Nappy Roots: “To This Day, Kentucky Has Never Gotten Over What We Brought…”
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Southern rap group Nappy Roots teamed up with Organized Noize for their new album Nappy Dot Org.
The nappy men dropped their new album Nappy Dot Org, hitting store shelves October 11.
GlobalGrind caught up with the fine southern gentlemen to talk about their perfect collaborations, keeping hip-hop fresh, and of course, Nappy Roots’ outlook on music.
Make sure you cop their new album at a fine music retailer near you, and check out the exclusive interview below!
GlobalGrind: The new album is Nappy Dot Org and you guys linked up with Organized Noize. How did all that come to be?
Skinny DeVille: We were about to start working on the new album this year, and our manager Orlando McGee asked ‘What do you think about working with Organized Noize?’ It’s a no-brainer to hook up with one of the biggest producers out of the South with some of the most underrated and respected hip-hop lyricists.
Vito: Underrated my ass. It made sense to put two superpowers together. Orlando was connected with the dungeon family with Organized Noize.
What’s your favorite track?
Vito: Right now, I’m going with “Hey Love” because it’s the single and a lot of women need to interact with Nappy Roots.
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When you first came on the scene, nobody heard hip-hop the way you guys were delivering it. How important was it to bring something fresh and new?
Skinny DeVille: I think it’s very important. We did a whole album and it didn’t come out on Atlantic because they didn’t know how to market it. We got signed in 1998. We got out of the studio immediately. We were in college and did the whole album. It didn’t have a name or anything. We weren’t trying to be like nobody else, but there were similar vibes to what everybody else was doing. And that didn’t work. It sat on the shelf because the marketing department didn’t know how to work it. So we went back in 2000 and cut a whole new angle of the same thing we were doing.
How has being from Kentucky affected the band’s music?
B. Stille: I think that it was a conscious effort because we didn’t want to be looked at as ‘they’re trying to be somebody from Atlanta or they’re trying to be like somebody from New Orleans.’ We had to establish our own identity. It came natural. We had our own swag. When you’re looking at Nappy Roots, it was thirty deep when I first came to college. I couldn’t even tell you how many people were in Nappy Roots. We were just the rappers, the frontmen of it. We started a cult following. To this day, Kentucky has not gotten over what we brought to the campus. We just took that and translated that to our music and now our whole thing about just doing you and being yourself … you don’t have to fake a front. I think that’s what our whole goal is – to spread that message.
Vito: We’re very proud of Kentucky and that really shows in our music. It’s what we do. We’ve maintained our identity and our culture is the sole reason why we’re still here right now.
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How did you come up with the name Nappy Roots?
It started with me and Clutch walking to class one day in our Goodie Mob phase, it just came out. It was very real, organic music. When we came up with the idea to do Nappy Roots, not the name, but the group, me and Clutch started writing and writing. We had our own record store founded by Black college students and we put Nappy Roots on some shirts first. As we began selling music, we sold Nappy Roots shirts in the front.
If you could collaborate with anybody that you haven’t collaborated with yet, who would you choose?
Skinny DeVille: I would like to work with Cee Lo Green, Ghostface Killah, Raekwon and producer would be RJ D2.
Vito: Adele, some more Organized Noize beats, and DMX.
Fish Scales: I would love to do a track with Nas on some Organized Noize type track where we really could show our lyrical talent.
Clutch: I could see myself doing a track with Devin the Dude out of Texas and I would definitely love to do something with Mary J. Blige because she represents pain, struggle and perseverance.
B.Stille: I’d like to do something with Alicia Keys, John Legend, Kanye and Andre 3000.
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What are your favorite things to do besides make music?
Smoke weed, drink a little bit.
What’s your favorite drink?
Fish Scales: Gin & Juice.
What kind of juice do you put in your gin?
Fish Scales: A lot. You got to find something real thick to cut it because gin is pure magic. There’s gin out there called New Amsterdam so if you’re a gin drinker, this is what me and Clutch have coined as “Captain Sully” – you know the man who landed that plane in the Hudson River. It’s going to let you down real smooth.
Skinny DeVille: We used to drink Grand Marnier a lot back in the day. But lately we’ve been on that Diddy Vodka.
Vito: Me? Give me some apple, cinnamon moon shine.
Where do you find that?
Vito: Franklin, Indiana. It tastes really good. Women can drink it. It’s really damn good. It’s got pie in the bottom of it.
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If you were sent to a deserted island … the back woods of Kentucky and you could only bring three albums with you, what albums would you bring?
Skinny Deville: It Was Written by Nas, Nappy Roots Watermelon, Chicken, and Grits so I can remember when I was sane if I go crazy in the woods, and then I’d grab Wu Tang Forever.
Vito: Shirley Caesar’s greats, she’s my favorite. She sings with her heart. Marvin Gaye Distant Lover and Sade.
Fish Scale: Raekwon first CD, Cuban Linx, Ice Cube Death Certificate, and Biggie Ready To Die.
Clutch: This new Nappy Roots album Nappy Dot Org, some Sade as well. Something real old school, I’m not sure.
B. Stille: Everybody said Sade … that’s my future wife or ex wife, whatever. A Nappy Roots album would probably be The Humdinger, some Anthony Hamilton, and then my mixtape, Year of the Buffalo Volume I.
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Out of every moment you’ve had on tour, what’s one of the most memorable?
Skinny DeVille: One of my most memorable moments was probably flying to Baghdad, Iraq. When we flew into the National Airport all the troops were out there. It was a sea of troops. There wasn’t any running water or electricity. I think they said three people died during the time we were just there at the airport – three people died in the city. We were in the C1-30 going around just to land in the airport. It was something I never felt before and I don’t want to do it again. But just to see all those troops and all their love for Nappy Roots was an amazing thing. I’ll never forget that in my life.
For the fans, besides the album Nappy Dot Org, what else are you guys working on?
Skinny DeVille: The album is done and we’re happy with it. So, we’re focusing on the tour – the Nappy Dot Org Tour, focusing on pushing the single “Hey Love,” bring people into the album. Vito is working on his solo project, and B.Stille and Clutch working on projects as well.
Every year for Nappy Roots Day, we go to the schools in Kentucky, talk about education – middle schools, high schools, elementary schools. Just tell the kids follow your dreams, listen to your parents, try to be successful, ask questions, respect your teachers. But next year we’re doing something different. We’re doing a camp for the kids.
