24: Introduce yourself to everyone that doesn’t already know who you are?
Darryl: We are The Board of Education a Hip-Hop duo out of New Jersey.
24: Before we get into your music, can you describe your history abouthow you got into and what inspired you?
Darryl: Kanye West is definitely my biggest inspiration as well as ATCQ. The biggest thing I would say would be Graduation when I heard that album I really got into creating my own songs and getting in to production than I met Ryan and its been a wrap ever since.
Ryan: I’m gonna have to agree with Darryl and say that Kanye is my biggest influence as well. It’s hard to describe how important he is to all music, not just hip hop. But my other main influences are Outkast, John Frusciante, Just Blaze, I mean I could keep going on but there’s just too many names to name.
24: What was the Hip-Hop scene like for you growing up where your from?
Darryl: Aside from Joe Budden and Redman, I can’t remember any artist from the area up on TV. (Naughty by Nature and Queen Latifah were a little ahead of our time); so I looked to a lot of artists in Philly was what was considered local the Cassidy, The Roots , Beanie Sigel etc.
Ryan: Personally, I was never really into the New Jersey/Philly acts besides maybe Redman and the Roots. I can’t really think of anyone else from the area that I was into when I was growing up.
24: What makes you Unique as a artist and different from other rappers out now?
Darryl: I give you honesty, and I’m not calling anybody out in particular, but it’s too many artists talking about guns they never had or money they never grabbed or even self-proclaiming oneself to the best when nobody other than your mom is playing your stuff. I just tell you my life I’m not a hardcore guy I’m not an artist trying to be a person but a person trying to be a great artist.
Ryan: Yeah, and to add to what Darryl said, I really think too many people are trying to prove that they are different instead of just making the music that they want to create. We never force anything, we just make the music that we want to make at the time and whatever is inspiring us at the time is usually what comes out into the music. We’re not actively trying to make any specific genre, we’re just trying to make what sounds right to us.
24: Tell us about what you are working on.
Darryl: The next Mixtape will be much more introspective and I feel only raises the bar for the local scene this will be more of an album than a mixtape. Also starting thanksgiving we are going to release a new song every week called #Thirstythursdays .Right now were working with @willngo and Just be There productions for our next two music videos. You can definitely expect us working with local acts whether it be production or lending a verse to our family The Coalition (Supernova, Abuzzzy and STF) December Ross, G-Money or good friends F.L.O.W. or B.R.M.
Ryan: We’re always working on stuff, I mean I’m composing songs almost daily, and Darryl’s writing almost daily; I mean we literally have enough material in the works to fill up like 4 mixtapes/albums. So, to say the least we’re always busy.
24: What producers have you worked with and who would you like to work with in the future?
Darryl: Right now we’re self-producing all of our songs by either sampled based songs or live instrumentation. If I could work with any prod in the future it would be Kanye West , Q-tip or 9th Wonder .
Ryan: To add to who Darryl already listed, it would be awesome to work with Just Blaze, Noah “40” Shebib, SBTRKT, DJ Shadow, Burial, Massive Attack, James Blake, once again I could literally go on forever with people I admire and would love to work with.
24: Are you happy with the feedback you have been getting from people on material you have released?
Darryl: Yes we have our video off our Mixtape Back to School had a self-shot video called Wally West ( goo.gl/QOE3Z )which is basically a straight raw no chorus just a wam, blam in your face song. The video is currently at around 7k and it’s a big accomplishment and our mixtape Back to School was complimented well by the folks @ Getrightmusic.com
Ryan: Personally, I haven’t had anyone tell me that they didn’t like the Back to School mixtape, but we’re our own harshest critics, and it’s hard to say that we’re not always moving in the right direction and improving. I feel like we can definitely do better.
24: In today’s free download age, what do you need that you don’t to make yourself a household name?
Darryl: A really good manager/management company behind us 100% I feel as though the music can speak for itself but that’s like half of the battle you rack you brain, come up with song concepts , make the beat, record it ,mix it , revise it , finish the product however you have to go promote your music.
Ryan: I feel that the “free” age is the greatest thing that has ever happened to music. It’s really easy to keep in touch with music and to listen to music you may have never been able to hear otherwise. As an artist, I feel the main goal of the music is for people to hear it and appreciate it. If it was up to me, I would give away my/our music away free forever.
24: How do you feel about the current state of the Hip-Hop scene?
Darryl: I like the way it is because it is so diverse I respect and all angles of hip hop I feel as though there is a time and place for it all. I like bumping Kanye , Phonte, Mickey Factz, Drake just for thought but when I go to the club I wanna hear Waka I wanna hear some Gucci etc.
Ryan: As the case with any genre/scene, there’s artists I like, and there’s artists that I’m not feeling as much. Too many people criticize music nowadays and claim it was “better” in the past. People have always been like that, wanting to prove their superiority by telling others that the artists of today are “sellouts” or too “mainstream” or any of the other childish excuses. If hip hop music always stayed the same, it would be boring. But ranting aside, I really like where hip hop is going, I’ve been addicted to Drake recently and I thought that Shabazz Palaces album from earlier this year was really good too.
24: Outside of the music, what else are you currently working on?
Darryl: LOL.Outside of music this is pretty much all I am working on, but if I have to answer I’m selling shoes at JC Penny and taking classes at the community college, but pretty much got all my eggs in one basket.
Ryan: Right now I’m a sophomore at Rutgers New Brunswick studying business. I would really love to do music forever, but nothing in life is promised.
24: Where do you see yourself going in 2012 and how do you plan to separate yourself from the other artist out today to get the recognition you feel you deserve?
Darryl: Making a personal connection with fans is the ONLY true way to separate you from competition other than being more talented. The parallelism between our lives, our goals and the listener can create a bond that will separate you from your contemporaries.
Ryan: Yeah, I agree with Darryl on this one, and in this age you don’t really need to necessarily be as “talented,” as long as you know how to market yourself. I feel like the music is there for us, so all we really need is for that one big break that will help shoot us to where we want to go.
24: How can fans go about contacting you?
Darryl: our facebook is a great way to reach that at facebook.com/theboardofeducation
Twitter im @Darryl_Watson
Our tumblr is boardofed.tumblr.com
And our youtube is youtube.com/theboardofeducation
24: Thank you for providing 24hourhiphop.com with this exclusive interview, do you have any last words for your present and future fans?
Darryl: Go.Download.the.tape. boardofeducation.bandcamp.com <<<< we worked really hard on this and it’s all original songs, so check it out and if you like it, share it.
Ryan: Thanks for your time, hopefully you’ll see us again in the future.
