco Polo, if it’s all Double-O, or if it’s all Jake One, it’s just like loading the bases…

You made it a point not to sample on this album, so is that going to be the new formula for Kidz In The Hall?

Double-O: I still love sampling, and some of the demos we’re doing for the fourth album are samples… It’s really going to be about what we feel works… My ideas for the next album are kind of like musicians with a horn section, and live drums…

We still love doing just the basics, and we have a song that doesn’t have a hook in it; Naledge is just spitting… But is it going to be on the album? Who knows? Is it going to be on the EP? Who knows?

You guys have toured both oversees and here in the states, so with that said; is there any particular audience that’s more receptive?

Naledge: It’s hard to say… The limited times that we went to Europe; I just found that they’re opened to new stuff… Even if they never heard of it, they just get all the way into the music, if they like it…

In Europe, they might have not ever heard of you in your life, but they’ll give you all of your energy if you take it from them…

Everyone is making a big deal with XXL Magazine’s new Freshman 10, but with you guys being three albums in; do you feel as if you’re being overlooked?

Double-O: I still think we’re growing… I think you hear it, but there is a little bit of frustration and you can hear it in the album in the sense that we’re there but not really there yet… But I think it’s just one of those thing that’s going to happen with time…

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