INTERVIEW:DUTCH NEWMAN@DEMENCHA.COM

www.demencha.com
Dutch Newman has become the end-all-be-all of social butterflies in the KC hip hop scene within the last two or three years. But as you’ll read in this interview that we did with him below, it’s not always easy being the Flying Dutchman. Lately he’s been hearing whispers from friends who believe that he simply, flat-out, performs too much in our small scene, and he’s been going through family issues (which Dutch does not go into detail about). About a week ago, we saw a bulletin he put on myspace that said something to the effect of “I’m done,” in regards to his rap career. I immediately called Dutch and asked him what was going on. He said that he couldn’t talk about it at the moment, and that he was about to catch a ride to Manhattan, KS to get away from it all. I told him I’d like to do an interview, to which he decided to take me up on, and thus never made it to Manhattan (plus, he’s been bugging me about doing an interview with him for a while). Instead, I swooped him up from his house on that Tuesday night, and we went to Karma where I let him vent for about a half hour. Here’s what he said…

DEMENCHA: Why were you going to bounce out of town today?

Dutch: I was just gonna go there because that’s my sanctuary. I don’t check my myspace, my phone. I just needed to get away for a little while. I’ve been under a lot of stress lately. I’ve been trying to do all these projects. And I’m doing too many shows. Me and D-Will really had a heart to heart and he (advised me to) just fall back and make people appreciate (what I do). And I feel like I’m not really being appreciated, as far as my presence. So I’m like, yea, maybe I should just dis-a-fuckin-pear for a while. And hopefully after I come back people will be like, “Where you been at? Oh, ok, we missed you!” So I just needed to get a little “me” time.

DEMENCHA: Do you think you do too many shows?

Dutch: Yea man, definitely. The reason I’ve been doing a lot of shows is because at the present time I don’t have a job. So the little money that I do get (from doing shows), I try to save it up for studio time. And if I could record for free, that would be awesome. I’ve gotten offers from a few people, so I wanna try them out. But I need to save my money so I can afford to go to a Chapman or a West End if I want to or need to. I know I’ve definitely been doing too many shows, though. This is a little selfish of me, but I’m very mic hungry. I’m not an attention-whore. I’m not. I’m not fiending for attention. I’m fiending for the feeling of when I grab onto the mic. And not even when everyone’s listening, just so I could get my voice heard. I’ve always been that way, where I just want to be heard. There’s times when I feel like I’m doing too many shows, but I love (doing shows). I love performing. As long as I’m on a mic, I feel unstoppable. So I like that feeling and I think it’s starting to become very addictive. That’s why I wanted to get out of the city. Because if I stay here, I’m gonna wanna go out to the Peanut or the Record Bar. Even if they’re not my shows, I’ll somehow find a way to get to perform. Even if I’m not getting paid. My friends in Manhattan know me by my real government name, there’s no Dutch Newman, I’m safe there.

DEMENCHA: How are things going with Soul Providers, now that you’re an official member?

Dutch: People have been asking me, “If you’re with Soul Providers, what are you with T.E.A.M.?” I’m still with T.E.A.M., I’m gonna always be ride-or-die for T.E.A.M and Godson and JL (and everyone). They got me in the scene. They put me down. I’m releasing my album through Xanadu Records. I look at it like this: with T.E.A.M., I’m under a label. Soul Providers is a collective, or a family, and if one person needs to be able to talk about something, they’re all there to help, and that’s what I love about them. Not to say I don’t have that with T.E.A.M., I just now have two families holding me down and I love that. I could fuckin call Reach or Godson at three in the morning and be like, “Hey bro, what’s up? I just wanted to talk. I’m going through some shit.” I love that about (both crews).

DEMENCHA: So what kind of shit is going on with you right now?

Dutch: Right now it’s a lot of pressure building. When the mixtape (”Food For Thought”) came out I was an unknown. Now I have somewhat of an expectation. I wanna do better than “Food For Thought.” “Food For Thought” was pretty good, but I can be a better MC. I can be a better storyteller. I look at all my peers like Les Izmore and D-Will and Reach and Stik Figa and Hozey-T and Godson as competition, but in a good way. I’m probably my biggest critic. (I’m going through) a lot of family shit, too. And now there’s pressure with being a Soul Provider. Now I’m in uncharted territory. It’s like 90% nervous, 10% anxious. Me and DR.T are doing a project that I want to hopefully knock out next week. We both have this EP we’re doing and it’s gonna be the shit. It’s got Stik Figa on it, Godson, Sangreal Nation. It’s gonna be a little bit to the left, but I like that about it. And I got the other EP me and my boy King Real are doing called “Quantum Leap.” I’m also working on the Soul Providers album. And I’m still working on my album. And I’m still trying to holler at producers, and I’m trying to make sure I have a solid list of heavy hitters that I can have at my disposal. I have respect from everybody but now I just want to build on it. I want to build off the recognition of what I’ve been doing. As much as I think I’m doing, I ain’t did shit yet. So now it’s crunch time. I’m also helping out younger artists who want to be out there. I’m kinda playing a big brother/mentor role with them. Same way Godson has bee doing with me. I’ve put him through a lot of shit as an artist. But it’s good that he keeps me motivated to keep moving.

DEMENCHA: Do you think you could do A) possibly make more money and/or B) do more for the scene by focusing more on promoting?

Dutch: Well that’s funny because I find myself putting more of a promoter hat on. Now I see a lot of the trouble that (local promoters) go through. You could get all those asses in that venue, but to make that venue hot and make people want to come back to the next one, it’s a bitch. It’s a matter of who you get and who has a fan base. Not to sound egotistical but I just booked a show with my boy Joe Cool, King Real and Sangreal Nation. They’re all good, but they’re all new. When I had them on the bill, I couldn’t believe how many people they brought with them. Sangreal Nation is more socially conscious. King Real is more street based. And Joe Cool spits for just the average Joe. There are certain shows that I feel are not properly promoted. And if I was to put that promoter hat on, I think they would be. Soul Providers, for instance, have put me in charge of the street team. And I feel like that’s a hefty responsibility. Plus I got promoter friends, Billy Truelove, John Davis. Billy is more for the high class, Power and Light District crowd and John will get the more urban element to come out. I want to make money. Anyone that tells you they’re not in this to make money, they’re fuckin lying to you. Because they got families, (etc.). But I wouldn’t sell my soul to any CEO for any x amount of dollars. I will keep my creative control and my artistic integrity. I will not have crank that fuckin’ flying squirrel as my hit single, you know. It’s just a matter of who you know.

DEMENCHA: Why are you so big on myspace?

Dutch: (Laughs). I trick people. I’m a trickster. I took a picture with me, Acetone, and Mac Lethal. You want to know how many new friend requests I got, just off of the picture with Mac Lethal?! “Oh my God, you know Mac Lethal?” This girl in Wisconsin added me and was like, “I will buy your CD.” Pay Pal it up all fuckin day. I said, “Wow.” This kid who knows XV and Seven, hit me up a couple days ago asking how much do I charge for a verse. I mean as far as my myspace hustle, it’s good but it could always get better. I didn’t mean to be this, but apparently in Kansas City I’m the fucking party leeazon (sp?). I don’t know how this happened, but I know I’m out a lot. But that does not make me the ambassador of the party scene in Kansas City.

DEMENCHA: Someone once said that in most cities, there’s more DJs than there are rappers. But it’s the opposite in Kansas City. What do you think about that?

Dutch: I think Kansas and Missouri combined have more rappers than anywhere in the world. I’ve lost count how many rappers there are in this city. Like, fuck, I think there’s a couple Dutch’s in this fuckin city. There’s certainly more rappers. It’s getting fuckin disgusting.