Dirty Water

Indistr Life
A day in the life, 100% Independent
INDISTR 10! Interview with Dirty Water!!!
by: Kevin Hockin

We were first contacted by Dirty Water a month ago or so, and ever since we've been fans. These guys are hard working and will definitely be having a full plate in 2008. Though meeting in college at North Carolina Central University, they happen to reside in Washington DC and are making serious moves and gaining day by day in exposure. Check it. Oh yeah, and after you check it, go support them directly by buying some of their music!!!!

1.Let’s start from the beginning, when and where did it all start? And with who?
CCB: It all started back in college (North Carolina Central University). I used to date his wife’s roommate and she used to always tell me I needed to meet him since we were both into hip hop. I didn’t meet Joe until my junior year though. We both ended up in this go-go band as front-line vocalists. I didn’t know anybody in the band but the drummer, Winslow, and the manager, Jeff. The first meeting was at Joe’s apartment in Duke Villa. We immediately clicked. He started playing his beats for me. They were all dope. Way doper than I thought they’d be. We traded a few rhymes back and forth. I was shocked. Dude had dope beats and dope rhymes. I think we might have done our first track together that day, I’m not sure. Back then he would play the beat and we would record all the vocals live, in one take! We didn’t even have a four track. We had like an album’s worth of songs on cassette tapes after a year or so. The rest is literally history.

2.If you had to describe your sound in one sentence, what would you say?
We create songs, not just beats and rhymes, that consist of elements from pure basement Hip Hop to lighthearted fun with a willingness to stretch out and do things differently.

3.Name 3 artists that have inspired you as a group.
CCB: Michael Jackson, Prince and Run DMC

4.What do you see in the future for music, with all of the outlets available for exposure, along with the current Internet craze?
CCB: And as far as the Internet, I don’t know. It just seems like a big riot to me. It’s hard to get noticed in a riot. I miss the good old days. I actually like going to the record store.

5.What can we expect to see from Dirty Water in 2008? Any big plans?
CCB: Another album, definitely. Also, Joe’s been working like a dog on his first solo project Preacherman. I was just over his house a few days ago. He played me some stuff. All I can say is watch out. Hip hop hasn’t seen anything like this in a while. I put my man up there with all the greats: Primo, Pete, RZA, Dre, Kanye, Pharrell. My man holds his own. He’s a genius. I also have another solo joint coming out this year, The Fear in the Dog, which Joe produced. So this year is actually going to be pretty big.

6.What has Dirty Water been listening to lately?
CCB: I just bought Prince’s Rainbow Children and the Beastie Boys Check Your Head. Those were both albums I slept on, so I had to go back and get them. I just took Lupe’s new joint out. It had been in the deck for like three weeks strong. He’s amazing. It’s been a while since I heard an emcee that made me want to sharpen my sword. Also, the new Wu rocks pretty hard. I don’t know what the hell Rae is talking about. And this morning I drove to work rocking that old Vaudeville Villain joint. Classic! Where is Doom anyway?

7.Your thoughts on independent music and if it’s possible to be successful through these means of distribution?
CCB: I think that artists are going to have to go back to making music because they love to make music and they want the world to hear it. Everybody’s panicking because rap record sales have plummeted over the past couple of years. I personally think it’s a good thing. All that money was messing the game up. Now everybody wants to be a rapper, like how everybody used to want to play for the NBA or the NFL. But just like everybody ain’t cut out for pro sports, everybody ain’t cut out for emceeing. Only with the commercialization of hip hop, they made it so you could take any bum off the streets and put a dope behind him and everybody makes a million dollars. Now that the money’s gone, we can bring the love and the passion back. It’s a blessing in disguise. Prepare to hear some truly inspired hip hop on the independent scene over the next few years.

8.If we can’t find you playing a gig or practicing music, where might we expect to find you?
CCB: Probably with my daughter at the book store or the park or something. If not that, at the bar, knocking back good scotch and flirting with women.

9.How many shows do you play a year? What’s the atmosphere typically like?
CCB: Not as many as we’d like to. DC is a go-go town. It’s hard to get people to buy into our brand of hip hop. But when we do rock shows it’s always a peaceful, uplifting vibe.

10. Lastly, your thoughts on INDISTR.COM?
CCB: More power to you. It’s always good to see people still taking an interest in truly independent artists. I wish you much success in the future. Don’t forget about us when you get big. - INDISTR.com

dirty water

Today we have a new talent reppin' Washington, DC. This duo is definitely on the rise with their music, whether it is putting out mixtapes or doing shows with acts such as The Cool Kids. These two cats are definitely ones to look out for in the near future, so don't sleep on em'. The group consists of members Joe D and Cool Cee Brown, and are known as "dirty water". We also provide a link to their free mixtape, so make sure y'all check that out as well. Remember, we only bring you the finest raw talent, so turn off the radio for a sec and listen to some fresh material. Good luck guys and keep it comin'! - Gorilla Hip Hop

Dirty Water
Coming strong out of Washington DC/Maryland area is this creatively gifted Hip Hop duo on the rise. Soon to be spotlighted here, you can check for an albums worth of material on shadesradio,com. Joe D & Cool Cee Brown have formed many soulful works of auditory art that have been transferred to me thru mp3 and internet technology which I now want to pass on to you. To get to know them musically,
listen to Love Your Style
and feel the groovy rhythm and tight rhyme flow of Joe D in which he says to suspect "niggas hop off my vas deferens, I'm from Maryland where they blast metal and meddle in people's business like house, windows and car locks. Think PG the suburbs come around my block or rather where I live at, down Marlboro Pike, old heads smoke the Marlboro lights..." also
listen to Eat My Breakfast Alone
with Cool Cee Brown doin a singing/rappin style which illustrates a much more realistic take on relationships, albeit much more cynical and sarcastic as well. Still, it remains original, serious and funny at the same time. Together they have some masterpieces we will discuss at a later date. - ShadesRadio.com

This Hip-Hop Group, Dirty Water, came out the gate with tight songs. Their track, “Ballad of A Bright Faced Girl”, should be heard by every young lady- hell every female period about the realness of the world.

Ballad Of A Bright Faced Girl - Dirty Water

They come to us as two among us, not below or above Joe D and Cool Cee Brown met in 1999 on the campus of North Carolina Central University in Durham. By then they had both made names for themselves, independently, as undiscovered talents. Cee Brown frequented local poetry readings and gained popularity as a spoken word artist alongside songstress, Yahzarah, and the funk/jazz fusion band, Hidden Image. Joe had turned his apartment into a home recording studio and was compiling a catalogue of underground hits with rap trio, Train of Thought.

As fate would have it, after Train of Thought and Hidden Image disbanded, they both, now hungry for a creative outlet, joined the new go-go group, The Marquee Band & Show, as front line vocalists. There, for the first time, they witnessed each other's talents and Dirty Water emerged from the mire of failed attempts and unrecognized potential.

- SOHH

Cool Cee Brown and Joe D make up a duo known as Dirty Water. From receiving a Wammie, to putting music out that is something all their own, this duo is doing what they love. In an industry that isn't always kind, these two emcees have found a way to make it through, keep pushing and survive in a time where booty shaking has taken over the airwaves, and substantial hip hop is left behind at times. Their bond and styles compliment each other and seem to bring out the best in what each has to offer. Both coming from the DC/MD area, they met miles away from their home town, and continued through out the years to create something that is all their own. When most duo's don't make it past the first couple of years, Dirty Water has exceeded that and kept it moving for a decade.

- Yoraps.com