Click to listen to Trackdirtyaz-Flippin

By: Adam Grant

"At first, our mission was titled 'hip hop is dead,'" boldly states Trackdirtyaz's guitarist and vocalist Fitz Dvyne when describing the circumstances in which The Sun House EP was made under.  "Hip hop is dead to us, but we're old enough to know that and say that and for that to be our truth. 

 With such a theory in hand, this 5-piece Toronto act isn't your typical hip-hop/rock collective.  Yes, their roots have been heavily influenced by the genre of music in which they proclaim as "dead," but they tend to look elsewhere for their real inspiration.  Comprised of Nitemayr (vocals), LDP (vocals), Mobster (bass), Slay Stalkaz (drums, vocals, programming), and Dvyne, Trackdirtyaz's first recordings date back to 1994, but it wasn't until 2000 that they had decided to pick up instruments typically found within a rock show or album.

 Unfortunately, that was about the same time that the modern day rap/rock trend had hit the mainstream with the force of a speeding Mustang colliding with a light pole.  Bands like Limp Bizkit, Korn and several other imitators were all the rage, and started making a relatively credible format arguably started by Run DMC and Aerosmith or The Beastie Boys look and sound like a laughing stock.

 In order to turn the tide a little, Trackdirtyaz have decided to roll the records back a bit and give this musical generation an important history lesson as to where black music, not just hip-hop or rock came from - the blues. 

"Kids are coming up now and they're looking at the guy that blew up two years ago - the quickest reference.  So being that we're educated musically and we're intelligent people, why not do this for the kids?" Asks Dvyne.  "Why not do something that people might look at as obscure, but at the same time is really bringing back the element of, 'okay, yeah, you can DJ, you can get an SP 1200 and make two beats, but how about picking up some drumsticks?'

"There's this whole stigma with black music and the black generation that's getting into music and thinking, 'oh, that's white boy shit,'" he adds.  "But it is like, 'where did it come from?'  You've got to keep (looking) back - Eminem got it from somewhere, Elvis Presley got it from somewhere - why do we have to create something then leave it alone?"

 The study tool for this lesson is the previously mentioned Son House EP.  No, this particular house isn't a place of inspiration for the band; it is in fact a historical blues rock figure named Son House - a musician that some say influenced the influential black artists of the early 1900's like Muddy Waters and Robert Johnson.

 House being such a motivational factor for Dvyne, thus led him toward a whole new style of music that he felt a duty to take in and enjoy.  As a result, this EP - which could expand itself into a full-length release by 2007, features great hip-hop staples like beats and rhymes, but also pivotal moments of blues rock guitar showcasing.  This combination can be perceived as risky business, but for 5 guys looking to expand upon their roots, this type of a move is indicative of their need of having to set themselves apart from everyone else.

"Canadian rap artists should have a better view of how they're going to present themselves, what they have to say for themselves and how they're going to look," contends Dvyne.  "Everyone's being way too safe right now, and the Dirtyz, we don't play it safe - we never have.  We take the challenges - up front, it might not look like it's going to pay off, but for us, we know there's a pay off."

For more information on Trackdirtyaz, please visit www.trackdirtyaz.ca