Future Record Fair: Rob Dz
Upcoming tracks from Madison musicians
John Urban
Rob Dz takes a closer look at "The Way" it's done.
For the record: Decider’s concert preview of Rob Dz’s show Wednesday at The Frequency speculates he’s “surely been interviewed for 5 million ‘state of local hip-hop’ articles,” but Dz informs us that he just got another inquiry, so make that 5 million and one. Dz recently let us listen to some songs from the new album he’s working on, Modern Day Louis McKay.
Previously: Madison’s not the easiest place to succeed as a musician, much less as a nice-guy rapper, and Rob Dz has been toiling at it for a decade or so now. In between his own shows, he’s also become a go-to guy for promoters with touring hip-hop on their hands, opening for such acts as Murs and Talib Kweli.
New: Rob Dz names his forthcoming album after the character of Billie Holiday’s husband and manager in the 1972 film Lady Sings The Blues: “He stepped up to the plate as a man and rode through it all with her, like a man is supposed to do,” Dz says of the character, though other portrayals of the real Louis McKay have been less generous. (In response to this, Dz says: "Yeah, it's weird, but I think most people would identify with the movie portrayal of him, a la Billy Dee Williams, over the actual guy.") The actual songs are in the spirit of the good version of McKay. “The Way” carries on one of Dz’s big themes: working, making music, and keeping at it, or as the chorus goes, “Layin’ that zap on the words that I say / stay on the path and I’ll be OK.”
The album also shoots for a more diverse production palette, using tracks from Lucha Libre’s Da Ricanstruckta, local MC DLO, and producer/engineer Mark Whitcomb of DNA Studios. “[On] this project I dip into punk music, drum-and-bass, rock, disco, and some other stuff that folks that have [heard] my albums might not be used to,” Dz says.
Standout track: On “Push,” Dz seems to admit to loathing some of the obstacles in his way, especially networking: “Relax homie, don’t push the buttons / no, man, I ain’t heard of your cousin, / yeah, we’ll hook it up it definitely, / and by the way, yo, security?!”
"Push" by Rob Dz
"The Way," along with some more new material, is currently streaming at Dz's MySpace page.
