Friday - April 27, 2007 by Jane e Bolden
While his humorous brand of hip-hop has been languishing in the shadows for years, Houston rapper Devin the Dude is making it hard for heads not to take notice of his fourth studio album Waitin' To Inhale. In this SOHH exclusive, Devin opens up about the inspiration for his last CD, career longevity and his love for Mary Jane. Despite his lasting career as a solo artist with a serious underground following, until recently Devin the Dude is best known for guest appearances alongside Dr.Dre ( F**k You ) and Scarface ( F**kfaces ). That has since changed, and with Devin capturing national attention with the Snoop Dogg and Andre 3000 assisted first single What a Job, the buzz behind Devin has been more like a roar. I think Dr.
Dre and the Chronic 2001 had a lot to do with it, Devin told SOHH. Also my friends and people who been working with me throughout previous albums sticking around today helping me out through it had a lot to do with it; attitude in the company and distribution, how we come together and talk on the same page had a lot to do with it. Ultimately God blessed me to hang around this long and be able put something out made a major difference.
Much loved for his zany perspective on relationships, sex and life at large, Devin revealed that much of his often bizarre material has come from his own experiences. 70% of it is reality, 20% is what I know or what my friends been through, 10% is maybe wishful thinking, Devin admitted. Reality for the Texas MC seems grittier on Waitin' to Inhale than on previous albums.
Despite hilarious skits and comedic tracks like She Useta Be and Broccoli Cheese the album is balanced out by darker songs like Just Because, No Longer Needed Here and Lil' Girl Gone. As you get older, you get into relationships, your friends around you are in relationships and you have to hear stories about 'it's not going good', it kinda rubs off in the studio. I didn't mean for it to be a serious type of thing but it kinda ended up that way, that's why the title Waitin' to Inhale kinda ties in with the relationship type songs, Devin explained.
On Just Because, my homeboy David Cohn did the track, when I heard it, it started off so lovely I was like 'Nah I could never use this track,' then when the beat came in and it was bangin', I was like whoa maybe I can, it sounds like [LL Cool J's] 'I Need Love,' but how would I say it? So I did the flipside of love, the flipside of the coin, love can make people think of some crazy things. It's just the thought of something, not something I would necessarily do.
.. just if only I could.
Though Waitin' To Inhale may be more serious than previous albums, Devin has remained faithful to three familiar subjects --- sex, weed and alcohol. Though he has no plans to give up his favorite vices, Devin expressed concern about not conveying the wrong message in his music. I might give up drinking, but hey, man I got to have my weed now, Devin said.
I don't think I ever said that it was cool though. I just let them [listeners] know what we do. Rap is a conversation, a conversation about who you are and what you do.
That's something we do and I kind of throw it in. It's on some of the serious songs even, like this is a part of what I do. But I don't want to make it seem like it's the thing to do.
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