Dusty Roze

WHO?MAG: How did Dusty Roze and The Appliance Shop Crew first get involved with the music industry?
Dusty Roze: I wrote my first raps when I was a kid. I remember performing this rap I wrote, “Ya Think Ya Chillin’, Chillin’, But — But Ya Illin'”, at a little party back home when I was about 15 or so. Then, just like everybody else, I have the old tapes where me and some friends recorded ourselves rapping and so forth. But I didn’t really get serious with it until 2001 when I released my first album: The Giant Slayers. Scott Orlans produced it. It’s the story of a town with one natural disaster, attacks from huge giants. I was J.O. Flo, the Giant Slayer, and I protected the small people of my town from giants by leaping up and doing battle with giants 24/7. The album was a hip hopera, meaning a complete story is told through the development of each song on the disc. This was even before Beyonce and “Carmen”. I was the first person to make a hip hopera. In 2003 I met Tone Blair and we started making tracks and doing shows. Tone’s studio is in the back of the appliance shop he owns a! nd works out of. So, we started calling ourselves The Appliance Shop Crew. (T.A.S.C.). We met up with Chad Bishop in 2004 and that’s where The “Soulshack” name comes from.

WHO?MAG: Besides releasing just music, what other avenues can an upcoming artist take to generate an income?
Dusty Roze: Man, you gotta get your hustle on. There’s this book called “How To Make $100,000 a Year In the Music Industry” and the main theme is that as musicians we have to constantly take advantage of any avenue available to make an income. We have to sell t-shirts, cups, hats, movies, drinks, anything. Look at all these rappers who endorse all sorts of products and beverages. Sell anything you can. I sell double DVD cases with the Dusty Roze CD on the left and my movie, The Plan, on the right. People love it. They get the sounds and the visuals. Best of both worlds. I just started a business where I produce customized birthday songs. I get my clients to fill out a simple form asking for a few details about the birthday recipients life and what genre they’d prefer, then I make a special unique birthday song suited specifically for that person. You can check it out on www.HARRAWAY.com in the birthday section.

WHO?MAG: What differentiates your sound from other MC’s?
Dusty Roze: I sound different because I don’t rap about the same exact stuff that everybody else is rapping about. I grew up in West Palm Beach, man. So, you probably aren’t gonna hear me talking about my guns and drive by shootings. I rap about time travel and space ships. I rap about the current Bush administration, Osama Bin Laden, surfing the internet for porn. Stuff like that. I mean I drive a Cadillac. It’s a pretty nice ride, but you probably won’t hear me rapping about my car. It’s just a waste of time to me. Also I’m a tried and true writer. I’ve written novels, short stories and countless screenplays, so from the jump start my stories are descriptive on a level that most MC’s never reach. Everybody who buys my CD tells me they’ve never heard anything like my music before. It’s so different. But–most importantly–it sounds good. Tone Blair does most of my beats and his style is very cinematic with bangin’ drums. When you’re listening to a Tone Blair track you feel like some! thing crazy’s about to happen. It’s almost like you can see pictures through the music.

WHO?MAG: What’s your opinion on the state of hip-hop right now?
Dusty Roze: To be honest I don’t like where it’s at right now. I think there are a lot of cats out there who could really be saying some real s*#t, addressing some major issues, stretching the boundaries and advancing the culture to the next level. Yet it seems the only thing anybody has to say involves guns and cars. Go to www.HARRAWAY.com. Listen to some of my tracks. I truly prove that you can make good music about a whole variety of topics.

WHO?MAG: What’s next in store for Dusty Roze?
Dusty Roze: We got some vinyl records floating around right now. The DJ’s have been giving us spins. The single we’re pushing is called “Ain’t No Gangsta”. Tone Blair produced the track. My boy Fabmal is on it and so is Chad Bishop. I just directed the music video for the project, so you should check that out too. The whole thing is just clowning all these fake wannabe gangstas who are always rapping lies about themselves. It should be on the second edition of the Whomag DVD. Check it out at www.HARRAWAY.com.