Da Kreek Exclusive Interview

The 330 area code is known for its middle class workers, gangs, and
vibrant music scene. In a day and age where everyone is trying to take
the fast route to success, the midwest hustle seems more content on
putting out great music and being consistant. Lets take a trip to
Youngstown Ohio and get to know Da Kreek.

SMM: Who are the official members of Da Kreek?
Mello Dee: The official members are myself and DTown.

SMM: How long have you been together?
DTown: We both started rhyming around 2000.

SMM: When did you first decide to fully pursue your music career?
MD: Well, we had been doin it since 2000 on some hobby stuff. The
music was always good, but around 2006 when we started getting shows
we decided that it was time to take it to the next level and make the
brand official. And pretty much expand the movement through out the
midwest.

SMM: Whats the music scene like in Youngstown?
DT: I like the scene in The Yo. No two artists in the city sound the same. We have a ton of artists here.
MD: There are a lot of artists with good music in The Yo.

SMM: What do you think that can be improved on in the Y.O.?
DT: An improvement to the scene would be the artists perspective. I
wish some of them could see beyond The Yo and see the bigger picture.
MD: It would be better if more venues were "hip hop friendly." A lot
of venues won't book hip hop here.

SMM: Describe your music and what inspires it?
MD: Our sound ranges from "gritty boom bap" hip hop to a more
futuristic style of hip hop. Every track we make has that "bounce factor"
DT: A lot of the music we make is inspired by East Coast lyricism and
production from all over the genre. Growin' up, were listened to a lot
of A Tribe Called Quest, Mos Def, and Common. Today, we listen to
Kanye West, Jay-Z, The Clipse, and Eminem. So we're kinda a mix of all
of them, yet it's our own "Youngstown Flyness" added to it.

SMM: Who are your top 5 groups of all time?
DT: Wu Tang Clan, A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, The Roots, and Slum Village
MD: The Roots, A Tribe Called Quest, Wu Tang, The Clipse, Slum Village.
DT: Reluctantly leaving out NWA!

SMM: Whats the most memorable show youve been apart of and why?
DT: It's a music festival held in Youngstown every year called
"Vexfest." It's primarily a rock festival, but draws close to 9,000
people to downtown Youngstown every August. They selected us to rock
the outside stage this year. The response was amazing for it to be a
rock crowd. Local news showed up and covered us. It was a big show and
a great feeling for the team.

SMM: Whats taking it to the next level for Da Kreek?
MD: We're planning a big release in 2010. The new album is untitled,
but me and DTown have been working heavily on producing the album and
are calling in some amazing features with this one. This will be our best work to date.
DT: Definitley, working hard to put Youngstown on the map with this one!

SMM: Tell Starmusic Media, about your new project and its concept?
MD: The project has a lot of "bangers" and a lot of thought provokin'
music. We plan on blowin' minds with this release.
DT: Yeah, "Wings & Propellers" was the single we pushed over the
summer of 09 to see how people would react to the music. We plan on
expanding on that sound. The new project will also feature innovative
production and a fly east coast vibe.

SMM: Who are some other artist that are on the comeup?
DT: Artists that I noticed are coming up pretty quick would be Cy Harp
and the artists under the Yo Town label, a record label here in
Youngstown.

SMM: What is the name of your new single, and how did that come about?
MD: The name of the single is "Wings & Propellers." It's a synonym for
being "Fly." Wings & Propellers comes with being fly. When we say
"Check my Wings, peep my Propellers" we're mean check out our style! We're fly.
DT: The goal of the track was to make something catchy that people
could relate too without us coming off as "bubble gum pop cliche"
rappers. We managed to maintain the edgy-ness and witiness that we're
known for. And keep it "Fly Fly Fly!"

SMM: Do you believe in the idea that the music content that you put out is the type of energy that gets attracted to you?
MD: Yeah, because our fanbase reflects our music. Everytime we give
high energy performances, we feed off of some of the crowd.
DT: I'm a believer in that. What ever energy you put out there on a
track, you get back. And it reflects in your fans and who supports the
music.

SMM: With the recent south dominance over the charts, how can the midwest make a statement?
DT: As a whole, I think the midwest has been pegged to have that
"country" sound. If you say you're from the midwest, people
immediately expect you to sound like those guys. The midwest just
needs to kick down the door and show we have our own sound

SMM: Any Last words or shout outs?
DT: Shout outs to everyone making moves in Youngstown! Ohio! Midwest!
Big ups to Yo Town Music! Props to MAyNSTREAM Media, amazing graphic
design team. Props to everyone on our team that is helping make this possible!
MD: Big ups to all of our fans and supporters. We keepin' the movement strong.

SMM: If someone wants to book Da Kreek for a show or feature, how do they do so?
DT: You can visit http://www.dakreek.com for more info on us. Booking
/ Features / and things of that nature can be sent to our manager D at
DaKreek@gmail.com


LINK 1 - Official Music Site (WINGS & PROPELLERS)
http://dakreek.com/mainsite/?page_id=102

LINK 2 - Star Media Exclusive (I'M GOOD *CLEAN VERSION*)
http://www.reverbnation.com/eplay/queue?selectedIndex=0&cont=false