During their interview with HipHopDX, the members of Kidz In The Hall were laughing and goofing off more than they were answering questions. But the emcee/producer duo of Naledge and Double-O has reason to be happy: about a year after making noise with their Rawkus debut and with a couple of solid mixtapes to hold listeners over, they’ve got a new deal with the legendary Duck Down Records. Their sophomore disc, The In Crowd, features them continuing their versatile, fundamentally sound brand of Hip Hop with guest shots from their Duck Down label-mates and the likes of Masta Ace, Phonte of Little Brother, Black Milk, Guilty Simpson and more.

Though one-time wallflowers, perceived by some as an aspiring Lupe Fiasco and a Just Blaze/Baseline Studio understudy, the Kidz have grown up into that popular crowd. The proverbial braces and zits have vanished, and the Chicago and New Jersey duo now can bask in the glory of comparing condom brands, sprinkling game on the freshmen and making an album that needs no comparisons or protege comments. New gear, new sounds and new swagger could position Naledge and Double O as independent Hip Hop's best bet. Like their Canadian namesake suggests, it's all sketch comedy for these gentlemen, and while their brand of Hip Hop remains intelligently crafted, nobody is seemingly looking at the Ivy League diplomas - posted next to the dartboard on their walls.

HipHopDX: I last interviewed you guys a little more than a year ago, and a lot has happened since then. What’s been going on with y’all?
Naledge: A lot of good vagina.
Double-O: It’s basically like that. We figured out a way to crawl out of the womb and crawl back in when we want to, and it’s been a great experience because of that.
Naledge: And we need that Magnum sponsorship real quick, right now.
Double-O: I’ve realized Magnums are a lie. They only equate five millimeters or some shit larger than regular condoms, and that’s a lie. Tell them they need to make every condom feel like natural lamb. If every condom felt like natural lamb condoms, we wouldn’t have the problems in the hood that we have now.
Naledge: That’s how our album feels, it feels like natural lamb.

DX: [Laughs]
Double-O: No, it does. You listen to that shit, and you think, “Wow, it shouldn’t feel this good, it’s so how unsafe [sic], but at least I won’t get pregnant." Nah man, we’ve just been livin’. That’s really all we’ve been doing. You grind for so long so that you can wake up every day and make music, so we don’t take that for granted at all. We have fun with this shit.

DX: You guys have a decent history as far as labels: you signed with Rawkus before, and you just signed with Duck Down. What do you think it is about you guys that makes you gravitate toward such grassroots type labels, and what makes you so attractive to them?
Double-O: Honestly, I think it’s more of a business move for them. They look at us and they see our team, and they see that 90% of our grinding, of us getting out there, is done by Major League [Entertainment]: myself, Naledge, and our two managers, and whoever else is working at Major League at the time as interns. We do it. So it’s in their benefit to do deals with us in terms of joint ventures, because they know we have this growing fan-base and dope music, but more than anything, we have this overly basic grind process. Not everybody puts in that work, and I think from the business end, that’s why people want to come fuck with us. They see what we do every day and out. … And, because I have amazing breasts.

DX: Breasts?
Double-O: Man-breasts! This is like our fourth interview. It’s about to get crazy.

DX: I look at your guys' situation, and it makes me have faith in music. You guys came in, got a record deal, maximized that situation, and you’ve been doing your thing ever since. How has your experience changed your perspective of the industry?
Naledge: I think we knew it was shady coming in, but shadiness is a way of life when you start creating music. It’s crazy what’s conventional in this industry is some of the most misogynistic, addictive, self-destructive things you can do in life. It’s a balance between knowing that it’s wrong but still loving it at the same time, and you have to be crazy to want to get involved in this industry. But the art that comes out of it is so beautiful…it makes it all worth it. Dealing with executives is a hassle, sometimes doing the business side of it is a hassle. But you love making the art, and that’s what drew you to Hip Hop in the first place, the moment you fell in love with it. Whether you heard a song, you were in the park, you were at a party, whatever. Whatever happened, that’s what drew you in, that’s why you stay with it. The industry aspects of it, you get used to. I’m sure if you become a doctor, you might not have always liked looking at blood, but it’s just something that you get used to. It’s the same type of thing with Hip Hop. I never thought I would be in the studio with people consistently doing drugs and things of that nature, but that’s how the music gets made, so you kind of just live with it. Continued on page 2 »