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Interview with Mr. L Dog/DJ Hard Hitta
Check out my exclusive interview with Hustle Town’s own Mr. L Dog/DJ Hard Hitta
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Jason
When and where you born?
Mr. L Dog
I was born in Detroit, MI, but moved to Houston as a kid. My mother was from there and my biological father was from Detroit. When that didn’t work out, my mother took me with her down to Houston.
Jason
What’s it like growing up in Houston?
L Dog
Man, it’s Hustle Town USA. We all about the hustle. They’re two people down here, people gettin money and people stayin broke.
Jason
True, so when did you begin your rap career?
L Dog
I mean, I first began rapping when I was in Elementary School. I won a talent show, but they didn’t even give me nothing. Would have liked at least a milk box (laughing), but yea. I watched all those rap shows like Rap City and shit. Just did my own freestyles and whatever else.
Jason
So when did you sign your first record deal?
L Dog
My first deal was with PowerHouse Ent, but we had a falling out. I thought their promoting was a little lackluster and more importantly they weren’t payin me. They were makin money off me, but I wasn’t seein any of it. We signed a deal for 2 records, so after that, I left and met up with Heavy Rotation. From there I just did a whole lot of music. I recorded with a lot of people such as Big Melo, Trae the Truth, Bun B and Slim Thug. I’ve been wanting to work with Paul Wall, we’re pretty good friends. But yea, there’s a lot of my material out there, I’ve been doin this since the early 2000’s. And for those who don’t know, I also go by DJ Hard Hitta, as well as Mr. L Dog.
Jason
How did you come up with those two names?
L Dog
Well I’ve been known as L Dog since I was a kid. My real name is Lance, so I guess the L could come from there, but me and my boy were listenin to a song by Outkast called “Playa’s Ball”. In the intro they are talkin about all the L Dogs- Cadillac Seville’s, low riders- so he just turns to me and goes “L DOG!!” (laughing) And it just kinda stuck from there. I had a couple of names for my DJ name and ultimately decided on Hard Hitta.
Jason
How did you get into DJ’ing?
L Dog
In 2008 I started dropping mixtapes and picked up the DJ moniker. I had been doin it a lil, but it was’t until ‘08 that I started doin it full time. I did a big catalog called the Street Work Mixtape Series. You can find all of that on Reverb Nation (www.reverbnation.com/DJHardHitta), it’s all for sale. You can also find it on www.HardHittaInc.com. You know the music business has been changing. I kind of wear a lot of hats now. You can’t just be a talented rapper or DJ expecting to land a big deal. There is a lot of work that goes into it. The whole game plan and structure has changed as well. Ya know, record labels now are these full service business’s. It’s not just about records anymore, most of these record stores have all closed down. It’s all about selling 99 cent singles and promotion. So my company basically does everything. I DJ for Hard Hitta Inc, we have a records department, we film and do pictures. Basically you need something, we got you. (HardHittaInc@gmail.com) So, I’ve diversied, but I’m still gettin it in.
Jason
That’s cool. You also have continually released music over the years. How do you think your style has changed and matured?
L Dog
Well I think the production has gotten much better. The beats too. But most importantly, the substance of my music has gotten better. It used to be, “I’ma kill you, rob you…,” etc. Now it’s, “I’ma get my money and this is how I’ma get it.” Much different now. It was a growing process and now I’m able to express myself about real life situations. I can talk about being in a relationship that isn’t working out, how proud I am to look at my children, not having enough money to pay a light bill, ya know, just deeper material.
Jason
How do you think you have survived as long as you have in the game?
L Dog
You gotta be diverse and work hard. Ya know, recently I secured rights to an old Pimp C song that I’ma put out, so that’ll be nice. I mean, you just gotta love the game, ya know. If you don’t, then it’s gonna be really hard to do. Ya gotta feel it. I also try to be creative with what I do.
Jason
Cool, so that brings us to our last question- What projects can we expect in the future?
L Dog
Well, we got this movie coming out starring myself, my cousin Mark will be in it, my boy Joe Joe, ESG and Harvey Cove. It’s still untitled and we are trying to secure a distribution deal with Lions Gate. But the big thing that’s movin is the Street Work mixtape series. Ya know, we breakin all the exclusives and hits. You can find all that at ReverbNation.com. You can check out my videos under Durty Filmz and shout out to the A-Team, the Heavy Hittas and DJ Ill Will. Be good.
