Q&A With Rising Underground Hip Hop Group Dezert Eez

We are extremely excited to have featured your latest album “Late Night Cognac Sessions”, being a Hip Hop group we never of heard before this, please tell us who is Dezert Eez? Where are you guys from? How/When did the group start making Hip Hop?

Dezert Eez is a 3 man group that formed at Western Michigan University. Nivek is originally from Chicago, Ron O’Nill is from Flint and 5-Star is originally from California. We are all children of the so called Golden era of Hiphop. We used to hoop together and kick it at the same functions and after house parties and kicking it at the clubs we always found ourselves in the same freestyle ciphers on the same vibe. We probably got serious about doing something though in the early 2000’s.

We notice your styles is really Boom-Bap driven with a cutting edge twist, let us know how your style if different than all the rap groups out there!

As far as our style goes we’re definitely focused on lyrics! It’s all about the lyrics 1st. From there, the music selection is unique because we all have different influences. Onill is more of the old school music cat, Nivek is heavy into the 90’s East Coast Hiphop sound and I just add that soul to it. That’s how you get that gumbo do to speak. What’s makes us really different tho is the fact we’re all from different places. A lot of groups usually are all from the same city or state whether it’s NY, Atlanta or wherever.

How often do you perform as a group? Are you touring this 2019 year?

We used to perform a lot! We used to do mini tours with cats like Elzhi, Bronze Nazareth, Kool Keith and Inspectah Deck. We also did a lot of one offs with One Be Lo, Blackmilk, KRS-1 and cats that came through the Midwest. These days we focus more on recording. But we should be back out on the road later this year.

Let us know about the creative process behind your new album “Late Night Cognac Sessions”?

We usually lay out a blueprint of how we want to attack each project. Concept wise, sonically as well as a theme. For LNCS it was all about bringing hard lyrics over melodic, soulful beats. We felt the contrast would be dope and it came out just as we had hoped. 1st we hit up producers and tell them the sound we’re looking for. From there we see which beats flow together. The sound felt grown and mature.. Late Night Cognac Sessions.

Where do you see yourselves in 5yrs?

In 5 years we hope to evolve as artists. Maybe jump into a band and conquer that element. Continue to do a few shows from time to time and rock mics. Also get behind the scenes. Help discover and guide up and coming indie artists. Maybe jump into the film side of things. We’re all so creative so as long as we’re doing something like that we’ll be good.

When are guys planning on dropping another project in 2019?

We’re currently in the writing process for a new project that’s hopefully due out sometime around the fall. It’ll be available exclusively on vinyl and we’ll add a download card or introduce it to the digital platforms eventually. We’re joining forces with a crew we’ve been down with since day 1 for this one. It’ll be like a Heiro or De la Soul meets Tribe type of effort.

Are there any Hip Hop influences you have in the underground game that is based in your city?

Not really. A lot of artists in our area look at us as the standard. We’ve toured overseas, collaborated musically with Hiphop legends like Inspectah Deck, Talib Kweli, Killah Priest, Keith Murray, Dead Prez, Skyzoo and many more. Hopefully groups will say Dezert Eez when asked that question.

How does social media playing a role in your success? How are fans/supporters helping your movement?

Social Media is huge! That’s currently the landscape for all artists not just indie artists. We grew out Facebook page to 5000 friends/fans. We run campaigns on SoundCloud, we try to be active on IG and Twitter but we definitely have to increase our presence. Our fans share our links and music a lot. We can see the impressions on our bandcamp page as far as where people are finding us and listening.

With this being an underground hip hop site, we always ask this important question. What is your definition of “underground hip hop”?

I think so called underground Hiphop is something that’s not commercial. It’s Music that is not being played on mainstream outlets all day everyday. It’s got its own vibe. It’s got its own energy and feeling. It’s super creative and raw.

Any shout outs?

Shout out to Inspectah Deck for the game he gave us and the support. He definitely gave us jewels on how to carve out our own lane and make it as a indie artists.