Young Einstein, Dizzy and Andy A.K.A Ugly Duckling came together in 1993, at the height of the G-Funk era. Led by Dre and Snoop, UD's native Long Beach conquered the International rap scene with hit after hit. Ugly Duckling weren't about to become the next gangster sensation, so they cut against the grain, setting out to take Hip Hop back to its positive roots.
Back in '97, they released an independent 12" single 'Fresh Mode', establishing themselves on the underground hip hop circuit. 'Fresh Mode' also landed the crew a deal with 1500 Records which resulted in a debut EP, of the same name, released in 1999.The 'Fresh Mode EP', released in the UK by Bad Magic, earnt the crew an instant cult status, especially amongst European Hip Hop heads who've always held the old school era in high regard, no matter what was happening in the mainstream.
Two years on, Ugly Duckling have released their debut album, 'Journey To Anywhere' on 1500 in the US. Now, XL recordings are about to issue the album in the UK and Elusive Styles caught up with Young Einstein and Dizzy to bring you a funky-fresh interview with Long Beach's finest.
Can you let us know what your individual roles are in the crew?
Young Einstein: I am the beat person/ DJ person.
Dizzy: Emcee, Master of Ceremony.
I heard Fresh Mode, your debut EP and you've got a new album coming out which is already available on Import in the UK called Journey to anywhere on XL records, could you tell us a bit about it?
YE: Basically, we did the EP to introduce ourselves more to generally underground Hip Hop audiences and now with the album we've tried to like simplify a lot of topics into things that people who don't even necessarily listen to Hip Hop can like relate to, while keeping the same flavor, of course.
D: Basically, we just broadened the spectrum with the new album, it's why it's called 'Journey to anywhere' and as far as being an import, I'm sorry it costs so much... so I would advise everybody just to wait 'til it comes out in about in a month and a half, pick it up then.
Pick it up on British release, yeah...
YE: Yeah, April 30th
What's your favourite track on the album?
YE: My favourite track is the one that's about me, 'Eye on the gold chain'.
You're the infamous gold Chain geezer, right?
YE: Exactly, I'll give it a little shake for you [rattle, rattle...]
Oh my god, serious rope chain business, what's that all about then?
YE: Just trying to maintain a tradition.
Who really inspired you to make Hip Hop?
YE: My influences are like Marley Marl, DJ Premier and DR Dre...
D: Dr Dre??
YE: Old stuff, Old stuff
D: Oh, okay
What about you then Dizzy?
D: As far as lyrics are concerned, I like Special ED, Slick Rick, EPMD, Gangstarr, Beatnuts, so it kinda broadens out, I kinda like a lot of people.
Basically late 80's and early 90's type Hip Hop by Native Tongues and stuff like that. That's what really got me into the whole Hip Hop scene.
And how did all of you hook up?
D: Basically, we just all met through mutual friends, we were all in different groups at one time and just being the only white person in each group...
YE: [Giggles] Yeah
D: And at the time, we were doing music, everyone just jumped onto the G-Funk train and everybody started doing Gangsta Rap...
'Cause you're from Long Beach, yeah?
D: Definitely, the G-Funk Capital. Basically, through cosmic forces we just like came together through everything fresh, we still loved this type of Hip Hop regardless of what was big in Long Beach.
And what about forthcoming projects, anything else in the pipeline after the album drops?
YE: Naah, we're probably just gonna work on the new record, I mean we're pretty much just focusing on our record in the UK at the moment. We've got the 'Eye on the gold chain' single coming out in about two weeks. There's also gonna be an 'Eye on the gold chain' Cut Chemist remix and then shortly thereafter we're gonna be working on 'Just a little Samba', trying to push that to radio...
What other cities are you visiting on the tour?
D: We got Germany coming up, we got Sweden coming up, basically I have no idea, I just wake up and I'm in a city and I go what city am I in?
YE: Actually, another thing too, we're gonna be in Cardiff in a few days and the B-side to our new single is called 'Cardiff' beacause that's pretty much the city that's welcomed us the most, that we've ever played in on earth.
D: I mean, it's titled 'Cardiff' but we talk about a lot of other cities that gave us the same mutual love. It's about touring and getting a good response and you know, positive vibes from cities we've been at so we just decided to give something back on the B-side, basically it's just a thank you...
Ugly Duckling's new album, 'Journey To Anywhere' is released in the UK on 30th April by XL.