I'm not sure what Lindsey Lohan's intentions for going to India to shoot a documentary on child labor are but her heart seems to be in the right place. Having been to India and even shooting a video for Hottest Goan in the Hood there, I know first hand about what goes on there. Not to justify child labor because it is horrible and all that but that's honestly all these kids have as their families cannot afford school, let alone basic food.
Most people in India live off between $200 and $4000 ruppees a month, which is like between $4 and $100 US per month. Per month! Yes per month. Imagine living off $100 US per month. Some like to make the argument that they have a lower standard of living but to me that's no standard of living if you making $4 per month!
Here's some footage of me and my homie Suri at Ambiance Shopping Mall in Gurgaon (South Delhi), the mall is 1 km long and 4 stories tall. Welcome to the New India?
Here's my epic fail of an interview with producer Boi-1da. The funny thing about is that this was done the night that Drake's Forever was released so I was thinking "ah man I'm going to get a million hits", however, things didn't go according to plan. Thanks to Famous and bad lighting!
Drega feat. Jay Grind “Hottest Goan In The Hood” REMIX?.
Rapper Jay Grind from Hamilton hollar'd at me to do a track after I interviewed him on Royalty Radio, so I asked him to jump on "Hottest Goan In The Hood", even though he's not Goan.
As promised here's the first single from The Artful Dodger called "I Run the Show". Here's a little bit about how the song came together.
The Making of “I Run the Show”
Currently, Drega is working on his next project entitled “The Artful Dodger” which will combine east coast lyricism with Electro, House and Indie Rock Rhythms. The first single, “I Run the Show” which was produced by Drega is inspired by hip-house group LMFAO. Drega explains, “I was actually in Niagra with my girlfriend for our anniversary and we we’re at a club and we we’re about to leave and the deejay announced this group, neither of us heard of, was about to perform and me and my girl looked at each other like, ‘okay we’ll stay another five minutes’. What eventually happened was that LMFAO shut down the club.”
With an idea in hand, Drega created the production for the beat having been a beat maker for over 10 years he knew how to put together a musical backing that neatly combined house, electro and rap. “When I got home, I just went to my keyboard and made the general idea for the beat within about five minutes, it took some time to get the sequencing right, but once I had it I was just dancing crazy to it, the vibe was perfect,” explains Drega.
The lyrics for the song are meant to inspire fun as well as individuality. Drega raps, “No ceaser or waves or gel in my hair, cause your girl’s gonna mess it up when I get there”. “Even though I’m talking about my hair, it’s a metaphor for my obviously unique look in that I don’t look like a rapper, which is basically the concept of the whole album” says Drega.
Check the "Bollywood remix" I did with Kostal out in Houston, Kaysha from Paris, Taz from Mumbai and Samy Elmousif from Montreal. It's getting a great response from the internetz.
DregaTV #7: The Kid Famous Talks About Rick Ross + Rappers Who Lie.
The big homie Famous came through for a radio interview on Royalty Radio which you can listen to over here. Here's some of the footage where he talks about Rick Ross being a corrections officer and rappers in general who lie. I'm glad he's speaking out against lying ass rappers because for (1) Famous is one of the most honest rappers I've ever seen (2) dumb rappers need teaching.
My favorite deejay, Mr. Andre 905 and co-host of Royalty Radio (Toronto's only spot for real Cancun) has released his first mixtape called Andre The Giant: I Am Giant. Since your still new to supporting the home team, you can get the download link for free after the jump. As an added caveat it is hosted by yours truly and features everyone that matters from the Toronto scene (tracklist inside).
1. Biggie
I can still remember the first time I saw the "Juicy" video and I was blown away. He is the main reason I became an artist and Big's music still influences me heavily today.
2. Jay-Z
How can you not have Hov on your list? This guy is the absolute greatest guy living period. Half a billionaire, married to Beyonce, plus made classics such as Reasonable Doubt, Volume 2, and Blueprint and has countless hit guest appearances. If there wasn't Jay-Z, there wouldn't be Drega.
3. Noreaga
Ohhh the rap geeks are going to hate me for this one. But Nore's influence on me is untold. From the classic The War Report to N.O.R.E to all those smashes he had with the Neptuenes, Nore made it okay to be the entertaining asshole. People think my name came from Noreaga which I do give some credit to homie. But it really came from when I was 11 years old doing tagging and my tag name would be Dre.G.A., the "G" stood for my last name and the "A" for my first name.
4. Method Man
People forget how ill Meth was. I still can recite everyword in Tical, I could probably perform anything from "Sub-Crazy" to "Mr.Sandman" lol. Meth was influential on myself in terms of spitting some deep stuff with a melodic flow.
5. Nas
When It Was Written came out it was a complete shift in the way music was made. Everything prior to that sounded like "Illmatic" with the boom bap sound, The Trackmasters and Nas totally changed how hip hop records sounded with this one. "Take It In Blood" is still the greatest song in rap history, next to "Juicy".
6. Ma$e
Ma$e is probably the most influential rapper of the last decade. Every rapper got their slow flow right after M-A-Dollar-Sign-E cemented Bad Boy's dynasty.
7. Raekwon & Ghostface
I'm a give it to these two for their work on Only Built For Cuban Linx. That album is the perfect album that any rapper, including myself, should strive to use as a blueprint.
If you haven't checked out "Spaceships & Ferraris" yet, you can grab it from below. I want to thank everyone for downloading it and all the positive feedback I've heard about it. It really means alot when something you've taken your whole life to develop is appreciated. Keep in mind this is just a mixtape and I promise you I have some great material on the way. Remember art first.
