Exclusive Interview with Deux Process

You are now in the presence of real hip-hop, courtesy of Deux Process, a hip-hop duo starring Alan Johnson aka Chiefer Sutherland and Mike Saunders both from Colorado “left home for music, but not like Prince.”  They have lived in Los Angeles only a couple of years, but their hip-hop careers have skyrocketed since.  The duo still have love for Colorado Springs and don’t take comments regarding their loyalty to their former home lightly, which is demonstrated in the track “To The Heart.”(WARNING: EXPLICIT LYRICS)  “We came to Cali to showcase what we were doing in Colorado; to showcase Colorado hip-hop.”

When asked, why did they leave Colorado, Chiefer Sutherland replied, “Basically, we exhausted all the outlets in Colorado.” There’s a lot of talent in Colorado, but the music industry there isn’t recognizing there’s a big hip-hop scene.”   They say they have always had the whole world in our sights, Cali was just one stop along the way.

Their first album “In Deux Time“ was released to critical acclaim in 2006 and contained the hit singles “The Process” and “Take the Dance” which peaked at #1 on the College Music Journal charts.

Now in their Sohpmore year, their 2nd LP “Price Of Dreams” is already creating nationwide buzz. I had a chance to talk with the group, check out what they had to say.

WHATDADIZZLE: Deux Process, What Da Dizzle?

DP: Ya know staying busy trying to make it happen for the family. Working hard on the album and other business ventures myself and Vise Versa have cooking up !

WHATDADIZZLE: I remember you were part of a dance crew and were pretty good. Never figured you for a rapper, how did that come up with the name Deux Process and what does it mean?

DP; hahaha yeah man years ago that’s how I got my start dancing then it just kinda evolved into freestyling with the homies then writing music.  The name derives from the legal term Due Process, which means a person is ensured all legal rights when he/she is being deprived of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for a given reason; to make sure every man has fairness, justice and liberty.  All things that we stand for so we just flipped in into to Deux, which is the French word for two.

WHATDADIZZLE : What happened to the third member?

DP:  Dj Shawn Dub moved on to other opportunities in the bay and now on the east coast , just one of those things as a adult you have to find your calling in life and make moves . But that’s always family and will always be a part of DP.

WHATDADIZZLE: How does it feel to be in your sophomore year of hip-hop and to have such a bright future ahead?

DP:  Its very exciting its been a very long journey a lot of trials and tribulations we have been through the past few years. So it’s lovely to finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. We are looking forward to albums 3,4,5 we wanna be here for along time!

WHATDADIZZLE : Both of you are from Colorado Springs and there seems to be rumors that you don’t have love for your city. What would you guys say about that?

DP: That’s just crazy talk anyone who knows us or has ever listened to our music know how much we rep the C., but there will always be people who wanna see you fail or hate., That’s just life.

WHATDADIZZLE: How’s the album coming and who’s featured on it?

DP: The album is done now finally! We have Stro from the procussions, Logan who is a amazing singer song writer, Young Rook, BK who is a producer from Atlanta , as well as Grammy Award Winning Producer DJ Khalil! So we are very excited for this project.

 

WHATDADIZZLE : Recently your music was featured on VH1 Episodes of Basketball Wives! How did that happen? Yeah we licensed our first album to MTV and VH1 as well as some of the newer music and luckily they like our music and continue to give us some shine on those networks.

The question everyone wants to know is when is the album dropping?

DP: We are hoping to drop the album this summer if everything aligns correctly, in the industry there are so many hula hoops and hurdles you have to go through, but it will definitely be this year. We are very excited and anxious to get it out.

WHATDADIZZLE: Who do you want to work with in the future?

DP: Slick Rick, Jay Z , Kanye , Premier , Sade, Justice League , Common, Jay Cole, Rick Ross , Tribe , Bilal , Bun B just to name a few.

WHATDADIZZLE : There’s a lot of great cities for aspiring musicians ,why did you choose California(Cali)? I think the biggest reason is because of the opportunities this state offers, any and everything you want or need is at your fingertips. You can’t beat the weather also… Haha.  Also the Procussions had a lot of influence on our move out here.  Which made the transition smoother, probably one of the most important decisions we have ever made in our lives.

WHATDADIZZLE: Which hip-hop group influenced you the most?

DP: Hmm such a tough question to narrow down, we both have a vast collection of artist who influenced us. To name a few, A tribe Called Quest ,EPMD, OutKast , Public Enemy , NWA , Beastie Boys , Hiero, The Liks,  the list goes on for days. So many groups made a significant contribution to the game and we’re inspired by all of them.

WHATDADIZZLE: Anything you guys want to say to your fans?

DP: We want to thank the fans for being patient with us and for all the support. We have been through a lot since our last album has come out. It’s been a long journey so we are really looking forward to putting this album out for the world to hear.

Here’s a link to a “leaked” track of the highly anticipated album titled, “Ballad of Los Angles Feat. Roscoe Umali”