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AllHipHop.com: Obviously listening to your track Inglewood, that is where you are from?

Damani: Yeah.

AllHipHop.com: Born and raised?

Damani: Yeah born and raised.

AllHipHop.com: You have been around some serious names in the game, Dr. Dre, Mel Man, Snoop. How important is being around these names when it comes down to developing yourself as an artist?

Damani: It has been very important as before I met those dudes, I just rapped and spit. You know I had a lot of bars but I didnt really structure my songs in the nest way that I could and that was what I got from being around those dudes and they are all incredible producers too. I watched Snoop do a song in the studio and it was then that I learned and since then I have mastered.

AllHipHop.com: But even though you say you couldnt structure a song, you were still out there with a constantly growing fan base right?

Damani: Yeah I mean I just stayed out there on the scene whether it was battling, you know I command attention when I go out so I keep people talking.

AllHipHop.com: Saying you command attention, was it always that way with you, coming up?

Damani: Its almost like a strobe light was following me everywhere I went so even with no song out on the streets it just looked like I had a song out, you know like if you thrown on two or three chains, it is just a look.

AllHipHop.com: How important was the battling aspect in getting to the level you are today?

Damani: Battling was the reason I got as far as I have because before anyone wants to put you in a studio and invest any time in you they want to see if you are street tested, you know if you can really rap, you know what I mean? No beat, just spit and that is the background I come from.

AllHipHop.com: How long have you been doing this?

Damani: Ive been rapping since High School but I didnt really start taking it serious and start recording songs until 99-2000 when I made my first record.

AllHipHop.com: And that track was?

Damani: That track was called "Im That Nigga" (laughing)

AllHipHop.com: When you listen to that track now, can you listen to it without cringing?

Damani: (laughter) Oh man, I dont want that track to ever get out but, it will leak out one day.

AllHipHop.com: Who inspired you as you have shown love to a lot of rappers from all over, The Clipse, Keek da Sneak?

Damani: I really grew up with the Bloods as that is my neighborhood so that is what I knew. The one person who set the table for everybody as far as rap goes was Snoop, you know he had every aspect down, the streets, the promotion, he had was nice enough to have the streets, yet be mainstream and he inspired me a lot.

AllHipHop.com: You were featured in The Source's Unsigned Hype column a while back, so why are you still unsigned if people were looking at you back then?

Damani: I mean there is a couple of things. One being that I dont accept any deal, I dont just accept anything you know so the right deals will come but there might be a lot of things that I would have regretted during that time, you know trying to get the album out, you know someone who is around but hasnt had an album out, you soon get tried of that so I didnt want to wear myself out in the game by being signed to all these production companies so I just kept to myself and kept working. That is one reason and then two, The West Coast has been so down as far as the major labels not wanting to push West Coast artists. They have been staying South and staying with the dream and they dont want to try anything else until the South falls off or it burns itself out. It is just like a game they play and then it will come back to us then.

AllHipHop.com: But didnt The Game bring back some shine to the West Coast?

Damani: Yeah but it takes more than one artist. One artist is never enough; you need to come in force. You know if you have The Game, me and two other artists and we all go at least gold or platinum then we are back.

AllHipHop.com: Your track "Gotta Stay Paid" was leaked to radio but, that cant be considered a bad thing when it was in rotation on three major stations in LA right?

Damani: Yeah. That was crazy as I am the only artist in LA that had a record in rotation with the two stations that are competing with each other. That was real big, Too $hort heard the track on the radio as I used a sample from a track of his and it was crazy. One of my boys put me on the phone with Too $hort as he was out here doing a show and he asked me if I wanted to come down and get the sample live and he just did it. We did the song together. So we brought the sample to life.

AllHipHop.com: There is a lot of politics involved with the radio stations in LA, how does that decrease chances of being heard for Rap/Hip-Hop artists out there?

Damani: I mean it is just part of it, just the politics of life period, they are right there. You know you come with a good song and you have to compete with a Pitbull or a 125 bpm track and that is what is getting played. It is easy to predict what the people want to hear because if you are hearing it a thousand times a day eventually someone is going to like it. Its called programming. You know not everyone may like it but we are going to find a way around it.

AllHipHop.com: You crafted your mixtape Congratulations Playa more like an album, what was that?

Damani: I had never heard of anyone do that before and I always like to be different and I just wanted to show that it is nothing for me to make good music and show just how good I really am. You know it is deemed as a classic on the streets and that is not a super thing here. You know because like I said everywhere I go you would think I had an album out as everywhere I go I am signing autographs on the mixtape. I just really wanted to show how good I am as an artist.

AllHipHop.com: The combination of you, DJ Reflex and Warren Baby Dubb Campbell, who you work closely with, the chemistry yall have, this is taking you to the next level?

Damani: Yeah I mean those two get such a bizz and Warren has done a lot of R&B production, he worked with Kanye, Mos Def, Snoop. The tracks that he has and with my rhymes as we are both striving to be different therefore that combination is going to be incredible. He plays every instrument, you know he will play the bass over the record to give it a richer sound and its a real different look for us.

AllHipHop.com: Do you like to get involved in the production aspect?

Damani: I mean to a certain extent. Sometimes I get hands on and then other times I may just lay my vocals and let him do his thing, you know he will see something and just add to it and I just fall back and see what he comes up with and from there I will say yay or nay.

AllHipHop.com: Your tracks encompass a lot of different vibes, what are you trying to achieve by that?

Damani: I just want to take you on a roller coaster when it comes to my music. I want you to be shocked at everything you hear. I just strive to be different.

AllHipHop.com: "In Love Wit A Ho," has you giving someone a heads up, was this written from experience or just something you just wanted to put out there?

Damani: This was definitely a true story. You know I fell out with one of my friends over this because I tried to tell him, I had sufficient evidence that his girl was a lot of our girls. His first reaction was to look for names, so I decided to make a track about it so obviously we not friends anymore. You know thats how dedicated I am to this music as I sacrificed my friendship for a song. I would go to any lengths for my music.

AllHipHop.com: Was gang culture a big influence on you coming up being from Inglewood?

Damani: Definitely you cant escape it as it is right there in front of you. I grew up in a Blood neighborhood predominantly and that was what I knew growing up, you know everyone around me was involved in it, friends, relatives, thats just what you know. If you grow up around Spanish people you probably going to have a lil Latin flavor.

AllHipHop.com: Do you have an album in the works?

Damani: Yeah I am half way through, I have a group called the Westurn Union which is me, a dude called Bad Lucc and Soopa Fly from Tha Dogg Pound, so we are half way through an album and we are doing that deal through Doggy Style Records, so I will end up with two deals. I am half way done with both albums, the solo and The Westurn Union. We are trying to get The Westurn Union out by the end of the year, you know its all in the works. Snoop has three songs on that, we have about 15 songs right now which would make an album but I want one more month of recording to get some more material.

AllHipHop.com: When do you call it a day then when it comes to slowing down the recording process for an album?

Damani: I mean I have beats for the album and I like to make sure I have all the types of songs for an album. I know what it is missing right now so I am going to do those types of records. You know we got three singles on there and we got a lot of street shit but I want some introspective records, you know a couple of songs with some messages. I want to make it well rounded, you can spit all day long but I just want to get all types of tracks on there.

AllHipHop.com: Do you have a lot of shows coming up over the summer?




Damani: Yeah I am doing a show tonight and then I have one on Monday (June 26th, 2006), something to do with the BET Awards. I am supposed to be going to Australia as well in the summer.