Since the release of his debut album Revival of the Fittest back in 2008, Seattle hip-hop producer/beat-making extraordinaire Marcus D has put together arguably the most impressive list of collaborators in all of underground hip-hop.
Think I’m exaggerating? Since kicking off his career as a baby-faced senior in high school, MD has dropped tracks with features from the likes of Royce Da 5’9”, Del the Funky Homosapien, Saigon, One Be Lo (of Binary Star), Skyzoo, Crooked I, Geologic (of Blue Scholars), Shing02 and Emancipator just to name a few. And this isn’t even taking into account the on-going jazz-hop duo Bop Alloy that he’s formed with legendary Baltimore-based MC Substantial – with whom he’s released two full-length albums, a remix album and an EP. If there’s a producer in the underground or independent scenes that’s come up in the last five years that can boast a roster with more quality than that… then send it my way because I’d love to see it.
He’s been able to gain this level of respect from such a wide scope of rappers, in part due to his undeniable mastery of the chill-hop sound that often draws comparisons to one of his biggest influences: Nujabes, the legendary Japanese beatmaker whose life was tragically cut short after he died in a car accident in 2010 at the age of 36.
Because of this sound, MD has seen the most success and exposure in Japan, where he is currently posted up while he gears up for the release of his latest album, The Lone Wolf LP, slotted to drop on March 11. I caught up with Marcus all the way from his current location in Tokyo and discussed – among other things — the new album, the state of hip-hop as a whole and the ever-present dilemma between making what’s good or making what sells.
So you’re over in Japan and you were telling me that you just had a fat release party for the new album. How was it?
MD: Man, it was pretty dope actually. It was special because I’ve been coming back and forth between Japan and Seattle for the past three or four years now and last night was sort of like a culmination of a lot of things coming together and panning out finally. There was a lot of people from my past and a couple people from labels that I want to work with, namely Hydeout. Nujabes’ brother ended up coming through too specifically for my set and I got a chance to talk with him. So overall, it was a really dope night.
Your music does extremely well in Japan, which is why you’re over there right now and why you spend so much time over there in general. How did you first get connected to that scene and why do you think you get so much love over there?
MD: Really, the first encounter I had with the market over here was when I listened to Substantial and Nujabes’ first album called ‘To this Union a Sun was Born’ and automatically I was a fan because I hadn’t really heard anything like that. My generation was a little bit further past the whole golden era of jazz hip-hop in the American market as far as people like Pete Rock & CL Smooth, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, Gang Starr. So that was my introduction to that whole sound and it was something that really caught my ear. I actually hit up Substantial on MySpace back in like 2006 or 2007 and he hit me back and we did a song together. Long story short, his label that he was with in Tokyo at that time hit me up and they ended up signing me to their label Elevation. That’s how I got my first deal in Japan.
Tell me about the Lone Wolf LP. What can people expect to see from the record sound-wise and who are a couple of the names you have collabing on there?
MD: The Lone Wolf LP is my latest project and it’s sort of like a sequel to my 2012 album Melancholy Hopeful. I made all the beats while I was in Tokyo for an entire year. At that point I didn’t really have too many connections or too many friends and everything that I was doing at that time was pretty much staying in my very, very small walkway sized room with just a bed and a desk. It means a lot to me as far as the emotional attachment to it just because of the fact that it expresses how I felt at that time when words really couldn’t. I always try and have a good mix of people from the US and Japan on my albums so I’ve got a lot of familiar names like Substantial, Cise Starr, Pismo, and Blu and some not-so-familiar names but people that I think are really dope artists too. So a lot of people from the jazz hip-hop scene that are regulars and a lot of people from outside of that as well.
You’ve worked with a ton of dope rappers but let’s talk about Bop Alloy a little bit. You guys have put out a ton of stuff. What’s it been like for you to get to consistently work with Substantial, an MC that has that level of respect within the hip-hop community? He’s kind of a legend of the trade.
MD: Yeah, for me coming up and being sort of wet behind the ears as far as being a kid making hip-hop — that dude is definitely like my older brother. He does things that an older brother in your family would do as far as putting you on to people, speaking for you, vouching for you all the time. Pretty much just mentoring you. To this day he still has my back when people ask him ‘What’s up with this dude?’ He’s been around the block a few times. To be able to follow in his footsteps and watch him work and also be a part of something where he respects me as an equal but also mentors me…I got pretty lucky. Not all rappers are as cool or as professional as Substantial. It’s a pleasure to be able to watch him work just because he is so professional.
You guys went on tour recently. How was that?
MD: Yeah, we were in Tokyo for the fifth anniversary of Nujabes’ passing so that was definitely a poignant tour. But at the same time we had the opportunity to bring out a lot of people who don’t necessarily get to work together often and honestly a lot of them never did have the chance to work together because they worked with Nujabes individually. So we did a show in Tokyo at the Liquid Room, which was sold out and then we did a show in Osaka at the Sun Hall, which was sold out too. Then we had two after parties at each place which were also sold out. All the people that Nujabes worked with like Cise Starr, Funky DL, Shing02, Fat Jon, everybody was there. These are guys that I’ve looked up pretty much my whole career. So to be able to treated as an equal by them and be included in the whole thing was very monumental for me — something that I won’t ever really forget. It was a good experience and all the fans showed a lot of love. It’s a lot of fun to be able to work with people who are professional like Hydeout, who have been doing it for a very, very long time.
You hopped on with Cunninlynguists at the end of your last tour in the states, right? What was it like getting to rock shows with those dudes?
MD: Yeah, at the end of the Bop Alloy tour last spring we were part of the Cunninlynguists shows in Santa Cruz, Seattle and Bellingham. So we ended up doing three shows opening for them. It was definitely a dope experience as well. I didn’t really grow up listening to them but I’ve always respected their shit. Substantial’s toured with them plenty of times. Honestly, it’s just cool to be part of something that’s really big like that because those dudes draw huge crowds. To be rocking for 800-900 people each show instead of our normal 2 or 300 is definitely a different experience. At the same time, they’re not just there for Cunninlynguists, they’re there for good music so the fact they vouch for us and promoted us is a way they speak on the fact that we’re on a certain caliber. They’re definitely legends within the underground hip-hop scene but they’re also really cool dudes. I get along with Kno really well and Natti and Deacon are really dope guys too.
You and Substantial have both carved out pretty dedicated fanbases but neither of you get all that much love in the States compared to Japan. Do you feel like you’re underrated? Do you wish you got more love in the US or do you even care about stuff like that?
MD: That’s a good question. I think if you call yourself underrated you’re kind of a douche bag. As far as that perception though yeah, of course we wish we sold more records and we had enough sales to just kind of be completely okay with where we’re at. But at the same time, I feel like once you get to that point some people stop making the caliber of music that they used to make when they were still desperately trying to get recognized. I feel like when you keep that hunger, a lot of times the quality of the music stays at that same level. Time and time again you look at underground artists who got big and got a major record deal and their music just goes to shit within that year. I mean, listen to 50 Cent’s first album. That dude raps his ass off. But everything since then has been subpar. Once you reach a certain goal, sometimes you feel like it’s ok to rest. When you’re under-recognized you have something to continually work toward. Being underground and having people say that we’re underrated is much better than people saying we’re overrated. I’m completely ok with it at this point.
It’s easy to say that you don’t care about mainstream recognition but this is still a job for you. Do you ever feel the temptation to just make music for the masses that maybe isn’t the sound you would normally go for but could have a wider appeal and make you more money? How do you reconcile your commitment to the art form with the fact that you need to do this to live? It’s not just about the art, it’s about getting by.
MD: Definitely. I feel like as far as me personally, I like the balance between worrying about whether I can pay rent just a little bit but also not having the ‘What the fuck am I gonna do because I don’t have enough money to my name to be able to get by?’ kind of worry. I could easily come up with a couple of pseudonyms and produce some crazy pop shit for people and have a lot more money than I do right now. But at the same time, a lot of times, it’s hard for me to do that because the music that I really enjoy making is the stuff I do on my own time anyway. When I have to sit down and make some pop music or anything that people commission me for that I don’t like…I just don’t want to do that shit, man. You know? I shouldn’t have to make stuff that I can’t get behind. If Pharrell hits me up tomorrow and says ‘Help me make a new beat and I’ll give you 500 g’s’ I’m not gonna pass that up. But I’d probably put a different name on it because I wouldn’t want my music being over shadowed by one track that I did with Pharrell. It comes down to whether you’re willing to put everything on the line for some cash and be remembered as a one-hit wonder or just keep doing your thing silently until you get the kind of long-term respect that legends like Pete Rock, DJ Premier, Royce da 5’9” and Eminem have. They easily live off of music and still have the respect. You can have both. That’s what I’m trying to do.
People compare you to Nujabes all the time. That’s one of the best to ever do it. His song “Feather” that he did with Cise Starr is honestly one of my favorite hip-hop songs ever recorded. How do you feel when you hear people make that comparison?
MD: I like it…and I also hate it. I think coming up I worked really hard to be recognized as somebody that’s similar to him because we all start out with inspirations and people that we essentially steal from and take from their style. For most hip-hop producers coming up in the era before me it was DJ Premier and Pete Rock and RZA and people like that. I don’t want to be the second coming of Nujabes. I want to be Marcus D. As far as that goes, I respect the fact that people want to give me that title because that’s huge shoes to fill and if people think I’m doing a decent job of trying to fill those shoes then that’s cool. But at the same time that’s not my prerogative. I don’t strive to be the next Nujabes. His music inspired me and the people he worked with are amazing people and amazing artists and that’s why I work with them. But if you listen to any one of my albums all the way through you can easily tell that there are large differences between his music and mine whether that’s good or bad.
How do you feel about the state of hip-hop in general right now? A lot of people say that it’s dead. Are you optimistic about the future of the medium or are you one of those cynical dudes?
MD: Shit, I think it’s more vibrant than ever. It’s funny because I feel like two or three years ago Japan was going through a reemergence of real hip-hop and there were a lot of albums coming out. The US was completely dry. And now, Japan is starting to shut down and a lot of the stores that were once really big with hip-hop are starting to slow down. Sales are awful. Exactly like the US was in 2009-2010. But I feel like during that time the US went through a renaissance where a lot of dope artists came through. A lot of people came up during that era like Drake, ASAP, Kendrick, Yelawolf. A lot of those dudes came out at that point and they’ve continued to do their thing and right now and they’re the forefront of that sort of mainstream underground hip-hop. I don’t really fuck with Big Sean or Drake or Chris Brown as a whole. But I do really enjoy Kendrick’s music and I like Big K.R.I.T. a lot. So I’m definitely not one of those dudes who’s like, ‘Hip-hop is dead and Joey Badass is the new golden era of hip-hop’ because he’s just doing the same thing that’s been done forever. His album wasn’t even that good. He’s a good rapper and a dope MC but listening to his project, it’s like ‘Dude, I know that you’re like 19 and you wanna bring back 1992’ but you gotta continue to progress.
You’re dropping the album on the 11th. What’s in store for you after that?
MD: Me and Substantial are always working on new stuff. I’ve also been working on RETRO’D 2 [his passion project where samples songs from video games and turns them into beats] because I’m always playing video games anyways. I don’t really see that as work. If making beats is work then playing video games and making beats is really, really not work at all.
Do you ever see yourself getting a “real job?” Or do you honestly think you’re going to be doing this shit for the rest of your life?
MD: I’ve learned how to be a hustler, man. I know a lot of artists that are more “out there” than I am that still have to have a 9 to 5. I haven’t had a 9 to 5 since I was 16 working for Zumiez during the Christmas season for one month. And I hated that shit. It made me feel like if I’m working this hard for this many hours for this amount of pay, what can I do to invest in myself? For me, it’s a no-brainer. That’s what I do every fucking day. Whether I’m record-digging or playing video games or going on tour or meeting artists or going out and drinking with people. Anything, dude. Anything. It’s my future and I’m working towards a certain goal and whether I get there through a straight and narrow path or a round-about way…I’m gonna get there eventually.
Marcus D’s new album The Lone Wolf LP drops March 11.
Find the rest of his discography at marcusd.bandcamp.com