arts and entertainment magazine

Dip Diver: Making Waves and Paying Homage to Hip Hop

 

Dip Diver: Making Waves and Paying Homage to Hip Hop

Interview By Leslie Cunningham

I hope you can swim or at least back stroke, because this article is meant to be read under water. I am seriously excited about Dip Diver, a peculiarly masked Chicago duo making waves in the underground scene with beats and rhymes that pay homage to some of the big Hip Hop fish. I’ve known Dialo Askia as a talented music journalist who has in the past added some dope words to the pages of TRIBES. In one feature article, he wrote about Nowenen, the genius behind This Day Amine. So, when Dialo and Nowenen decided to come together to create Agua Lung, I couldn’t wait to listen and learn more.

Dip Diver

 

TRIBES: What is the meaning of the name “Dip Diver”?

Nowenen: We come from freshness and always being dipped in Lo, Woolrich, Wally’s, Diadora, Bjorn Borg, Fila, etc.  But we also come from having knowledge of self, being right and exact studying math, science, man, woman and child, etc. The term dip dive dates back to the song Superrappin’ by Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five, and that term has moved on from Puba and Lakim Shabazz to Organized Konfusion to Wu Tang.

TRIBES: How did Dip Diver get started?

Dialo Askia: Nowenen and I have been writing verses for years, though not concentrating on rapping. He suggested we do an album. To do it properly we had to craft our own sound to be sufficiently in our own lane. We created our first CD with the intention of no one outside of ourselves and immediate circle hearing it. It made its way outside those boundaries and the consensus was “do another one!”

TRIBES: How is the Dip Diver sound created?

Dialo Askia: There is no set structure. Sometimes Nowenen and I brainstorm ideas to come up with concepts. Sometimes we come up with ideas individually and present to the other. We work on the music together. If one of us loves a track and the other is on the fence, we don’t use it.  If we aren’t both like “That’s it!” we move on. Most interesting is how we write. We never write together, but still seem to stay on the same page. We often times reference the same things in a song. For example, “Deen” is a song where we’re each conversing with a woman. Somehow we both reference gluten-free. We’re in sync.

TRIBES: What was happening in your life that inspired the tracks on “aqua lung?”

Dialo Askia: Everything and anything. Inspiration came from everywhere at all times. I was having breakfast on vacation saying a rhyme about the food. It made the album.

Nowenen:  When we went to record, my mother had passed away, and in my sorrow for her absence, I was thinking, “Wow, she won’t be able to witness this freshness.”  Read the full interview now in the Spring 2017 Issue # 37. 

Visit dipdiver.bandcamp.com.

SHELLY B. – The Queen of North Carolina Hip Hop

Women’s History Month 2012 – Cover Story

ON HER DIVA

Exclusive interview with TRIBES Magazine

By Gabriel Rich

Photos by Emanuel Cole

SHELLY B is not one  to take her work as a  Hip Hop emcee lightly. The Raleigh native has worked far too hard to gain her status as a pioneer in both the Triangle Hip Hop scene and nationally. Strong, dedicated to her   craft and on a mission, Shelly B.’s versatility is what sets her apart from the rest of the pack. You have rappers that can entertain but aren’t lyricist and there are wordsmiths that can fashion a rhyme but can’t entertain. Neither is a problem for Shelly B. She’s more than capable of giving you something for both your mind and your body and it shouldn’t surprise anyone that knows her. After all, Shelly B’s been in the game long enough to know about pleasing fans.

Shelly B. represents a number of firsts for female rappers in North Carolina.  She was the first female rapper from the state to be featured in the Source Magazine’s “Unsigned Hype.” Shelly B. was also the first female artist to make it on Allhiphop.com’s “Breeding Ground” section.  The winner of numerous awards in her home state, Shelly B. is a leader in NC Hip Hop and a leader among Indie artists on the Hip Hop scene. Challenge her to a battle and she’ll clean her claws on you just to let you know why she is who she is. TRIBES Magazine interviewed Shelly B during her photo shoot for the TRIBES Magazine Spring 2012 Women in Hip Hop edition.

TRIBES: You’ve made a name for yourself in the Triangle and beyond.  How are you being received now?

SHELLY B: I think I’ve always gotten love from this area.  It was a little tough when I first started, because at that point in time, the idea of a female emcee was foreign to the entire industry, let alone
 the local industry.  There weren’t very many females in this area grinding and going to the studio.  So in the beginning, I had to fight for my respect; for a couple of years.  But when I started putting myself out there, I had that determination to be known and make sure everybody knew who Shelly B was.  I started doing every talent show and open mic I could find.

I started calling up promoters. I called the radio station until they put me on.  I got my actual start on the Larry Pickett Show, which was like a local talent show that was on TV in the Raleigh area.
That’s where a lot of people know me from. So I always say that’s where I got my start.  After I made my appearance on that show, I started getting my name out there and the respect just grew.

TRIBES: How would you rate the Hip Hop scene in the Triangle and the Carolinas?

SHELLY B: I think with anything, growth is going to get it where it needs to be, to its ultimate destination. There definitely needs to be more growth and a bit more unity here but the talent here is out of this world as far as singers, rappers, producers…just entertainment professionals, period.  This is one of the most talented markets that I know of.  I think that with people getting a bit more in touch with the business side of it, coming together, unity and all that good stuff, we’ll be alright.  But we’re getting there.  Carolina’s got next…No. We got now!  [laughs] READ MORE NOW.

SHELLY B. – The Queen of North Carolina Hip Hop

Women’s History Month 2012 – Cover Story

ON HER DIVA

Exclusive interview with TRIBES Magazine

By Gabriel Rich

Photos by Emanuel Cole

SHELLY B is not one  to take her work as a  Hip Hop emcee lightly. The Raleigh native has worked far too hard to gain her status as a pioneer in both the Triangle Hip Hop scene and nationally. Strong, dedicated to her   craft and on a mission, Shelly B.’s versatility is what sets her apart from the rest of the pack. You have rappers that can entertain but aren’t lyricist and there are wordsmiths that can fashion a rhyme but can’t entertain. Neither is a problem for Shelly B. She’s more than capable of giving you something for both your mind and your body and it shouldn’t surprise anyone that knows her. After all, Shelly B’s been in the game long enough to know about pleasing fans.

Shelly B. represents a number of firsts for female rappers in North Carolina.  She was the first female rapper from the state to be featured in the Source Magazine’s “Unsigned Hype.” Shelly B. was also the first female artist to make it on Allhiphop.com’s “Breeding Ground” section.  The winner of numerous awards in her home state, Shelly B. is a leader in NC Hip Hop and a leader among Indie artists on the Hip Hop scene. Challenge her to a battle and she’ll clean her claws on you just to let you know why she is who she is. TRIBES Magazine interviewed Shelly B during her photo shoot for the TRIBES Magazine Spring 2012 Women in Hip Hop edition.

TRIBES: You’ve made a name for yourself in the Triangle and beyond.  How are you being received now?

SHELLY B: I think I’ve always gotten love from this area.  It was a little tough when I first started, because at that point in time, the idea of a female emcee was foreign to the entire industry, let alone
 the local industry.  There weren’t very many females in this area grinding and going to the studio.  So in the beginning, I had to fight for my respect; for a couple of years.  But when I started putting myself out there, I had that determination to be known and make sure everybody knew who Shelly B was.  I started doing every talent show and open mic I could find.

I started calling up promoters. I called the radio station until they put me on.  I got my actual start on the Larry Pickett Show, which was like a local talent show that was on TV in the Raleigh area.
That’s where a lot of people know me from. So I always say that’s where I got my start.  After I made my appearance on that show, I started getting my name out there and the respect just grew.

TRIBES: How would you rate the Hip Hop scene in the Triangle and the Carolinas?

SHELLY B: I think with anything, growth is going to get it where it needs to be, to its ultimate destination. There definitely needs to be more growth and a bit more unity here but the talent here is out of this world as far as singers, rappers, producers…just entertainment professionals, period.  This is one of the most talented markets that I know of.  I think that with people getting a bit more in touch with the business side of it, coming together, unity and all that good stuff, we’ll be alright.  But we’re getting there.  Carolina’s got next…No. We got now!  [laughs] READ MORE NOW.