hiphoplifeandtimes

LATE is a true UK veteran with more releases under his belt as an artist than most record labels have in their discography! Hailing from Wolftown aka Wolverhampton this rapper has churned out some classic material over the years including the legendary album by Villains and Wolftown Committee before unleashing solo classics like ‘Below Street Level’ and more recently ‘UK Rapscallion’. He has just released his first ever mixtape with UK Runnings which is produced by Tricksta as well as launching his own website. Hip-Hop Life And Times interviews the L, the A, the T, the E… LATE.

You’ve been in the game now for over ten years and have many releases under your belt. Only a few artists from the UK scene can say they’ve done that. So the first question is what do you think the key is to longevity in Hip-Hop?

You must be in it for the right reasons it’s like any for of art, you have to love what you do so its not forced it should come natural

Your latest release ‘www.OfficialLate.net’ features some quality names Iron Braydz, Genesis Elijah, Supar Novar, Jai Boo, TBear, K9, Creamo, Streetz and Serocee, as well as being produced by Tricksta. How long did the release take to make and what was the initial idea behind the project?

What happened with this project is that Tricksta had remixed some of the tracks off my last album UK Rapscallion, Tricksta also had a couple of freestyles I had done just sitting there on his computer and at this time I was just getting ready to launch my new website www.officiallate.net so we decided to make a couple more exclusive tracks and put it out there as a free download to help promote the website al mixed and produced by Tricksta from UK Runnings

It says on the press release that this was your first mixtape with UK Runnings, apart the odd one you’ve hosted. How come it too so long to make a UK Runnings mixtape with a man you work with all the time? (lol)

What usually happens is we start making the release together then it just ends up being a full length album and we end up releasing  it, my last album started off as a UK Runnings mixtape and half way through we both though this is sick lets make it a album

In your raps you talk on various subjects but what kind of tracks do you enjoy writing the most?

I mainly just write about myself and my surroundings, I’m constantly writing lyrics so whatever im on that day is what I write about

You’ve always kept it real to the underground, have you ever been tempted to make a pop song?

I don’t think I could, I think its very hard to write a pop song and you also need a massive budget behind it, In the UK the pop market is different to rest of the world.

I seen the hood videos for the ‘www.OfficialLate.net’ project – they look nice! Can we expect more videos from this project or from you as an artist soon?

Yeah most definitely as we completed the mixtape we managed to get out hands on a HD camera so we started experimenting with it, those videos are real underground we stepping the game up on the videos for the next project

You’ve had a spell of releasing some different projects, the ‘Street Product EP’, the digital ‘best-of’ album ‘From The Vaults’ and now ‘www.OfficialLate.net’ a collection of underground produced tracks and rare remixes. So will your next release be a new album?

Yeah im working on it now it’s gonna be called ‘Street Science’ and it’s my best work to date

Apart from making music you’re known for running the well-respected Rago Magazine with Tricksta. I see you do mixtapes with Tricksta and I remember you have your own series called Underground Exposure. How’s that all going?

I haven’t released one in a while, I will probably drop a new on around the time of the album, as Im focusing on the new album at the moment

Your also part of a crew called SPC. What does that stand for and what exactly is it?

It stands for South Park Coalition and its collection of talented artists from all over Houston Texas founded 25 years ago by the legendary rapper K-Rino.

Okay before you go can you give us all your website details please?

I can you a list of about 25 different accounts but you best just going to www.officiallate.net as everything is on there also check out www.ragomagazine.com

Interview by Stix
LATE FEAT K-RINO KB DA KIDNAPPA – IM A SAINT, IM A SINNER

LATE – UK RAPSCALLION

LATE – IM STILL HERE

LATE – SCIENTIFIC WORDPLAY

LATE – JUST ME

For the last year Deeze aka Big Dutty Deeze has been hard on his musical grind with a selection of mixtapes and EP’s as well as underground music videos and a bunch of notable features. Big Dutty Deeze features on Stealf’s forthcoming album ‘I Am Stealf’ alongside Jadakiss and Konny Kon, Tricksta’s forthcoming album ‘Out Of Darkness’ alongside Phoenix Da Icefire, LATE, D Gritty, S Kalibre, Supar Novar, Cyclonious and more, as well as Rediculus’s new Masters Of Conversation album that has just been released on Chicago label Knowledge Giving Birth and is distributed by Island/Def Jam. He appears next to Craig G from Marley Marl’s Juice Crew as well as being asked to record a solo track and an album for the label! Its all go for this Midlands rapper, so we decided it was only right to interview him and find out more. Stix asks the questions…

Hi Deeze, thanks for passing through the new website fam and agreeing to do this exclusive interview. How are things, you all good?

Yeh fam everything’s kris, it’s never a problem to rep for you! I see you on Facebook always pushing quality music and love the fact that you’re an enthusiast of good music. Plus I think this site is needed, I saw all the good work you did at Stand Up UK, so I’m looking forward to regularly checking the website for all the latest updates.

Thanks bruv means a lot to me to have artists like yourself supporting not only what I do,  but what everyone here at Hip-Hop Life And Times is doing. So let’s talk about your music for a minute, it’s been a busy couple of months for you. You recently dropped the ‘This Is Gotham EP’, I remember it dropped at the same as the riots! Did you do that on purpose?

Well that’s a good question! Also quite a funny one! LOL. Yeh basically I write from the heart, I don’t lie in my raps or try and be something that I’m not, that way my listeners know they can trust me. I’d like to think that the fan base I have already know that, so at the time I was telling people that a storm was brewing here in the UK. That’s why I decided to write ‘This Is Gotham’, as if to say the UK’s getting like Gotham, the fictional city from the Batman stories. I recorded it and actually sat on it from a few weeks while I was doing a few gigs and some other recording commitments, then I decided to drop the video for ‘Why So Serious’ which is produced by Stealf. I dropped the video on the Friday night and by the Monday the whole country was in uproar looting and rioting. I’m not going to say that ‘I Told You So’, but I did tell you so… lol!

Hahah! For true fam! Lol. You’ve also dropped your third mixtape with UK Runnings called ‘Lyrical Surgery’. Tell us more about that.

Basically Tricksta picked his favourite freestyles and chose to do remixes! It’s as simple as that really. I’d be recording and I’d come out the booth and Tricksta would be shaking head saying ‘damn Deeze, I wish that track was on my beat’, so as a joke I said ‘well you got the accapellas fam, do your thing!’. I was actually joking then one Saturday afternoon he called me round to listen to ten remixes he had done! The weekend after we recorded a video and that was that! It’s a nice project with some nice versions. There are a few other producers I’m working with too, so hopefully I will be dropping another project similar to this soon. 
 
So let’s talk about this whole US release project that you’ve got going on with Rediculus. I keep hearing things but I wanted to get it from the horse’s mouth (not calling you a horse by the way! Lol)?

Well I met Rediculus at a time I was asking people if they wanted to do any remixes. He did a few remixes and from there he asked me to step on a track with Craig G and to record a solo track for his album. His label has a great history of quality releases and is distributed by Island/Def Jam, so I knew this was a good look. Since then we got talking and it seems like we definitely have a lot in common, like our work ethics (lol) and vision of how our music should be presented. Then Rediculus asked me if I would like an album produced by him and for his label. That is written and ready to record, so as soon as that’s done I’ll be doings storyboards for the videos and that album will be out. It’s going to be a killer, and the beats that he has sent for me are proper straight up Hip-Hop bangers. It’s took a little longer than I first anticipated but I’ve been really on it and really stringent with concepts and flows. I’m really going to go in on the album.

Sounds like that’s gonna be a classic bruv! Can’t wait to hear that! So what else is going on in the world of Big Dutty Deeze?

Last weekend I played live in Birmingham with Juttla and his live band, that was really good and I’ve just been booked to play live in France for a mini tour with Juttla, I’m really looking forward to spending three days in France. Recording wise I’ve just been finishing up my next project which is a mixtape with DJ Ames entitled ‘The Rogue Angel’. All solo tracks on jacked beats, there is some real killers on there, plus I’ve done about five videos for it, with one them being something a little special but I don’t want to say too much I’ll leave that for your imagination.

That sounds really good, DJ Ames is always winning awards and stuff so I will be a good project for both of you me thinks! So before I let you go, apart from the album your doing for Chicago label Knowledge Giving Birth, is there a Big Dutty Deeze album for own label coming soon?

Well after the DJ Ames mixtape drops, I’m going to release a mixtape more in the style of ‘The Rebirth’ and ‘The Return’, an un-hosted mixtape that is better described as a ‘street album’ rather than a ‘mixtape’. The project is called ‘Words From My Diary’ and its exactly what it says on the tin. Its more personal and more based around life situations, something a touch deeper to show another dimension to me as an artist. While that’s being scheduled for a release, I intend to take to my time and write my debut album. When I first got back into the game I told Tricksta I wanted to drop ten releases before I dropped an album. That plan is in action as there’s seven releases out now, then ‘The Rogue Angel’ with DJ Ames, another remix project and ‘Words From My Diary’ making it ten. I feel like I’m ready to record an album now, I wanted to give my music away to create a buzz before I started asking people for money! When I ask people to buy my album or to buy into me as a brand I want to make sure the product really is worth every single penny because I know how hard money is to come by!

Well Deeze big up and good luck for all your future ventures. Thanks bruv!

Yeh always, its a pleasure Stix. Good luck with the site and big up to everyone who has ever watched any of my videos or downloaded any of my releases!

Interview by Stix

Deeze – Gimme (Produced by Tricksta)

Deeze – UK Anthem (Produced by Tricksta)

Deeze – Gimmie

Deeze ‘Ya Done Nothin’

Deeze ‘F**k The Long Talk’

Tricksta Feat. Supar Novar, Cyclonious, LATE, Streetz & Deeze ‘Out Of Darkness’ (Juttla Remix)

Tricksta Feat. Supar Novar, Cyclonious, LATE, Streetz & Deeze ‘Out Of Darkness’

Tricksta & Deeze ‘Big Tingz’