I have been keeping this one quiet for several weeks but today is the day to spread the word. I was recently given the opportunity by Ballerstatus.com to interview the female, hip hop duo God-Des and She. Ballerstatus wanted to have an artist interview another artist, so they reached out to me to do the interview. I typed up almost 30 questions about things that I felt typical interviewers failed to ask as well as things I just wanted to know. The interview was an incredible experience. I went into it having no expectations and came out of it with some amazing insight about two of music’s most genuine personalities. Check out a brief passage from the interview as well as “A Word From Mike Schpitz.” Shout out to Anne from Ballerstatus for the amazing opportunity and to God-Des and She for just being them. The interview should give you some great insight into what type of people and artist’s they are.
Mike Schpitz: First off, tell people who might not know about you, “The Reader’s Diges” version about yourselves.
God-Des: We’re a very unique, hip-hop, pop, soul duo. We mix a lot of styles in our music from emceeing, to singing, to poetry mixed with melodies. We’re just a very different sound from what people expect or have heard.
Mike Schpitz: What was the one song or songs that really opened the door for your career?
God-Des: We have been doing shows and touring together for a long time and building the interest or buzz that way. People have been spreading the word through word of mouth, press, music festivals, etcetera. Getting our song “Lick It” featured on the Showtime series The L Word drew a lot of attention. I had 200 new emails in my inbox the following day. Every time we have performed, we get asked back, and the next show is double or triple the size of the first one. Music festivals like the Dewey Beach Fest and SXSW drew a lot of attention from fans and industry people. Really, it’s been a constant progression of building the buzz and gaining attention and recognition.
Mike Schpitz: Drake (well Trey Songz) recently said in a song, “I just want to be successful.” Have you ever thought about the point where you feel like you succeeded at making your mark in music or fulfilling what you set out to accomplish? What is that point? Are you there yet? How was your definition of success changed with all the “success” that you have and are receiving?
She: Success for me is just being able to live off of music and not having another job but more importantly provide for my family. The day when I can go to my immediate family and say, “We don’t have anything to worry about any more.” is that point for me. The further things progress, the more stuff there is to take care of, but learning along the way and becoming smart businesswomen as well as successful artists is something we take very seriously. There are really two perspectives when it comes to the music business. People see it as a glamorous lifestyle where you get to travel the world and make money from music, but they don’t see all the work that goes into it. We travel and tour, but people don’t see the long nights, being broke trying to pay bills, and helping support our families. If anything, I think the music has humbled us. Having the opportunity to do music as a job has become empowering and drives us to help people in the music business as well as become philanthropists. Rather than spending money and using our power and gifts to be famous and buy stupid things, we can give back and help other people succeed.
A word from Mike Schpitz: I wanted to share some thoughts and comments about my interview with God-Des and She. First off, I am neither a journalist nor a writer so the exact wording is my own summaries of the questions and answers from the actual interview with God-Des and She. I had 25 questions typed up in preparation because I feared I would race through all the questions and have nothing to work with. I made the mistake of attempting to ask the questions, hold a conversation, and type little notes that would allow me to expand on all of the things that we talked about. I quickly found out that it was impossible for me to type out exact quotes from God-Des or She, so I had short notes written down. I apologize for not taping the interview and sharing answers verbatim because both God-Des and She were not only well spoken, thoughtful, and honest, they were also a lot of fun and funny as well. I tried to ask questions that I personally wanted artists to answer as well as some questions that interviewers don’t seem to typically ask. I wish I had the audio of the entire interview because it would be much more indicative of the type of people that God-Des and She are. They are very humble, talented, passionate, and intelligent women who are breaking ground not only in with their music but also for what they stand for and represent for so many different types of people. The opportunity was an absolute pleasure. Make sure you check out their music, their website, Twitter and MysSace and go catch a live show if possible. I highly encourage everyone to reach out to them as well because they really care about the people and the fans.
Check out the full interview on Ballertstatus.com and God-Des and She’s website
