An Interview: Stik Figa and D/Will

#HappyHour is (so far) the best album from KC this year, and for me, the 6th for all releases this year. Stik Figa and D/Will released it as a warm up for the also excellent Crown and Coke. They've both got other projects (D/Will's Beat Emporium albums are textbooks for aspiring producers), and they're also both beyond cool for agreeing to an email interview.


Who from KC are you listening to right now?

D/Will: While working on projects, I tend to not listen to music from the same genre. I try and clear my palate [to] give the listener all me! But I did get a chance to check out Greg Enemy's new jawn and I like Gee Watts so if he drop something I'll peep it.

Stik Figa: From Kansas City I'm listening to Ron Ron, Rondoe, Greg Enemy, Cowboy Indian Bear, Grisly Hand, and Maal A Goomba.

What national/non-KC acts are you listening to?

Stik Figa: Probably way too much Danny Brown and Kendrick Lamar; I really enjoy both those releases. Also the Kanye and Jay album Watch the Throne has been gettin' a lot of burn. I initially hated it though.

D/Will: A lot of the artist I'm currently working with: Fresh Daily, One be lo, Dominique Larue, Addlib and a few others. Really dig that Evidence Cats & Dogs... Outside of that I listen to a lot of old soul and
blues. Johnny Taylor, Tyrone Davis, Bobby Bland and even Dan Auerbach's 2005 release
Keep It Hid.

Why is Kansas City a hip-hop town?

Stik Figa: I dunno if KC is a hip-hop town, I know there is a lot of great music coming out of this area.

D/Will: I think the deep jazz and blues roots have a lot to do with why kc is a hip hop town.

What aspect of Kansas City shapes your music the most?


Stik Figa: KC has shaped my creativity by giving me an outlet to share it with interested people. As a Topeka artist, it gives me a lot of support for something I didn't think anyone would care about. I really appreciate that.

D/Will: I tell my homies in Cali all the time that the weather here shapes my sound! One day it's cold and
gloomy and the next day it's 70 and gorgeous. I get inspired by the little things.

Have both/either of you been around KCMO long enough to see Johnson County grow? I'm curious if you've noticed how people relocating from areas like Illinois or Texas has impacted local music.

Stik Figa: I haven't been able to see how JoCo has made an impact any more or less then any other area. There's talented folks on both sides of the state line.

D/Will: I live in North Kansas City and although I respect Johnson County, I'm not around it enough to be able to recognize the difference. Although, we rocked at JCCC a few years back [October 9, 2008 with Deep Thinkers] and the crowd was all love!

I'm embarrassed to recognize the "I wanna get chocolate wasted!" sample in "Black Jack". (That said I love it.) When the beats and lyrics come together, how much time is spent afterwards adding subtle things like that? 

D/Will:  I feel like that's my job as a producer! I want to impact the mood of the listener and I always bounce off lyrics. Stik will say things in the rhyme that triggers images and feelings -- I take that image
and translate it to sound.


Stik Figa: We make all kinds of things happen after the fact. Mostly it's us building on the skeleton off the song, and wanting to make them more fun. I will say, "Ya know, what would be funny if...." or D comes up with fresh additions like live guitar or bass. 

D/Will: The process is simple: I send Stik very basic beat snipps, probably between 10-20. He picks what he feeling and begins to write. We meet at the studio and record over the basic skeleton of the beat. I take the session home and complete the production and mix in my home studio. Sometimes the beat needs a lot of work, sometimes I don't change anything, sometimes I change the entire beat!

Stik Figa: It's a very organic thing with us. Just a couple of friends havin' fun making a record.

KCMJ: Since the recording process is fun, does that normally lead to songs being better the faster they get done, or does it being fun make being meticulous about tracks easier?

Stik Figa: Well [the process is] fun simply cause we're creating freely, adding and subtracting, tweaking as we go along. D is more detail oriented than I am, which is absolutely necessary since he is also part of the mixing process. And me, I just try to add my personality to the songs, and make the listening experience more personal.

D/will, I think Beat Emporium: Cartoon is really picking up on something I can't believe hasn't been more prevalent (sampling 90s cartoons). I think it sounds great on its own, but is the purpose of releasing them so others will use them/rap on top of them?

D/Will: The Beat Emporium was the biggest blessing ever!!! I've gained a great new audience from it; I didnt make that record for emcees at all. I made it for the people that enjoy my production style, cats like you that understand hip hop and the sampling process.

KCMJ: I think you really set a bar with them. Will Cartoon Beats sneak into any of your other music projects?

D/Will: Thanks my man! I had a lot of fun making that record. I'm not sure if cats are gonna rap on'em or not but if they do it's cool. But if your familiar with my work you can notice some of those Beat Emporium joints from previous projects. Example. "HeartBrake" was on Hello and Goodbye. Cartoon Beat Emporium 2: March 2012.

Stik Figa, could you talk about how the title of the song "Mike Vick" is connected to the lyrics, excluding the more obvious intro and outro to the song?

Stik Figa: Yea Mike Vick was one of those things, man. I felt that he was someone who was made to be the medias whipping boy for a while, and it wasn't entirely fair. So, I was just kinda of relating to that on a day-to-day level. When people don't necessarily have all the facts and details about a person, they're quick to make judgments. I am really glad to see him make a comeback!



The #HappyHour mixtape is constantly in rotation at my house. It reminds me of Black Star and other late-90s DJ HiTek projects. Are you guys fans? What other groups/DJs from that time period have been influences on you guys?

D/Will: Maaaan! People are always tellin us that they love Happy Hour!! We made that album in about 2hrs!! He came out to my spot, I bought some Crown and Coke, and we got faded and made it, hahaha. It was a lot of fun! Im a Black Star fan but more of a Premo [DJ Premier] and Guru type guy. From the very start Stik and I modeled our style after Gang Starr and kinda kid about being the KC version. Dirty, minimal, but decent mix quality. Most of all we just wanted to create our sound, and I think we did that.

Stik Figa: I am definitely a fan of duos like Gang Starr, Black Star, Kweli and Hi-Tek...

KCMJ: I didn't know about Gang Starr until I saw them open for Rage Against the Machine in 1999. Do you think they ever got their full due?

D/Will: I think they did, but in their own way. Ask anybody that loves hip hop to name a group and they will prolly say Preem and Guru. 

Stik Figa: But me and D/Will are both fans of Three 6 Mafia. Always been into their approach to production and making songs that make ya wanna fight somebody.

D/Will: I'm a huge Three 6 fan!! I've got the full discography including solo albums. Three 6 Mafia & Lords of the Underground inspired me to want to make beats. As a kid, I would memorize the beat and sequencing of songs rather than the lyrics. I took pride in being able to hear the little things going on in the back of the track.


KCMJ: Three 6 turned 20 years old as a group this year. I think Waka Flocka Flame/Lex Luger pull from older Three 6 a lot, especially in production. Do you think rap's pulling a "Remember the 90s?" like alternative/indie music is?


Stik Figa: Yea rap is being more self referential then its been in a while. You have guys like Spaceghostpurrp who sounds a lot like Three 6 back in the Prophet Posse days, or a NY artist like ASAP Rocky who seems to get infulence from Houston underground and Bone Thugs. So as long as acknowledgement of the past is around, I see it as a good thing for the music.

Thanks again to both D/Will and Stik Figa for their time. Make sure you visit their bandcamp pages and buy what you dig.