Straight Outta Upper Saint Clair
A tall, clean-cut, skinny and nice guy, with a smile from one side of his face to the other. Most would not look at 18-year-old James Di Gangi from Upper Saint Clair, Pennsylvania, and think “rapper,” but looks can be decieving. James, also known as JD, is a freshman here at OU. He’s only performed a couple of times since moving to Athens. He doesn’t fit in with the flashy, bold crowd of rappers that surround him on stage. But when James steps up to the mic, his confidence is apparent; when he opens his mouth, his talent is too.
James hasn’t always been into rap. His first encounter with rap was through a high school psychology project. James explained, “We decided for the project to make a music video and we recorded two rap songs about how to be a good parent. And that was the beginning of it for me,” he said.
According to James, his hometown doesn’t have much of a music scene; however, Wiz Khalifa, who you might recognize as the artist of the song “Say Yeah,” performed at James’ high school prom. James didn’t have any problem approaching Wiz Khalifa’s crew, asking if he could battle the star. Unfortunately, they said no; nevertheless, that didn’t stop James. His classmates knew James wanted to get to the front of the stage, so they let him through. He held up a sign that had “battle me” written on it. Wiz Khalifa proceeded to take the sign and throw it on the ground.
It just so happened that James was sitting outside after his prom and Wiz Khalifa had to walk right past him to leave, so James attempted to battle him again. Refused, for the second time. Was Wiz scared? According to James, yes: “He knew I could have probably written stuff in advance. Also, if people filmed it and if he got embarrassed, it could have been bad for his career.”
James did not have the desire to battle Wiz Khalifa because he enjoys his music. Not at all. In fact, James is “not a fan of him.” He also hates Lil Wayne, Soulja Boy and T-Pain. James prefers early 90s, alternative rap, some might call it “old school.” He said he loves the album Illmatic by Nas, and he also likes Big L and A Tribe Called Quest.
To most people, it’s hard to believe that someone doesn’t like the style of Lil’ Wayne; however, James considers this type of rap to be too “electronic” and “synthesized.” Also, James mentioned that rap lyrics have become degrading and vulgar. “The thing that got me into rap was that it was really like poetry and it had a lot of substance. A lot of the mainstream stuff you hear now has really lost that,” he explains.
Since James has moved to Athens, he has been asked to work with two sophomores, James Anderson and William Glenn, who called themselves Knee Pad Knockout. Knee Pad Knockout already produced their first album, “Can’t Stop” and for their next album, they want to try and incorporate more artists from Athens. They made a track for James and even asked him to write some verses for a few of their songs. James Anderson comments, “[James is] a musician that knows exactly what his song should sound like before the song is even written. He has a unique quality about the way he performs on stage that makes you want to keep watching and see what he is going to do next.”
Also, James has joined Hip Hop Congress, a group of rappers, break-dancers and producers that perform and do community service. This group travels to schools and performs to show people that hip hop really is about more than degrading women and excessive violence and sex. Also, they host rap battles at The Union where James has been asked to perform during intermission. James Anderson from Knee Pad Knockout remembers the very first time he saw James perform. “He got up there and did his thing and really rocked it. Anytime someone gets up on that stage with confidence and rocks the mic like he did, it inspires other people in the crowd to want to try.” One of the songs he performed was of his own called “Don’t Mess With My Hood.” The other was a remix of “Party in the U.S.A.” by Miley Cyrus and “Party and Bullshit” by Biggie Smalls.
“Don’t mess with my hood” may sound pretty contradicting to the fact that James intends to avoid sounding like modern hip hop. He explains it as a parody of modern rap, though, not an imitation. With lyrics like, “Don’t mess with my hood/ I saw my best friend die, saw my girlfriend die and my mom get high/ Why do all these people die? Why does my mom get high?” James pokes fun at those who simply write rap lyrics to talk about how hard their lives were, calling it almost satirical. “None of the lyrics are true of my life at all, but it was definitely fun to write and be imaginative by going over the top with stuff,” he said.
Jéan Pierre Johnson, a member of Hip Hop Congress, met James at the first Hip Hop Congress meeting of this school year and gave him his first opportunity to perform at The Union. “James’ skills are on point and he’s very knowledgeable of hip hop. James is very dedicated to bringing people to Hip Hop Shop [at the Union] and I greatly appreciate him for that,” says Jéan. He was also very impressed when James performed Nas’s “New York State of Mind” in its entirety.
With the help of Hip Hop Congress, James is working towards furthering his own rap career. He wants to bring back the kinds of meaningful lyrics, that inspired his passion for hip hop. As for his future, he wants to get a Video Production degree from OU and work with the creative side of production, possibly writing scripts for television or film. “[I know] I’d like to do stuff with music, because that is my real passion,” speculating that it may only turn out to be a hobby in the future. “Or who knows?” he interjected, “Maybe I’ll change my mind down the road.”
Direct link: http://backdropmag.com/entertainment/straight-outta-upper-saint-clair/