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Danja MC Interview
Drum and Bass | Thursday 15th December 2011 | Osh
At the guestlist network we pride ourselves on being able to recognise good musical talent which is why we thought it high time we caught up with the fast emerging up and coming talent that is Danja MC…
How did you start listening to drum and bass and were there any artists you were inspired by at that time?
It goes back to the days when I was at school really. I was always into Hip Hop and really into the West Coast gangsta stuff that was around in the early 90’s to
mid 90’s like Spice 1, Ice Cube, 2pac etc. I just loved the snapping breaks and the heavy basslines. Then whilst at school one of my mates lent me some old jungle tapes, mamely Kenny Ken at AWOL, Andy C,Shy FX,and DJ Hype from HEAT. The beats and basslines just blew me away and hearing DnB MCs for the first time such as the late great Stevie Hyper D, GQ, Fearless, Skibadee and Det to name a few just got me hooked. The name Danja (danger) came from the same era when there were a lot of tunes going about with the catchphrase “Danger” in them, it was a word that stuck with me and became my name, the different spelling came from my love of ganja at the time.
Whats your best setting and day for writing bars in your spare time?
I write most of my bars when I get inspired by something whether its a tune, a set, the people I’m with or certain situations I find if I try and force write something then it wont work. I have to have that spark of inspiration then it just seems to flow naturally. So I dont think I set specific days but I usually write in our studio because I just love how good music sounds in there. It’s inspiring.
Your stuck in a lift with a celebrity, musician or legend. who is it and what’s the first thing you’d say?
Person : Kelly Brook - first thing I’d say - “sex”! Hahahaha. No seriously, that’s a tough one. It’d have to be Stevie Hyper D and the first thing I’d say would be “You’re
alive!!In a lift!!” Seriously though I’d just like to have a chat with the man and pay my respects...R.I.P
Are you involved in any other genres / performances outside of drum and bass?
I’ve just finished a Hip Hop album with my brother MC Eaga and our producer JKD, we go by the name of I2I. We have done a couple of music videos of tracks from our
album ‘Gravity’ and plan to do a couple more. I’m currently working on a solo Hip Hop EP that features some of the top DnB MCs doing something a bit different that will be available for free download before our album comes out. I’m also part of a live band as a vocalist where we take our influences from hip hop, reggae, DnB, ska, rock and funk and create our own MC based live music. We performed at festivals like ‘Lounge On The Farm’ and Herne Bay festival among others. We are currently working in the studio to get some tracks laid down.
How would you describe your style of mc and are you ever compared to any legends or recent artists?
This is a hard question because I don’t really feel like I have one particular style of MCing and try and bring a bit of everything to the scene. I love to hype up the crowd
but it’s very important to me to write conscious lyrics and actually make
sense. I have a few sing-a-long hooks which go down well and I like to try and be as positive as possible and just spread the love to the ravers because at the end of the day that’s what I am.
Lastly where can we hear more from mc danja and what can we expect from you in future?
Basically any raves in Kent I’ll be either on the mic or skanking at the front :) Or you can hear me regularly performing on the radio on various stations including our own Synoptic Radio every Thursday and Sunday 8-10pm. Also check my facebook for regular updates and free downloads of tracks and mixes etc. As for the future I dont really know what that holds but one thing I do know is I’ll still be here doing what I love. I’d prefer to be known as DANJA M© rather than MC DANJA...if I cant have the copyright sign that’s cool ...big up for this nyon I appreciate it and if you need to know anything let me know mate. You might wanna put some links on there for me aswell!
facebook.com/danja.mc
myspace.com/danjamc
