Surely you’ve seen one of the numerous leaked tracks from the emcee and producer duo Black EL & Durkin. You might have even downloaded the free album, Color Commentary, which features some of the most fiery hip-hop to come from the New England scene in 2010. With a flow as slick as EL’s and beats from Durkin that recall hip-hop’s classic era, the duo is poised to make some tsunami-like waves in the near future.
I’ve been fortunate enough to hang with EL and Durk, as they are colloquially known, so I talked them into doing an interview. Hit the skip to check their story.
Potholes In My Blog: What’s up guys? How has the summer been treating you two?
Durkin: All work and no play, man! I’m balancing my existing DJ gigs, wrapping up Color Commentary and a 9-5 gig that I started in May. I only made it to the beach once. Now it’s damn near hoodie weather. It was all worth it though.
Black EL: I’ve been working a crappy job and working on music. I haven’t been able to really chill, and I’ve kind of stopped going out like I used to. The only time I go out to the club usually is when I’m checking Durkin or Brek.One. Otherwise, I’m home doing rapper stuff like watching Scarface, or I’m on Mass. Ave. riding around shining.
PIMB: Tell us a bit about how you two met, and then how Black EL & Durkin came to be.
Durkin: I met EL a while back through Jelani when I was a sophomore at Northeastern U, but it wasn’t until a year or two later that EL hit me up to help him finish up his first album, A Major Minority. I did a few beats on there (“It’s All Relative,” The Stickup Kid”). At the time I was starting to make my way into the Boston music scene as a DJ holding down a weekly party on Sunday nights in Cambridge called “Do It Again.” He needed a DJ for a few shows and hit me up.
Soon after that we realized if we focused on doing an entire project together we could make dope music and pull together an unstoppable live show. We also became good friends quick; that’s the most important part. We spend a LOT of time together because of this music (example: 22 hour round trip drive to Toronto last summer). If we didn’t get along on a personal level, it would never work.
Black EL: If Durk and I didn’t like each other we couldn’t do this. Even liking each other isn’t enough, haha. We’re good friends and we spend a lot of time together in the studio and talking on the phone about tracks or the next move we’re going to make. I’ve worked with producers in the past who I couldn’t see myself chilling with outside of the studio, and then it really feels like work. Durkin and I are clowns at heart, but we never lose track of what we have to get done. So at the end of the day it just feels like I’m just hanging out with one of my really good friends making music.
PIMB: There’s an interesting little clique of musicians stemming from the Northeastern University area. You all seem to support one another in the quest to make great music. Is there a possibility of an official collective forming?
Black EL: Yeah it’s funny, especially since I never went there myself. I’ve always thought of myself as an honorary Husky because I know just as many people who went to NU as I do my own school. I just support good music, and people who have a strong belief and direction in their craft are the ones I choose to support. It just so happens a good chunk of those people are NU alums; my man Jordan Martins doesn’t even make music but he’s an avid hip-hop head and journalist. He actually put me in contact with the Annie Mulz guys who helped us throw our release party last Thursday, and ironically they went to NU as well. It’s a cool circle;
I don’t see any official collective forming but I will always support people with talent and a clear-cut vision of where they want to go and how they are going to get there.
Durkin: We always talk about creating some kind of collective brand or something, but it never happens. It’s not really necessary though. Everybody’s doing their thing and supporting each other because we’re friends and want each other to succeed, not because of some super official group. I like it better that way. Shout out to all the NU students and alumni doing their thing! Jelani, Ghostdad, Jordan Martins, Soo-Young Kim, Flavorheard, Death Star, Camden, Annie Mulz… I could go on for a while.
PIMB: So the name’s Black EL. Why the name change from Black ELement? How do you think you’ve grown as an artist since the release of A Major Minority?
Black EL: I had to change the name. I really felt that I grew out of it. Black ELement was made in a time when I was heavy in the underground scene in the late ‘90s and 2000s. Even though I will always have a special place in my heart for those Rawkus and Stone Throw records, I just felt that it was time to drop the ELement and change it to EL. The reason I capitalize the L in my name is my own little ode to Big L, who was a really big influence to me in high school and was definitely a big influence in my development as an emcee.
A Major Minority was a good project, but I feel like I was still finding my own style throughout making that whole album. I’m always out to perfect my craft, and I feel like Color Commentary is just a more polished version of myself, and working with Durkin really allowed me to see how a album is built up from ground zero. A Major Minority was more like the best songs I had at the time, on one project, while Color Commentary was created as a more seamless piece of work.
PIMB: And a few for Durkin: How did you get your start DJing and producing? You’ve worked with a number of artists in the Boston area. Is there anyone high on your wishlist of artists you’d like to producer for?
Durkin: I’ve been DJing and making beats since I was 15. Around that time I secured a copy of ACID Pro and a used Gemini “DJ in a Box” setup for about $100. I was determined to make house music and be this fist-pumping club DJ. While other kids were listening to New Found Glory or whatever and playing sports, I was in my basement learning to mix using house and hip-hop records from the Newbury Comics dollar bin and trying to make songs on my PC that sounded like The Prodigy.
Freshman year of college I met Jelani who convinced me to try and make some hip-hop beats for him. Over winter break I made five or six and I was hooked on being a rap producer. Once I turned 21, I had experimented making tracks with Jelani, EL, Jawn P of Top Choice Clique and Anonymous of Project Move. At that point I had some extra money so I bought new turntables, a laptop and Serato, and started trying to DJ again (now that I could actually get into the 21+ clubs in Boston). Since I already knew the basics from my years as a New Hampshire bedroom DJ, I pretty quickly convinced people to start letting me play at indie dance parties at clubs like Zuzu and the old Milky Way. I’m glad I shifted my focus to Djing for a year or two. I think it really helps El and I stand out since most new acts don’t have a proper DJ these days.
As far as artists I’d like to produce for, I don’t really even think that way. A long time ago I decided to stop shopping beats to lots of artists and instead focus on my immediate team of people I know and trust. In my opinion that’s how you stand out and really make a name for yourself. Black EL and Jelani get first dibs on everything! Sorry!
PIMB: From what I gather, Color Commentary was a long-time in the making. What all went into the process of making this album? Were there any driving forces behind the album that helped it really come to fruition?
Durkin: As I said before, I started producing on ACID Pro. Until this album, I had literally never ventured away from that ancient software. In my opinion nothing’s better for chopping samples without a unit like an MPC, but it’s very limiting. Color Commentary really took shape when I ventured into synthesizer territory. EL and I would start with these skeletons of tracks made entirely from chopped up drums and samples, and combine those pieces with layers of heavy, often distorted synth sounds. We had an epiphany when we finished “Once a Week” and “Pride”, like this is where we need to go with our music. It took time, but it was worth it. Now we have a clearer direction (and I have since made major upgrades to my studio) so we work quicker.
Black EL: Durkin and I are boys, and we work very similarly. Whenever one of us is in a certain mood, we ride it until the wheels fall off. For example I might be in the mood to just rip something uptempo and aggressive, but Durk might be in a chill, slow beat mode. Some of the tracks that made it on the album are older beats, but I just recently got on them because at the time I just wasn’t in that type of mood. The track “Sunday Drive” is one that Durkin probably made back in like April and I didn’t rock over it until about mid-July, not that I didn’t like it, I love that track, I just wasn’t in the mood. Also we worked backwards on a few tracks. In other words I would write the track to another beat and Durk would then make the beat tracks such as “Pride” or “100 Miles”. Those tracks were written to something totally different, and Durk just created something that complemented the mood even more. Whatever track Durkin and I made we complemented each other, whether he or I set the mood.
PIMB: Which artists inspired your work most when you were growing up?
Black EL: I was really a big fan of the whole Rawkus movement back in high school. Mos Def’s Black On Both Sides, Pharoahe Monche’s Internal Affairs and Reflection Eternal’s Train Of Thought were all albums that I listened to religiously throughout my high school years. I wanted to emulate them in every way possible, and listening to their music made me strive to make music with substance. I wanted to have lyrics with a message and tell a story. Those albums where a huge part of my development as an emcee, and when you’re young and just starting out, you need to have people who you can start to pattern your style after until you grow into your own.
I also bumped a lot of Outkast; you could find me bumpin’ “Elevators” while playing NBA Live 97 on my Sega Saturn damn near every Saturday morning. I’m a serious admirer of soul; Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, Musiq, John Legend and the great Sade are all people who I definitely would say inspired me even though I can’t sing. They definitely know how to capture emotion – something that is extremely important for any vocalist whether it be a singer or emcee.
Durkin: As a DJ and producer, Fatboy Slim was my first and biggest influence. His album, You’ve Come a Long Way Baby, used to get a lot of spins on Boston radio stations like WBCN and WFNX. I remember being blown away when I found out the entire album was constructed almost entirely of samples and like one synthesizer. One song from that album, “Gangster Trippin,” made me want to make beats. Soon after I became a big Fatboy fan I tracked down his old mixtapes, particularly “On The Floor at the Boutique,” and fell ass-backwards into golden age hip-hop. In one set he’d mix together Native Tongues records, acid house, classic blue-eyed soul and his own production (flawlessly). I still apply that anything-goes mentality to my DJ sets today.
PIMB: Having moved around the East Coast, spending a large amount of time around the Boston hip-hop scene, you’ve seen many various regions and hip-hop scenes. In your opinion, why do so many hip-hop acts leave Boston for other cities? Where do you see the Boston scene going in the next few years?
Durkin: Boston’s a tough town to maintain a music scene because the young people, the life blood of any music scene, are most often transplants and are gone as soon as they come. It takes time and dedication from locals to have a thriving music scene. When I was in high school, I would see shows in Boston with guys like 7L & Esoteric and The Perceptionists, guys who were building up the Boston scene for a decade or more at that point. They could fill the Middle East downstairs with all local acts.
Not to doom Boston or anything. I’ve heard people say Boston’s cursed. That’s just not true. This stuff happens in waves. I’d say the last four or five years have been quiet for Boston hip-hop, but that’s changing. The time is right for a resurgence in a really active, healthy hip-hop scene that’s more inclusive and more fun than ever. We’re ready to put in work to make that happen, and from what I can see so are plenty of other young people.
Black EL: I remember telling an older head about what Durkin and I were going to do to build a scene around the area. He looked at me like I had 5 heads, shook my hand, and gave a sarcastic “Good luck!” Realistically if you jump ship to NYC and say, “Yeah I’m from Boston,” before you’ve even locked down your hometown, you don’t look good. The thought has crossed my mind in the past, but now I’d much rather stay and build something locally. I don’t want to be another out-of-town emcee in NYC. I love New York, but it’s only four to five hours away anyway.
Building something in Boston is something that is important to both Durkin and I so we’re going to remain here. I’m sure some heads are upset that we didn’t hop on every local showcase and to them we popped up out of nowhere. But personally I would rather pop out of nowhere with a polished project, and a proper game plan, then get on every local showcase with no product and nothing to push. Everyone “raps” and everyone makes “beats,” but Durkin and I wanted to stand out from those people, and I believe we do. As far as where the city is going, Boston is wide open right now and I hope Durkin and I can inspire some local high school kids, just like we were inspired by guys like Project Move, 7L & Eso and The Perceptionists.
PIMB: What do you make of the hip-hop scene at large these days? Do you think the industry is in trouble from a business perspective?
Black EL: The industry? Music industry? What’s that?
Durkin: I think the industry is in trouble because somebody let us in the door. Corny emcees and wack producers be afraid. We’re here to eat your food.
PIMB: Any last words for the readers?
Durkin: See y’all at our next show this September. Stay tuned. On yeah. Follow me on Twitter. Can’t stop, won’t stop, eheh, eheh (word to Shiny Suit Man).
Black EL: If you’re in Boston on Sept. 14, don’t make any plans.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Related Posts:
Word to Shiny Suit Man: An Interview With Black EL & Durkin
I’ve been fortunate enough to hang with EL and Durk, as they are colloquially known, so I talked them into doing an interview. Hit the skip to check their story.
Potholes In My Blog: What’s up guys? How has the summer been treating you two?
Durkin: All work and no play, man! I’m balancing my existing DJ gigs, wrapping up Color Commentary and a 9-5 gig that I started in May. I only made it to the beach once. Now it’s damn near hoodie weather. It was all worth it though.
Black EL: I’ve been working a crappy job and working on music. I haven’t been able to really chill, and I’ve kind of stopped going out like I used to. The only time I go out to the club usually is when I’m checking Durkin or Brek.One. Otherwise, I’m home doing rapper stuff like watching Scarface, or I’m on Mass. Ave. riding around shining.
PIMB: Tell us a bit about how you two met, and then how Black EL & Durkin came to be.
Durkin: I met EL a while back through Jelani when I was a sophomore at Northeastern U, but it wasn’t until a year or two later that EL hit me up to help him finish up his first album, A Major Minority. I did a few beats on there (“It’s All Relative,” The Stickup Kid”). At the time I was starting to make my way into the Boston music scene as a DJ holding down a weekly party on Sunday nights in Cambridge called “Do It Again.” He needed a DJ for a few shows and hit me up.
Soon after that we realized if we focused on doing an entire project together we could make dope music and pull together an unstoppable live show. We also became good friends quick; that’s the most important part. We spend a LOT of time together because of this music (example: 22 hour round trip drive to Toronto last summer). If we didn’t get along on a personal level, it would never work.
Black EL: If Durk and I didn’t like each other we couldn’t do this. Even liking each other isn’t enough, haha. We’re good friends and we spend a lot of time together in the studio and talking on the phone about tracks or the next move we’re going to make. I’ve worked with producers in the past who I couldn’t see myself chilling with outside of the studio, and then it really feels like work. Durkin and I are clowns at heart, but we never lose track of what we have to get done. So at the end of the day it just feels like I’m just hanging out with one of my really good friends making music.
PIMB: There’s an interesting little clique of musicians stemming from the Northeastern University area. You all seem to support one another in the quest to make great music. Is there a possibility of an official collective forming?
Black EL: Yeah it’s funny, especially since I never went there myself. I’ve always thought of myself as an honorary Husky because I know just as many people who went to NU as I do my own school. I just support good music, and people who have a strong belief and direction in their craft are the ones I choose to support. It just so happens a good chunk of those people are NU alums; my man Jordan Martins doesn’t even make music but he’s an avid hip-hop head and journalist. He actually put me in contact with the Annie Mulz guys who helped us throw our release party last Thursday, and ironically they went to NU as well. It’s a cool circle;
I don’t see any official collective forming but I will always support people with talent and a clear-cut vision of where they want to go and how they are going to get there.
Durkin: We always talk about creating some kind of collective brand or something, but it never happens. It’s not really necessary though. Everybody’s doing their thing and supporting each other because we’re friends and want each other to succeed, not because of some super official group. I like it better that way. Shout out to all the NU students and alumni doing their thing! Jelani, Ghostdad, Jordan Martins, Soo-Young Kim, Flavorheard, Death Star, Camden, Annie Mulz… I could go on for a while.
PIMB: So the name’s Black EL. Why the name change from Black ELement? How do you think you’ve grown as an artist since the release of A Major Minority?
Black EL: I had to change the name. I really felt that I grew out of it. Black ELement was made in a time when I was heavy in the underground scene in the late ‘90s and 2000s. Even though I will always have a special place in my heart for those Rawkus and Stone Throw records, I just felt that it was time to drop the ELement and change it to EL. The reason I capitalize the L in my name is my own little ode to Big L, who was a really big influence to me in high school and was definitely a big influence in my development as an emcee.
A Major Minority was a good project, but I feel like I was still finding my own style throughout making that whole album. I’m always out to perfect my craft, and I feel like Color Commentary is just a more polished version of myself, and working with Durkin really allowed me to see how a album is built up from ground zero. A Major Minority was more like the best songs I had at the time, on one project, while Color Commentary was created as a more seamless piece of work.
PIMB: And a few for Durkin: How did you get your start DJing and producing? You’ve worked with a number of artists in the Boston area. Is there anyone high on your wishlist of artists you’d like to producer for?
Durkin: I’ve been DJing and making beats since I was 15. Around that time I secured a copy of ACID Pro and a used Gemini “DJ in a Box” setup for about $100. I was determined to make house music and be this fist-pumping club DJ. While other kids were listening to New Found Glory or whatever and playing sports, I was in my basement learning to mix using house and hip-hop records from the Newbury Comics dollar bin and trying to make songs on my PC that sounded like The Prodigy.
Freshman year of college I met Jelani who convinced me to try and make some hip-hop beats for him. Over winter break I made five or six and I was hooked on being a rap producer. Once I turned 21, I had experimented making tracks with Jelani, EL, Jawn P of Top Choice Clique and Anonymous of Project Move. At that point I had some extra money so I bought new turntables, a laptop and Serato, and started trying to DJ again (now that I could actually get into the 21+ clubs in Boston). Since I already knew the basics from my years as a New Hampshire bedroom DJ, I pretty quickly convinced people to start letting me play at indie dance parties at clubs like Zuzu and the old Milky Way. I’m glad I shifted my focus to Djing for a year or two. I think it really helps El and I stand out since most new acts don’t have a proper DJ these days.
As far as artists I’d like to produce for, I don’t really even think that way. A long time ago I decided to stop shopping beats to lots of artists and instead focus on my immediate team of people I know and trust. In my opinion that’s how you stand out and really make a name for yourself. Black EL and Jelani get first dibs on everything! Sorry!
PIMB: From what I gather, Color Commentary was a long-time in the making. What all went into the process of making this album? Were there any driving forces behind the album that helped it really come to fruition?
Durkin: As I said before, I started producing on ACID Pro. Until this album, I had literally never ventured away from that ancient software. In my opinion nothing’s better for chopping samples without a unit like an MPC, but it’s very limiting. Color Commentary really took shape when I ventured into synthesizer territory. EL and I would start with these skeletons of tracks made entirely from chopped up drums and samples, and combine those pieces with layers of heavy, often distorted synth sounds. We had an epiphany when we finished “Once a Week” and “Pride”, like this is where we need to go with our music. It took time, but it was worth it. Now we have a clearer direction (and I have since made major upgrades to my studio) so we work quicker.
Black EL: Durkin and I are boys, and we work very similarly. Whenever one of us is in a certain mood, we ride it until the wheels fall off. For example I might be in the mood to just rip something uptempo and aggressive, but Durk might be in a chill, slow beat mode. Some of the tracks that made it on the album are older beats, but I just recently got on them because at the time I just wasn’t in that type of mood. The track “Sunday Drive” is one that Durkin probably made back in like April and I didn’t rock over it until about mid-July, not that I didn’t like it, I love that track, I just wasn’t in the mood. Also we worked backwards on a few tracks. In other words I would write the track to another beat and Durk would then make the beat tracks such as “Pride” or “100 Miles”. Those tracks were written to something totally different, and Durk just created something that complemented the mood even more. Whatever track Durkin and I made we complemented each other, whether he or I set the mood.
PIMB: Which artists inspired your work most when you were growing up?
Black EL: I was really a big fan of the whole Rawkus movement back in high school. Mos Def’s Black On Both Sides, Pharoahe Monche’s Internal Affairs and Reflection Eternal’s Train Of Thought were all albums that I listened to religiously throughout my high school years. I wanted to emulate them in every way possible, and listening to their music made me strive to make music with substance. I wanted to have lyrics with a message and tell a story. Those albums where a huge part of my development as an emcee, and when you’re young and just starting out, you need to have people who you can start to pattern your style after until you grow into your own.
I also bumped a lot of Outkast; you could find me bumpin’ “Elevators” while playing NBA Live 97 on my Sega Saturn damn near every Saturday morning. I’m a serious admirer of soul; Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, Musiq, John Legend and the great Sade are all people who I definitely would say inspired me even though I can’t sing. They definitely know how to capture emotion – something that is extremely important for any vocalist whether it be a singer or emcee.
Durkin: As a DJ and producer, Fatboy Slim was my first and biggest influence. His album, You’ve Come a Long Way Baby, used to get a lot of spins on Boston radio stations like WBCN and WFNX. I remember being blown away when I found out the entire album was constructed almost entirely of samples and like one synthesizer. One song from that album, “Gangster Trippin,” made me want to make beats. Soon after I became a big Fatboy fan I tracked down his old mixtapes, particularly “On The Floor at the Boutique,” and fell ass-backwards into golden age hip-hop. In one set he’d mix together Native Tongues records, acid house, classic blue-eyed soul and his own production (flawlessly). I still apply that anything-goes mentality to my DJ sets today.
PIMB: Having moved around the East Coast, spending a large amount of time around the Boston hip-hop scene, you’ve seen many various regions and hip-hop scenes. In your opinion, why do so many hip-hop acts leave Boston for other cities? Where do you see the Boston scene going in the next few years?
Durkin: Boston’s a tough town to maintain a music scene because the young people, the life blood of any music scene, are most often transplants and are gone as soon as they come. It takes time and dedication from locals to have a thriving music scene. When I was in high school, I would see shows in Boston with guys like 7L & Esoteric and The Perceptionists, guys who were building up the Boston scene for a decade or more at that point. They could fill the Middle East downstairs with all local acts.
Not to doom Boston or anything. I’ve heard people say Boston’s cursed. That’s just not true. This stuff happens in waves. I’d say the last four or five years have been quiet for Boston hip-hop, but that’s changing. The time is right for a resurgence in a really active, healthy hip-hop scene that’s more inclusive and more fun than ever. We’re ready to put in work to make that happen, and from what I can see so are plenty of other young people.
Black EL: I remember telling an older head about what Durkin and I were going to do to build a scene around the area. He looked at me like I had 5 heads, shook my hand, and gave a sarcastic “Good luck!” Realistically if you jump ship to NYC and say, “Yeah I’m from Boston,” before you’ve even locked down your hometown, you don’t look good. The thought has crossed my mind in the past, but now I’d much rather stay and build something locally. I don’t want to be another out-of-town emcee in NYC. I love New York, but it’s only four to five hours away anyway.
Building something in Boston is something that is important to both Durkin and I so we’re going to remain here. I’m sure some heads are upset that we didn’t hop on every local showcase and to them we popped up out of nowhere. But personally I would rather pop out of nowhere with a polished project, and a proper game plan, then get on every local showcase with no product and nothing to push. Everyone “raps” and everyone makes “beats,” but Durkin and I wanted to stand out from those people, and I believe we do. As far as where the city is going, Boston is wide open right now and I hope Durkin and I can inspire some local high school kids, just like we were inspired by guys like Project Move, 7L & Eso and The Perceptionists.
PIMB: What do you make of the hip-hop scene at large these days? Do you think the industry is in trouble from a business perspective?
Black EL: The industry? Music industry? What’s that?
Durkin: I think the industry is in trouble because somebody let us in the door. Corny emcees and wack producers be afraid. We’re here to eat your food.
PIMB: Any last words for the readers?
Durkin: See y’all at our next show this September. Stay tuned. On yeah. Follow me on Twitter. Can’t stop, won’t stop, eheh, eheh (word to Shiny Suit Man).
Black EL: If you’re in Boston on Sept. 14, don’t make any plans.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Related Posts:
Related Posts