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Small World: Kyle Young is D-Funk. Photo by Cedar Lampe |
CommentsD-Funk Brings Emotion to the Rap Table
By Jakcie VarrianoPublished: March 11, 2010
Truckee may not be known as a hot bed for hip-hop artists, but 22-year-old Kyle Young (his name if you see him on the streets; D-Funk if you bumpin’ sheets), is a man with a head full of lyrics, a childhood nickname just as good as Jay-Z or T.I., and a degree in recording engineering from Musicians Institute in Los Angeles. His first full-length album, “Abstract Aura,” was released Jan. 23, an effort that took the Funk eight months to record and produce in his little cabin up in Cottonwood, Truckee.
The 10-song disc is a mélange of highly polished beats with humorous and light-hearted though elementary lyrics. D-Funk’s formal training really shines through on every track, and while it may be considered wishful thinking to hope for mature, well-placed lyrics from such a youngster, you can’t blame the boy for trying. After sitting down with the surprisingly mellow and soft-spoken “Gossip Stopper” (as he names himself in a song), I have nothing but high hopes for future growth from the lyricist, who is rumored to have been keeping notebooks of thoughts for the better part of a decade.
Moonshine Ink: How long have you been writing?
D-Funk: Since 18 probably, it was when I really got into writing — first I would freestyle, but 18 was when I got a pen and pad and started writing it down.
MI: Where does it all come from?
DF: Experiences. I can’t say where exactly it comes from, but I take a little bit from my day-to-day life, a lot from my childhood, a lot of things that happened to me then, things I go through every day. I would say it is emotional music … it comes from the heart. I don’t like the emo tag, but I do need to have it on there, because it is emotional rap.
MI: Are you rap or hip hop?
DF: It’s a weird blend. It’s hip-hop rap. My new album, shooting for July [release] — this one has a lot more rock influence. Musicians Institute was a primarily a rock school, and I’m just putting that into my stuff. It will be more rock lyrical, a little bit emotional. We’ll see where it goes.
MI: What do you think about stereotypical hip hop?
DF: Well, let’s put it this way — there are fake rappers, and they aren’t writing anything I want to hear; they have no message other than violence, sex, and drugs. It gets old after a while.
MI: Do you think it’s difficult to have a deep message in hip hop?
DF: I think nowadays it is. It’s hard to make money off of having that deep message, you know. It takes some people 20 times to figure out what I’m talking about in songs, where they see it on MTV and it’s pretty obvious what they’re talking about, you know? So, it’s definitely harder to sell, but I think in the long run that it pays off more, because people respect that more because it makes [them] think.
MI: With your next album, has your songwriting progressed at all? Do you feel you’ve changed?
DF: Oh yeah. Like I was saying with the rock influences, [and] I have more time for this album, I can put more time and effort into it, buy more gear for it. I think this one will definitely be a lot better. I have my little brother doing a lot of guitar tracks on it, too. He’s a little bad-ass guitar player.
In addition to his brother Jesse Wright, D-Funk has plans for a few surprise guests on his next album, but he’s not naming any names yet. He is realistic about the Truckee hip-hop scene, noting, “I would love to run it from Tahoe; I don’t know if I can. If I have to move back to LA, I’ll move to LA, if I have to move to San Francisco, I’ll move to San Francisco, but as of right now I would love to stay up here and run it. We don’t have a hip-hop scene. I think a lot of people think, when you tell them you are from Tahoe, they think it’s a joke. You definitely have to earn your respect coming from up here. If I make it, I’m a little white kid from Tahoe that made it. You never know, there’s hidden talent up here. They just need to be pushed, and someone can show them that it is possible to make it up here. You just have to try hard.”
With his rock solid work/rap ethic, and plans for a second album in under a year, D-Funk is on the right track to making himself heard. Check him out on iTunes, bandcamp.com, and myspace for a taste of the Funk and his brand of Truckee tunes.
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