These guys have performed around the world. I got a chance to meet with them and talk to them about their upcoming projects. Ill-Literacy really impressed me with how professional they were with everything. They are working with their own sound and trying to breathe fresh music to our ears. Good luck with the rest of your tour fellas and look for upcoming things with IM KING and Ill-Literacy.

Beef Stew:How did the group get it's start?

N.I.C: The three of us were all born in the same hospital with natal teeth
(full sets of teeth), and our parents met through an infantile dental
program that was provided for babies like us. It's a condition that occurs
with one in every 2,000 babies...the hospital is huge, and we were the
"lucky" ones!

Dahlak: Yeah we're some special mothafuckers.

Drizzletron: Touche, Dahlak, touche.  Our parents went their separate ways,
but always stayed kinda connected.  We ended up reconnecting through the
spoken word scene when we were all in college...must've been the WISDOM
teeth hah!

Beef Stew:Where do you guys originate from and how has the response been to your
material?

N.I.C: Dahlak's from Africa.

Dahlak: I AM from Africa, biatch!  But really, I was born in Houston.
Raised in California my whole life.

Drizzletron: Yeah we're all California raised.  Like those raisins.
California Raisins.  It's funny, we get booked everywhere BUT California.
Mostly in the East Coast and Midwest, and the South's been warming up to us.
Cali never wants to pay us.  It must be the teeth thing.

Dahlak: The response has been sometimes laughter, sometimes enlightenment,
sometimes it's an Asian dude asking me, "What's the most confusing day for a
black guy?  Father's Day." *shakes head*

Beef Stew:Has there been any difficulties making your mark as a spoken word group?

Dahlak: No.

N.I.C: Yes.  See, it's like this.  Dahlak likes chicken.  Adriel likes
komboucha.  I like rom-coms.  If you put that together, it makes for an
untraditional blend.  And what people expect from "slam poetry" is not
exactly what we give.  Cuz we do us.  Feel me.

Drizzletron: I think what Nico is trying to muster up from his
incomprehensible way of explaining things is that spoken word's already an
obscure artform to a lot of people, and we approach spoken word from an
obscure angle.  So our fanbase hasn't always been comprised of the same
group of people who are normally into spoken word.  We get a lot of
responses like "I don't normally like spoken word, but I fucks with ya." And
at the same time, if you were to go to, like, the poetry slam championships
or something and mention Dahlak's name, chances are they would think that
you were cussing them out in Vietnamese.



Beef Stew:What do you love most about your craft?

N.I.C: Talking to people.

Dahlak: I like that people get together to talk.  That in this world of
technology, people still get together to talk.

Drizzletron: In the end, that's really what it's about.  Entertaining people
and captivating them in a way that will make them want to continue the
discussion even after the show, or after hearing a track.  Worldwide
dialogue, baby!

Beef Stew:How would you classify your fashion sense, were does it come from?

Drizzletron: I live with a seven year old...and he matches more than I do.
So wherever he's getting his fashion sense from, I get the leftovers.

Dahlak: I aim to be timeless and universal.  Most of the time, it's time
sensitive and independent.

N.I.C: That didn't even make sense.  But I would define my fashion sense as
generally poor.  It comes from trying to follow Kanye, and being broke.

Beef Stew:Speaking of fashion what is your favorite piece from the IM-KING collection?

Dahlak & N.I.C.: That purple jacket

Drizzletron: I'm diggin my Heist shirt.



Beef Stew:How was your meet with the IM-KING family?

Drizzletron: Hella fresh!  It's always great to meet people who are
interested in imagining art in new ways, and y'all definitely do that.  I
feel like nowadays art is so much about the self-hustle that
cross-inspiration suffers.  But when people who are open intersect, it's
magic.

Beef Stew:Where would you like to see your music in the next couple of years?

Dahlak: Honestly, I just wanna get better.  Music to me is about progressing
as a person...to be more articulate, to be better equipped, to conjure
emotions by the music I make.  I want people to see my development and my
growth...for people to appreciate my music, and then look back and say, "he
was even good back then, and I see how he got where he is now."

Drizzletron: If by a few years, you mean a few centuries, I'm tryna have my
music in the same songbook that "London Bridge is Falling Down" is in.  It's
gonna be like, "Mary Had a Little Lamb," "London Bridge is Falling Down" and
"Gentleman's Kool Aid".  I want to make music that captures the moment, and
defines our culture.

N.I.C: Yea.  Ditto to both.  I'd also say, if everything went my way, Miley
Cyrus' iPod.    

Beef Stew:Who have you not worked with that you would like to?

Drizzletron: Outkast.  Bjork.  Feist.  Ebony Bones.  People who reimagine
genres, and redefine music...who create sound.

Dahlak:  Stevie Wonder, Kanye West, Jay-Z...the list goes on.  What I want
more tho, is them to wanna work with me.

N.I.C:  Yes.  While we're dreaming, man, hella folks.  Esthero.  Kurupt.
Outkast and Jay-Z again.  Evanescence.  The list does go on.  and on.

 

Beef Stew:I've been to one of your shows and it's completely mind blowing where does
the energy come from?

N.I.C: Redbull...sometimes Jameson.

Drizzletron: We're not really creating energy...People see us at shows
right, and sometimes they're reminded of their childhood.  Like you know how
kids can run around for hours and shit and not get tired...so it's less of
us getting energy and more of us not allowing the wackness of adult life to
take away the shit we were born with...that natural electricity feel it.

Dahlak:  You gotta understand.  We do the same set over and over again...at
least for the particular tour we're on at the time.  In order to make it new
to the audience every time, it's gotta be new to us, it's gotta be fresh to
us.  So we gotta inject it with that energy.  I think that's where the
energy comes from, attempting to make it new to us every time.  We also
drink Redbull.

Beef Stew:What most do you want people to know about iLL-Literacy?

Dahlak:  That there's a complex underlying theory that guides our work.
It's a philosophy that we have built (and are continuing to build) through
years of discourse and relentless questioning.   I believe it will become
more and more evident as we progress as a group and as individual artists.

N.I.C.:  Two things.  One, it's not for show.   And two, we like reading and
drinking.  Sometimes doing both at the same time.  And when making music,
there ain't nothing wrong with that.
 
Beef Stew:What can we expect from iLL-Literacy in the future?

N.I.C.:  Lego heads...it'll all make sense soon.

Dahlak:  A good show.  A great message.  Beautiful music.  And hopefully
more fans.

Drizzletron:  A brand new way of thinking about entertainment.  Our goal is
to make you see like you have never seen, hear like you have never heard,
and funk like you have never funked.



Download Link: Dahlak ft. N.I.C. - Never Know