Dylan James Bowker

I caught up with battle rapper Mad Flex (BOTZ, KOTD, GZ Battles, etc) over the phone. We discussed his first exposure to hip hop music, advice on how up and coming battlers can get shine, the social media campaign for WD6 that got him the Aftershock battle, living near Cesar Gracie's camp and watching the Diaz brothers since the Jeremy Jackson days, general MMA talk with a focus on UFC 202, how he went about crafting his unique battle rap style, his history playing with a band and recording music, the politics involved with getting main stage battles, and so much more! 

I caught up over the phone with KOTD and Smack battle rapper, Jay Rell. We talked about coming up in a household with brothers who made music, wanting to give Big Kannon a seminar that will save his life, differences between battling in KOTD versus battling in Smack, who he thinks Michael Bisping will make his first title defense against, fatherhood informing his battling, having a bachelors and finishing up his masters, a crazy battle situation that involved Jay knocking someone out and the cops coming, being on BET and the fanfare from that, having secret fight videos on youtube, campaigning to fight Kimbo Slice when Jay was 17, and much more! 

I caught up over the phone with battle rapper and parody artist, Chedda Cheese. We touched on early influences from Eminem and DMX, the text only battles he would do online in school, how he developed the various flows he uses, how he puts together his parody tracks, his compilation record "The Dairy Section Vol. 1", the future of Chedda's original music, record label struggles with posting parodies, losing track in the Arcane battle, hanging out with Riff Raff in-studio, and much more!

I spoke to Canadian country musician and multi-time Juno award winner, Dean Brody. We caught up over the phone about the Fire Aid in Edmonton concert benefiting those affected by the Fort McMurray blaze, his work with the Dean Brody foundation, how he crafted some of his most well known tracks, his early days jamming Metallica, his preferences on guitar tunings, an unspeakably awful gig in Portland, his fascination with gypsys, and so much more! 

I spoke to Danny Myers aka Bar God who is one of the most prolific battle rappers on the scene. We talked over the phone about his early days battling The Game and Papoose, his writing process for his intricate bars, the love of layered esoteric rhyming over timely crowd popping lines, issues in the modern battle scene, a documentary and book in the works, why he's the Paul McCartney of battle rap, and so much more! 

I spoke to Dirtbag Dan who is a legendary battle rapper, comedian, hip hop recording artist, and podcaster. We covered the multi-faceted comedy/ battle rap-infused tour with Kung Fu Vampire they're embarking on, what to expect coming up on his podcast "The Dirtbag Dan Show", shifting interest from battles towards stand up comedy and recording music, what went into 2014's studio album DBDLP, plans to put out a half hour stand up special, UFC 199 fallout, and so much more. 

I spoke to Kalle Mattson and we covered a ton of topics. We discussed recording techniques, our mutual love for guitars, treading the line between artistic merit and commercial success, the massive success of his acoustic Hotline Bling cover and his track Avalanche, discussing the passing of family members in his music, how to navigate the waters of media funding (ie/ FACTOR), and so much more! 

I spoke to Luke Bentham, the guitarist and vocalist of The Dirty Nil, over the phone. I cover everything from their humble beginnings in Hamilton right up to today as artists on Dine Alone Records. Some topics include marketing music in the modern age, genre tags, the desire to collab with DMX, positives and negatives of touring, and so much more.