WORLD EXCLUSIVE
Born in Manhattan, Donny Goines spent his youth going back and forth between Philly, the Bronx, and Harlem. While many imitate the street mentality he learnt, he focused his talents on the positive aspects. He soon realised that his talent was making music. As a youngster he would always freestyle on the block but would a few years before Donny took it seriously.
He shares the name of a storytelling writer and like a true Hip Hop artist, Donny tells stories through his music
Putting pen to paper allowed him a release from his real world; yet aware that what he penned people would relate to.
He exclusively spoke to The Hip Hop Chronicle about the state of Hip Hop now, working with Dame Grease, his time in the US Miltary and what we can expect from his new album ‘Minute After Midnight’. Not only is Donny is talented emcee, his attitude towards the culture is amazing.
You can listen to the interview below
***WORLD EXCLUSIVE - THE HIP HOP CHRONICLE INTERVIEWS DONNY GOINES - AUDIO***
*All Rights Reserved By The Hip Hop Chronicle*
We would also like to apologise to the quality of the audio., which was down to technical difficulties
Donny’s love affair with Hip Hop came as a young kid. On his block, he would always see people freestyling and rapping. It was these same people that inspired a young Donny Goines to write his first rhyme.
Biggie’s Juicy was also part of the inspiration. ‘Realistically the biggest thing I could remember was Biggie’s ‘Juicy’. That right there, when I seen that video, I was kinda like ‘wow’ … it kinda made me feel like…like… ‘Damn somebody like myself can actually make it to those heights’.
But Donny really started to take Hip Hop seriously when his homey decided to form a group called 3rd Rock. ‘One day my man said ‘yo you should take this seriously … Ima put together a group … called 3rd Rock it was in my neighbourhood … we started recording … that was when I kinda started taking it seriously’.
Unfortunately the founder of 3rd Rock went to prison and this made Donny take time away from rap. But thankfully the sabbatical from Hip Hop didn’t last, a Jay-Z movie changed all that. ‘One day I was bored out of my f**king mind, so I just got this movie … its called ‘Fade To Black’ … I watched it and I swear to god when I finished watching it, it was like I had an epiphany … its rare for me to have those kind of feelings and I cant really explain it’. It was after watching this movie that Donny realised ‘this is what I want to do’.
‘I swear to God, after watching it, it was like I had an epiphany’
- Donny Goines After Watching Jay-Z’s ’Fade To Black’
Donny is closely working with producer Dame Grease for his new album. They met through the founder of 3rd Rock. Dame had heard of Donny because of the moves he was making and one day Donny got the call to come to the studio. ‘I got a phone call from the studio and he was like … ‘come up to the studio’… so I ran (laughs) … I got there as quick as I could … I laced a hot 16 … and ever since then its been on and poppin’. The reason why their chemistry works so well is because they understand each other. Dame understands what Donny is trying to do, his hunger, his vision and that’s important in the relationship between producer and artist. ‘Grease is a mad cool dude, he’s relaxed’. But when he first met Grease, he was intimidated. ‘I’ll tell you something, when I first got there (studio), I aint gonna lie, I was a little intimidated because he’s a legend … that my man now’.
‘I aint gonna lie, I was a little intimidated because he’s a legend’
- Donny Goines On Meeting Dame Grease For The First Time
While they have struck up a great partnership, Donny is open to work with other artists, especially those on the come-up. ‘I tend to gravitate towards the underdog or people on the come-up like … the Wale, Gym Class Heroes …people who going to be the future of the game now … like the Crooked I’s, the Bishop Lamont’s … the Saigon’. Don’t get it twisted, its not like Donny doesn’t want to work with established artists like Jay-Z, Nas and others (‘I get into work with them sooner or later’), its just focus right now is the future.
‘ I tend to gravitate towards the underdog or people on the come-up like Wale, Gym Class Heroes … the Crooked I’s, Bishop Lamonts, the Saigon’s’
- Donny Goines On Who The Kind Of Artists He’d Like To Work With
This has been demonstrated in a recent video that appeared on The Hip Hop Chronicle. Donny is a guest blogger for Radio 1 DJ, DJ Semtex. In his second guest blog, the Harlem artist went to speak to upcoming artists about the state of New York Hip Hop. The point of the blog (which featured Mickey Factz, Sav Killz, Posion Pen, Nina B among others) was that artists from New York do work together. There is a misconception that rappers from New York don’t work together but the video shows a lot of unity in the East Coast. ‘I went around and essentially spoke a lot of the up and coming artists in NY … basically to show London that people in New York do work together … there’s love within here. A lot of people think we are very separated and of course they are problems within New York and the Hip Hop Community as a whole as far as not working together but as long as people like myself and people like you and your site … to help bring forth the movement … the future then it will continue to grow and prosper’.
‘As long people like myself … and your site … help bring forth the movement … then it will continue to grow and prosper’
- Donny Goines On The Future Of Hip Hop
We asked Donny about lyrics and Hip Hop. He is very lyrical and agrees that its something that is missing from the genre but that isn’t a necessarily a bad thing. ‘There are plenty of artists out there that have had hit songs, that have made hit albums and there not necessarily ‘a lyricist’ … sometimes making music isn’t about lyrics, its about vibe, its about attitude, its about swagger … you don’t have to be the greatest lyricist to get your point across … I just think that when people start to follow trends, is when we start to lose the essence of what the music really is. Everyone has their own way of conveying their message … but don’t do things thinking that people are dumb’.
Speaking of perceptions of listeners, Donny talked about record executives. The day before this interview, The Hip Hop Chronicle saw Immortal Technique speak. He also spoke on record execs and how they want artists to dumb down their lyrics. Donny has a message for fans of Hip Hop. ‘You’re not a dummy …listeners are not dumb, they are very intelligent, they are very smart and they can comprehend exactly what you’re saying’. Donny feels it’s an insult to listeners that label execs don’t give them enough respect. But it’s because of this type of politics that Donny hasn’t signed to a major.
‘Listeners are not dumb, they are very intelligent’
- Donny Goines On Perceptions Label Execs Have
However being unsigned does have some drawbacks. ‘When your not signed to a label, you cannot get your music out there properly, its very hard. I personally rely on the Internet, the blogs, that’s the backbone of my career. If it wasn’t for sites like yours, Donny Goines wouldn’t exist … the truth of the matter is, this game is controlled by the people who control the resources such as paying for placements on the radio’. But it can be a catch 22 if you are signed to a label. ‘If you go to a label, you’re not able to have the creative freedom that you have independently … that’s where the lines are blurred a bit because your sacrificing the resources in order to have freedom, in order for you to do what’s best for your artistic creativity … but you’re also giving up the opportunity to be on a larger platform and essentially to become a star’.
Something a lot of the readers may not know about Donny is that he has a stint in the US Navy. It was a real experience for him. The good things were that it taught him discipline, drive and focus at a time in his life when he needed it. ‘The military allowed me to see things that I wouldn’t have growing up in my neighbourhood’. He also got to meet people from all different backgrounds and cultures. In fact that was one of the best things Donny enjoyed about being in the Navy.
‘The Miltary allowed me to see things that I wouldn’t have growing up in my neighbourhood’
- Donny Goines On Being In The US Miltary
However according to the emcee, being part of the Navy also meant that you weren’t an individual. Donny is his own man and if backed to a corner, he will come out fighting. He was in the Navy during 9/11, the invasion in Afghanistan, a war he didn’t agree with. ‘There were no explanations (the reason for the war) … it was just, we’re going to war, be prepared to be shipped out essentially and this is coming down from the Commander-in-Chief’.
Soon after that, Donny left the military and made moves back into Hip Hop. He is now preparing to release his first album called Minute After Midnight. The first single is called ‘I Am Moving’. He went with this track, as the first to give people a glimpse of where his mind is. Donny is real and doesn’t expect everyone to like the record. ‘ Its mainly for people that appreciate lyrics, concept, good music (as far as vibe) … and if you’re the kind of person who wants to hear dance music, its not for you … but for my core audience, people that listen to me, I know they will understand it’. The song itself as Donny explains to us, is about rap using the analogy of astronomy.
Another track on the album Donny revealed to us was ‘MLK’. It’s about your dreams and achieving them. ‘The reason why I am named it MLK (it’s a famous speech - have a dream and that’s what I have … I cant even begin to tell you how many people didn’t believe in the things I was doing … and …those people, the same ones are now the ones reaching out to me for interviews … they wanna work with me ‘
‘I cant even begin to tell you how many people didnt believe in the things I was doing … the same ones are now reaching out … they wanna work with me’
- Donny Goines On Proving His Doubters Wrong
The title of the album was inspired by the Cinderella story. ‘I was just thinking of the Cinderella story … I don’t know why …and I was wondering …its funny how that story parallels to Hip Hop and the reason why I say that … you’ll notice within the story there’s a lot of fantasy that goes on within that story, especially being part of the ball … the ball parallels to the club … the magical pumpkin parallels to the cars, the gown parallels to the jewellery … but what happens after midnight? All that fantasy disappears because it was never real to begin … I want you to understand what goes on behind the scenes’.
For Donny the one thing he loves about Hip Hop is the culture and the universality of it. ‘Its something that I feel unifies people of all races, all ages, all locations and that’s something that’s rare’.
‘Its something that I feel unifies people of all races, all ages, all locations and … that’s rare’
- Donny Goines On Why He Loves Hip Hop
For him the track that is dear to his heart is ‘Do It For Hip Hop’. It’s a Donny Goines track and the reason why it’s his favourite is because it was for the culture and how Hip Hop can reach so many people. ‘I’m talking about where I come from but how you can relate to it … if your anywhere in the world, you can understand exactly what I’m talking about’.
Now picking a favourite track from another artist is never easy. But Donny brought it down to one record. ‘Victory’ by Biggie Smalls which featured Busta Rhymes and Diddy. ‘That song right there to me, was so f**king lyrical and crazy to me … I love that song … for me Biggie is the best artist ever, dead or alive’.
Another track that Donny likes was by another Brooklyn artist, Jay-Z. The ‘Takeover’ (a diss towards Mobb Depp and Nas) gets a lot of respect from the Harlem artist because it took ‘the diss track’ to a new level. ‘It really showcases an emcee’s ability to really get at someone … and also along those lines, ‘Second Round KO … by Cannibus … I think…I think he got in on LL (laughing) … but I kinda like the songs that showcase more of the lyrical, the hungry emcee … and those are a couple of examples I like in Hip Hop’.
‘It really showcases an emcees ability to get at someone’
- Donny Goines On Why ‘Takeover’ Is A Great Diss Track
Donny’s final words in the interview really optimises why The Hip Hop Chronicle has a lot of respect for him. ‘Just support … good artists, it doesn’t have to be me, there are a lot of talented artists out there that are really working hard to make great music and just support them’.
One thing we found when talking to Donny is his attitude towards Hip Hop is refreshing. The culture and what it represents matters more to him than record sales.
‘There are alot of talented artists out there that are really working hard to make good music, just support them’
- Donny Goines On Other Artists
This wonderful art form can never die if people like Donny Goines continue to help artists come through, continue to make quality music and never lose sight of why this culture came into being.
Minute After Midnight is the new album; it’s coming real soon. You can listen to the first single ‘I Am Moving’ on his myspace.
Support Real Hip Hop
Donny Goines’ Myspace
Bonus
Bars Segment 3 With Mickey Factz (Video)
