Front Page
US Interviews
Special Features
Nightclubs
Events + Concerts
Album Reviews
Games
Music Videos
Chat Room

Interview Archive

By Michelle Manning

Sometimes it just takes some intelligence to break into the hip hop scene. Def1 (aka Darius Ellington Forde) was armed with a PC, a microphone and a myriad of music knowledge to firstly garner the attentions of record label, Lossol Entertainment. Then he created the track ‘She Was’ – a track that received major airplay on Channel U and Choice FM before it was even ready as a single. Def1 hit the airwaves much sooner than he expected.

With another single release and the official release of ‘She Was’ on the way, his highly anticipated album is due for release this year. Def1 has already proven to be an artist with a difference and, as his unique foray onto the radio attests, his debut album is bound to be as original as his career. “I’m gonna split some experimental kind of tracks, tracks that I don’t think people have tried to do over here before.”

Def1 seems to be in the right place at the right time for the kind of artist he wants to become, as he is surrounded in an environment at Lossol Entertainment that nurtures talent. “You know, it’s like a family environment in there, and with the process of recording, when I get something in my head and I want to lay it out, it’s just one call and then I’m done in the studio. The process there is simple really. It’s an easygoing, nice environment. They’re real with you. If they think something don’t sound good they’ll let you know, you know what I’m saying? So I don’t think, ‘I could have said that better,’ or ‘What do they think,’ or ra ra ra, it’s sorted out there and then.”

As far as Def1’s direction is concerned, a start at Lossol is opportune. “I want it to go all the way to get signed now. I don’t really mind getting signed right now, I just wanna build up my name like in the streets. I want to be a recognised artist before I get signed, if ya know what I’m saying. Or like in the future, to build up my profile. So I’ve kind of set up my own kind of place in the scene instead of going to a label and have them make me into something, like make me have a certain way of rapping. I’d rather get my style now and build my own profile now and then hopefully a label will take it further…”

Now, it is time to think about his album and how his style will take shape, something Def1 has been planning. “[The album will have] different kind of tracks, like more speeded up flows, slower flows and real kinds of situations that’s been happening around me with friends and everything.”

At 22 years of age, it’s easy to forget his youth when in ‘She Was’ he sounds as mature in vocal style and subject matter as 35-year-old Jay-Z. Yet, whilst Jay-Z’s lyrics concern the harsher adult realities of American life, London-born Def1 awakens to his city around him. “It’s not nice in London, like there’s a lot of things going on in different areas and everything, and situations are just bad. I don’t think it’s improving but it’s just where we’re from innit?”

London is on Def1’s mind as he raps his narrative: “Living in London really would be a major factor of what I’m talking about, to be honest, because I know people from different areas, and everything going on around their areas coincides with what’s going around my areas, so basically [my rap is about] London really.”

Listening to ‘She Was’ or the next single ‘Ey Ey’, Jay-Z comparisons are unavoidable. Although Jay-Z is not one of his inspirations, Def1 just happens to be as versatile and eloquent as Jay-Z in his deliveries. However, if there was an artist he was inspired by, he wouldn’t be able to pin point them. “I don’t know I’ve been inspired. I couldn’t really put my finger on who exactly, who I’d say. I wouldn’t say Jay-Z is my favourite. I wouldn’t say that because I’ve got hundreds of CDs that I’d listen to over the days, you know what I’m saying? I wouldn’t say I’d stick to one person; I wouldn’t be able to say one person inspired me.” He continued, “I’ll say watching videos, listening to 1Xtra, Choice FM 96.9, listening to their shows; listening to rap in general inspired me because there’s so many different styles coming from different artists who inspire me to try to write and bring a flavour to the game.”

Perhaps it is instinctive, as Def1 has had such a quick introduction into the UK hip hop scene, an introduction usually saved for those who have learned by experience, but it is not to say that Def1 is naïve to the scene and its inner workings. He has been around and seen artists come and go, and remains optimistic to how the scene is growing. “I think Channel U and 1Xtra open up the eyes of a lot of people. I’ve seen a lot of talent coming out of the UK. There’s a few people who aren’t really cutting it and a lot of people who are cutting it, but the scene looks prosperous really because a lot of people are trying and they know that they can’t come onto the scene half baked, they have to come properly with proper tracks. I think the talent looks big.”

Before becoming a hip hop emcee, Def1 worked in retail and had a stint as a postman, but his dedication to his art is commendable and it is that dedication he had when he began that has brought him to the position he is at today. “I would just make CDs. I brought tracks into my house, put them on CD, burn a few copies and just hand them out around the area. That’s the way I met Lossol actually. I was just looking for people who were doing work with emcees for The Loop, and Lossol had an advertisement in there and I just phoned them up, went up to the studio and it’s just been on from there. So I’ve always been on the look out for someone who can take my music further.”

Def1’s mix tape is due to hit the streets this February, and the buzz about his debut album is already alive. The response Def1 has received is nothing short of a shock when he is quite fresh out of college. “Yeah, I was surprised really because I didn’t expect how it was picked up and how they did pick it up and put it on their place and everything, so yeah, I was kind of surprised.”

As the hype continues, however, there won’t be any surprise for the listeners.

Look out for the singles ‘She Was’ and ‘Ey Ey’ out soon on Lossal Entertainment.