Double A.B. & Dub Sonata Discuss "Media Shower," Working With Sean Price

by Homer Johnsen The veteran rhyme and production pair talks about their first truly joint album, and working with Man Bites Dog Records, Scram Jones and Roc Marciano. Since 2003, Double A.B. and Dub Sonata have been making music. Now, almost 10 years later, they are ready to give the best of their work to the general public. Media Shower, which released earlier this week - featuring appearances from Sean Price, Evidence and Rhymefest, among others. The two first got acquainted at the State University of New York at Purchase in Upstate New York. There, they were deeply involved in the cooperative effort, Atoms Family which included Cannibal Ox and Hangar 18. They took separate paths when Double A.B. began battle rapping through popular media outlets like MTV. Dub Sonata stayed busy too, producing for artists like Dom Pachino, C-Rayz Walz and Sadat X. Eventually, the two were reacquainted decided to collaborate for an album. The album is essentially a compilation of Double A.B. and Dub Sonata’s finest unreleased work, ranging over a course of 10 years. “A lot of these songs came together over many years…And this is kind of just a body of the best of our work,” said Dub Sonata during the duo’s recent phone interview with HipHopDX. Both of the artists touched on a number of topics, including their previous work, working with new, veteran emcees, and their lessons learned under the guidance of producer/songwriter, Scram Jones. HipHopDX: When did you two first get acquainted? Double A.B.: We got cool probably around [the] late ‘90s, early 2000s. We both went to school together [in] upstate New York. We both from the city, but we both went to school upstate, to S.U.N.Y. New Paltz. I remember they had a poppin’ little scene up there. Like real Hip Hop scene, a lot of- Atoms Family, whose crew members eventually became Cannibal Ox, and Hangar 18, and you know, different Rap groups spawned out of there. That’s basically where we first ran into each other. DX: Your new album is called Media Shower. What’s the significance of that title? Double A.B.: The title basically is- we have a song called “Media Shower” featuring Rhymefest, that’s the title track for the album. That’s basically just saying how the current state of society is just: the next gadget to the next gadget. Everybody walks around with their face in the screen, looking at the next YouTube post. It’s basically a statement to that; how we’re bombarded with different types of media be it music, movies, television, YouTube. DX: I hear that. What was the creative process like? Dub Sonata: We’ve been working together for about 10 years or more, so we kind of just work fast and naturally. A lot of these songs came together over many years, adding different elements and arranging. And this is kind of just a body of the best of our work that would work as an album. DX: How long is the [time range] of material, would you say? Dub Sonata: Well, a couple of the songs probably go back to like ’03, right A.B.? Like “Drug Wars”? Double A.B.: Yeah, one song is the old song that we kind of re-did. But besides that, I’d say most of the songs are in the last two to three years, and then maybe as far back as five for some of them. But yeah, like you said, some of them go back a long time. read the rest at: http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.21219/title.double-ab-dub-sonata-discuss-media-shower-working-with-sean-price