Interview: Dawgy Baggz of Paper Route Gangstaz

Dawgy Baggz

If you haven’t heard of Paper Route Gangstaz yet, you obviously have been ignoring the independent music press as well as the content on [cardboard living] over the last eight months. As a collection of four guys from the streets of Huntsville, Alabama, Paper Route Gangstaz are emphatic about the deep-south lifestyle that they lead, which is one reliant (if not dependent) on money, drugs, alcohol, women and whips. Seeing that Atlanta, Georgia is currently the hip-hop capital of the country, it’s easy to understand how PRGz have flown under the radar for over eight years now.

The flight path changed once Diplo and Benzi, two producers that the music industry have become acquainted with through their work on M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes”, decided to remix original PRGz tracks in 2008 for a mixtape called Fear and Loathing in Huntsvegas. The mixtape received critical attention from Pitchfork in addition to other music publications, both physical and digital. So, when I sat down at home to call Dawgy Baggz, the de facto leader of the Paper Route clan, I could hardly stop the questions concerning the formation and direction of the group from rolling off my tongue.

Amp Dawkins has gone by Dawgy Baggz ever since he can remember. As is what usually occurs, Dawkins can’t remember where the nickname came from but what he can remember is that it is a street name. Huntsville is a city most notable for a notoriously high crime rate, strings of fast food establishments and a horizon that features rocket launches on almost a bi-weekly basis. Those who live in Huntsville are aware that the city has a culture unto itself, one not notable for its musical identity. Thus, one must wonder how Baggz ended up generating enough buzz for his label and his group to be featured onPitchfork, a site that caters to the ears of thousands of ‘indie kids’. Dawgy’s explanation of the group’s name made the answer clear:

Its something that I earned the right to do. Paper Route is just like that paper route that the paper boy take every morning, throwing out them newspapers to come back and collect his money. I took that exact same route throwing out my inventory to collect my money. Gangsta is just a lifestyle…its fighting for what you believe in and never…Never…backing down. Its willing to take those life altering chances in order to support you and yours and always making your own way in any…Any…situation. I earned my right to be called a Paper Route Gangsta.

As for the Diplo and Benzi collaboration, Dawgy insists that luck had more to do with that collaboration than anything. However, talent knows no boundaries and the Major Lazer team certainly holds that concept close to heart. Baggz insists that Diplo is a “genius in the studio” and that opinion shines through as truthful in the Huntsvegas mixtape as Diplo samples George Michael on “Bama Gettin Money”, Underworld on “Stuntastic” and Weezer for “Grind Baby”. Dawgy just wishes “they weren’t so damn expensive”. However, the Diplo ‘collabos’ caught the ears of both rap fanatics and hipsters across the country as they saw the genius behind mixing ‘country boy’ hip-hop with highly intelligent production.

 

Clockwise from top left: Mata, Gunt, Dawgy Baggz, Jhi-Ali

The mixtape features all four members of the group: Mata, Jhi-Ali, Gunt and Dawgy Baggz himself as well as associates of the group X.O., Mali Boi (the main producer for PRGz), Amp G, Wale, Blaqstarr and Jackie Chain (an Asian dude who has served time for drug trafficking and a fantastic lyricist). Most of those featured on Fear and Loathing in Huntsvegas are from Huntsvegas and have known either Dawgy or one of the other PRGz members for quite some time, a factor that gives the mixtape Southern legitimacy that will attract fans drawn to Southern hip-hop.

PRGz have untainted street credibility that should help them attract a loyal Southern fan base that will include fans of harder hip-hop from the region. Dawgy mentioned to me that at the start of Paper Route Recordz a couple of the members caught murder and drug cases and were sentenced to fifteen years to life sentences, amounting to a series of setbacks in the development of the brand.

The upcoming EP Rocket Fuel will be released on iTunes soon, a deal helped along by the addition of PRGz to the Elite Taste roster, a small agency that also reps Mike Posner and Wale. “Keyshia Cole“, the lead-off single, is a song about ganja, called “‘Keyshia Cole’ because you don’t wanna be talkin’ reckless on the phone”, according to Dawgy. We’re sure to hear much, much more about PRGz in the coming months, make sure to check [cl] if that interests you.

Notables:

Bama Gettin Money (Dipo Remix)

9.2/10. This Diplo remix is the best on the mixtape as we find PRGz at their best.

Soul Glo (The Knocks Remix)

7.5/10. Another indie-oriented remix that features a sample from a hair-care product and a looping violin riff. One of the more genius samples that we’ve heard in a while.

Alabama

7.4/10. A PRGz original track (one of the few on the mixtape) that features the incredible point that “Alabama” backwards sounds like “I’m-A-Balla”.

Rollin’ (Diplo Remix)

8.8/10. A very druggy remix of a song that is even more hallucinogenic.

Grind Baby

7.2/10. “Grind Baby” features a sample of Weezer’s “Say It Ain’t So.” More Diplo genius.

Stuntastic

9.0/10. The truest Southern anthem on the PRGz’s CV.

Lewis Corson

Leaked Jay-Z/Kanye/Rihanna Record is Mediocre

While it’s probably old news now, we want to share our opinion on “Run This Town” with our faithful readers. “Run This Town” leaked three days ago, on July 24th on a couple of blogs and was promptly covered by Pitchfork a few hours later (sorry, [cardboard living] doesn’t have a weekend staff yet). Staff writer, Tom Breihan gives the track a glowing review, claiming that the song ‘bangs’ and talking about Jay-Z, on a pop record, rapping like ‘he cares‘. Sorry, Tom, but we’re not with you.

The hook, that Rihanna sings, can’t help but evoke the same squirming feeling that we got whenever “Rehab” or “Disturbia” used to come on the radio. The real problem with the track is the huge difference between Rihanna’s voice, which is now pop-proven and the grinding guitar riff that drives the track. The same guitar riff loop was used in “Death of Autotune (D.O.A.)” to great effect because of its inherent hardness, but Rihanna wasn’t on that track. Hopefully, Kanye wasn’t talking about “Run This Town” when he said this in February:

I just did one beat the other day in Hawaii — probably one of the best hip-hop beats of all time, if I do say so myself.

Jay-Z’s verses sound determined and aggressive and Kanye, as he’s known to do, has a couple good one-liners on the track but hopefully we’ll hear a better track with the next leak, which we’re betting will hit the web within a week.

According to reports, “Run This Town” is set to be the single to follow “D.O.A.” instead of a track that Jay did with Drake entitled “Off That.”

Jay-Z – Run This Town feat. Kanye West and Rihanna

6.4/10. A great beat is soiled by Rihanna’s pop-proven pipes. Maybe it’s because Rihanna evokes visions of drunk college girls dancing to “Umbrella” or because The Blueprint 3 is over-hyped. There is, however, promise for the album as we keep seeing some solid beats being rolled out.

Lewis Corson

A Man and His “Magnificent” Ukelele

A [cardboard living] first: artist pounding Andre on stage.. only the finest for Mr. May

I’m not pleased that Pitchfork has beaten me to the punch on this up-and-comer but I am am stoked that they provided a video for “Meet Me in the Garden,” which I hadn’t seen before.  

No one can be sure if Dent May is the real deal or not.  There is a chance that the hype that is following this young man is exactly that.  However, his sound is unique and catchy and is drawing attention from bloggers and more notable sites (such as Pitchfork).  It is possible that he will soon begin to draw some attention from major labels or big indies such as Sub Pop if he has not already.

This Ukalele expert hails from rural Mississippi and his look is somewhat akin to that of the nerd that sat next to you in your chemistry class.  The thick lenses and frames of his glasses are in constant rotation and he sometimes looks like he has been dressed by his mother.  However, there is a certain sex appeal inherent in “Meet Me in the Garden,” which can be seen in the video above as well.

This frivolous cut is the lead single off of Dent’s EP and there are two different versions of the track that you can listen to below:

Dent May and His Magnificent Ukelele – Meet Me in the Garden (version 1)

Rating: 6.5/10 –> Too much Ukelele.  I need more Cuica (see below).

Dent May and His Magnificent Ukelele – Meet Me in the Garden (version 2)

Rating: 8.7/10 –> I got a fever for Cuica!

Cuica is a brazilian percussion instrument that is used in a vast number of classic Brazilian songs that you may know or not.  You have most likely heard it before but do not know the technical name for it.  It is shaped like a small cylindrical drum and one must thrust their fist into it (weird, I know) in order to create its sound.  The sound is what only can be described as somewhat of a combination of the noise that a frog makes and the pitch of a tropical bird.  Hysterical video below:

MySpace: Dent May

Here’s an interview from Pop Tarts Suck Toasted as well.