Interview: Really Doe (9/10/09)

Really Doe was forced to grow up quick, having lost his father at the age of 9, and getting caught up in Chicago’s gang life shortly after.

Luckily for Really Doe, his good friend GLC shared his dream of wanting more from life than what the streets had to offer. Through a mutual friend, these two eventually met up with another ambitious Chicago youth, Kanye West, and in the mid 90’s formed the group, the Go Getters.

The group started building a name for themselves in Chicago’s hip hop scene, and eventually Kanye West’s production skills landed him a deal at Roc-A-Fella Records.  Upon receiving his deal, Kanye promised to one day help Really Doe and GLC advance their careers.

Kanye made good on his promise in 2005,  when he signed Really Doe to his G.O.O.D. Music label, and added the performer as the opening act on the College Dropout Tour.

The tour’s success lead to Kanye’s sophomore album, Late Registration, where Really Doe appeared on the track “We Major,” both performing the hook and ghostwriting Nas’ verse.  Can you imagine ghost writing for God’s Son!?

Listen to Really Doe kill the hook below:

Being featured on this track really helped to increase his exposure, which eventually lead to a demand for a solo album.  Really Doe released this debut album on August 18th, through Kanye West’s marketing director, Griffin Guess’ Cartel Records.

HipHopAtLunch.com sat down with Really Doe before the listening event surrounding his First Impressions album, to talk about his music and to get a better glimpse into his personality!

Really Doe has put in his fair share of work, patiently waiting for the right time to come onto the hip hop scene as a major solo artist. Wisely, Really Doe used this time to  learn from all the industry greats surrounding him and his G.O.O.D. Music family.

However, there is a lot more to Really Doe than just his music, and if you too are interested in zoology or just want to talk to him about your pets hit him up on Twitter:@ReallyDoeChi.  Let him know what you think about First Impressions and the interview!

After our interview, Really Doe took the stage and performed a number of tracks off of his recent release.  Wasting no time, he jumped into the first track from the album, “Sew It Up.”

Really Doe displays some of his lyrical side on this track with lines such as:

“This is more than a nigga with a chain,
Size up my life, I’ll show you hunger pains,
I breath success, it flow through my veins,
You niggas lucked up, and found lose change,
I throw it out the window, play feed the bums.”

Another stand out performance was the track, “Million Dolla.”

This is the best song with the word “million” in the title that I’ve heard since Maino’s “Million Bucks!”  Pay attention to Really Doe’s explanation of the lyrics at the end of the video, it really adds to the song’s overall feel.

Eventually Really Doe performed his hit single, “Mesmerized.”  The official video for Mesmerized can be seen below, and if you are interested in watching the live performance click here.

When filming the music video, Really Doe made Mesmerized stand out, giving it more of a cinematic feel than your everyday hip hop music video.  Here is some behind the scenes footage.  As you can tell from the video, this song appeals to a wide demographic of music fans.

Enjoying the success of his debut album, Really Doe will be touring with Kanye West and Lady Gaga this fall, as well as headlining the 15th Annual Music Fest and Fireworks Extravaganza in San Francisco.  He’ll also be making an appearance on the Jimmy Kimmel show on October 16th.

Keep an eye out for this artist, because you don’t want to miss your chance to see Really Doe perform live when he comes to your city!