Dope D.O.D. is back and things are about to get Ugly! After long break (an unprecedented 3 months!), Dope D.O.D. is ready to get down and dirty once again.

Your favourite rappers that you love to hate had already broken new ground with their ‘Master Xploder’ tape, but with their latest EP, ‘The Ugly EP’, the boys from Groningen prove that they have a wide range of different styles to offer. ‘The sound of your music changes over time,’ Jay Reaper explains. ‘We’ve experienced a lot during four years of intensive touring, and our inspiration comes from all over the place.’ When Dope D.O.D. exploded onto/into the scene with a new sound in 2011, fans across the world raved about the group who certainly didn’t mince their words in a rap scene that had become quite tame. The group’s motto has always been to make music that you haven’t heard from them before. ‘It’s a bit like a snake. A snake looses its skin when the old one doesn’t fit anymore. Dope D.O.D. has ripped off the old jacket and replaced it with new, shiny armour.’ For the group this means that it could break new ground by working together with producers that they had never worked with before. The producers too were challenged to rise to the occasion. Like the drum‘n’bass collective, Black Sun Empire. ‘We loved their tracks and felt that they suited us perfectly sound-wise, but they had never made hip hop tracks before. When they sent us ‘Boiling Point’ as a first taste of what they could do, it turned out that our gut feel was spot on. Those who had had a preview said it was their favourite so far,’says Dopey Rotten.

Posij, (the drum ’n bass child prodigy from Groningen) had already made tracks with the group. Skits Vicious: ‘We asked Frank (Posij) to make a remix of the track ‘Ridiculous’ from the ‘Master Xploder’ tape and he came up with an awesome beat, a really great banger. We were at a Redman show where we played the track for him and he wanted in straight away. That inspired us to come up with a whole new version of the track and that’s how ‘Ridiculous II’ came about.

Posij also provided the beat for ‘Trapazoid’. The title of the track alludes to trap music, which is huge these days. Once again this track proves that Dope D.O.D. give things their own twist. ‘People often ask us whether we adapt to fit in with things. Not so. We make the music that feels right … the trademark Dope D.O.D. sound will always be there’.

Another track that originated from a remix collaboration is ‘Dirt Dogs’. During a show in St. Petersburg the group met the Russian trap producer, Oiki. He was keen to make a remix of one of our songs. ‘We asked whether he had more beats and he sent us the beat for ‘Dirt Dogs’. Without doubt it’s one of the most polished on the album and one that is guaranteed to get things going at festivals’. We have made a deal with Twan van Steenhoven (The Opposites, the Dutch multi-platinum selling Hip Hop act) to get together some time in our studio. After bumping into each other a lot at festivals and having mutual respect for the music that we make, the time was ripe. Twan made the journey to Groningen with only a laptop and a cool concept. ‘The chemistry between us was so great that we by the end of the day we had virtually finished ‘Under Control’. Shout out Big2 for this one!’ It goes without saying that Dope D.O.D.’s usual producer P. Songolo is not missing on the EP. He’s responsible for the title track and sticks to the sound that Dope D.O.D. originally made their name with. The production is raw and minimalistic with a heavy electronic edge. The perfect intro for the tape. But P, too, has refined his technique and expanded his musical horizon. It all sounds pretty good. Well, maybe not pretty … As we said: ‘Things are about to get ugly!’

https://play.spotify.com/album/1hVmn2LBW5SkGLqqK8tlEJ?play=true&utm_source=open.spotify.com&utm_medium=open