DX: Is it essential that the lyrics be dirty too? Looking at a lot of your stuff, it’s pretty raunchy, and that’s fantastic…
DS: To be honest, “Blow” was a three-year-old track. I just stripped it and added that to the vocals. It’s dirty drums, old, crackled up records, you know what I mean?

DX: What influenced you to get into club music?
DS: I just used my influences around. Growing up, we had everything: Country, Reggae, Hip Hop, all the influences. The people in Baltimore didn’t accept it though. I never knew that it was spreading outside of Baltimore though. Actually, I have a couple of hit songs in Baltimore that spread outwards more than actually inside Baltimore. It was strange. My background was flippin’ ‘80s stuff – Van Halen, The Manhattans, cartoons, having fun with it.

DX: Are the clubs you were sneaking into as a teenager, or the clubs you were deejaying in as a teenager, are they still surviving in Baltimore?
AL: There’s just one. Paradox. It’s really the only one that’s left. They still have a strong Friday night, the knucklehead, Bmore, wild, young kid party. Saturday is more on the alternative, gay tip. They used to have a big Thursday party, which was Rave-y. They used to cover all their bases in a weekend. That’s the only spot that’s really still standing.

DX: Everybody right now is excited about Wale, being from a close region, near D.C. Do you think the Chesapeake Bay area, including Baltimore is going to truly be next?
AL: I think so. It’s happening. The Wale/Ronson connection and the Lacrate/Samir Bmore connection, I think it’s big. Mark [Ronson] and I are longtime friends and collaborators, I think that alone is big. Mark was responsible for bringing Puffy, Dame Dash and Jay-Z to the Downtown clubs, because Mark’s [music] always had the model bitches. This wouldn’t be the first time that Mark is involved in a catalytic Hip Hop worldwide thing. It would be our first time. If you’re in this game, you’d better be pushing.

DX: I recently read how Shawty Redd knew he had a hit in “Sexual Seduction” by demo-ing it in Atlanta clubs. How do you capture the energy of gutter music in the studio when you’re producing it?
AL: A lot of that is a combination of Samir being a maniac on production and me sort of fine-tuning, twisting and adding what I think is dope detail to a beat and different vocal combinations. He’s just a funky dude, man. He just bangs out drum tracks.
DS: We collaborate in all facets. I use Reason, and I’ve been using it since 2000. Everything you’ve heard has been made off of Reason.

DX: You’re one of the only people, as a deejay, that’s given Young MC his due. Tell me about what “Know How” means to you, because your putting the original on tapes years ago, helped educate me, let alone the remix…
AL: Other than “Bust A Move” and writing “Wild Thing”…I wish he would’ve been more active. I think he’s a great writer, a great lyricist. If anyone captured that early ‘90s party rap, it was him. On a record like “Know How,” it was him spinnin’ – showing people how nasty of an emcee he was. It wasn’t so much on the Pop tip. I love “Bust A Move,” but I don’t play it. I could’ve remixed it, but I decided not to, because if you have knowledge, you’re gonna go for the artist’s dopest record. Lyrically, that’s “Know How.” In the UK, that’s a classic. For us, we’re always looking for the dope, up-tempo, old school, lyrical vibe. It doesn’t get anymore than that. That checks off all the boxes. [Masta Ace's] “Jeep Ass [Niguh]” was another one we used to play as kids. I had the clear vinyl! If you played that in the party, you know the amount of excitement that carried. That was another record we loved. To have the opportunity to flip those…you get a lot of remixes that cross your plate, but not so many golden era records that you fuckin’ loved as a kid. It’s still a bit surreal. We just remixed “Soul Flower” for Delicious Vinyl too, which features all the original Pharcyde verses, but also our artist Verbs and Wale. It’s an exciting project.
DS: It’s just an honor and privilege to have this opportunity, especially with a label like Delicious Vinyl. I was doing it before, and not getting paid for it. I was just doing it for the love of being from Baltimore. For the actuals to say, “Can you recreate this?” I said, “Sure!” [Laughs]

DX: When will you feel your impact?
DS: I feel the impact. I’m trying to sign some artists who will truly embrace this – vocal people to express this music. If I see somebody reach the Top Ten off of the stuff that we’re doing, that’s the point when [I’ll feel it]. I started as a deejay. I started out pleasing people, so I’m a people-pleaser. I’m different from the average producer. I’m not against music. I embrace music. I like see people dance. I want to see it in a broader spectrum, people singing to it like Madonna or Rihanna. “Don’t Stop The Music” incorporates the whole club set. Continued on page 3 »