“I live rugged, do what I want, do what I want / ’till I kick the bucket,” echo Matter Ov Fact and EP of the NY hip-hop duo, The Doppelgangaz. Peace Kehd, their recently released album, has been a success with both fans and critics alike. In their video for “Live Rugged,” premiered by The Smoking Section, the pair rolls around in rusty shopping carts, relishing the grimy, broken down room that seems to reek of the Dopp lifestyle. Literally kicking buckets, The Doppelgangaz don’t care about fancy, materialistic things; they know how to have a good time with the dirty, dusty, and not-so-glamorous things. As they say themselves, “There’s nothing wrong with living rugged.”

The recently released Peace Kehd is available on CD, vinyl, and for digital download.

You might not be familiar with The Doppelgangaz, but they are four albums deep, with a rapidly expanding fanbase, despite no mainstream radio play. This is largely because this black and white, hooded duo of Ep and Matt Of Fact have tapped into the lost 90′s hip-hop sound, which comes through in their beats, their slang, and even the tongue-in-cheek spelling of their name. Only thing missing is “Da” in place of “The”.

Peace Kehd is perhaps their best album yet, as they really have come close to perfecting their sound. With hilarious rhymes almost reminiscent of a Sean Price or an MF Doom, the group is heavy on quotable lyrics, and this record has them for a dime-a-dozen. Case in point is this gem from “Fall Thru”: “Sittin’ on the set-y, mixin’ booze with fresca / While hookers cooking this spaghetti alla puttanesca.” In short, off-the-wall visuals and subtle sex rhymes from two guys that don’t take themselves that seriously.

The rhymes make it a fun listen, but equally great is their production, which really captures the essence of classic, 90′s hip-hop. While many have tried to replicate this sound over the years, Doppelgangaz come the closest, without sounding terribly retro. The opening cut, “Holla X2″ uses classic Lou Donaldson drums, meshing it with the forgotten G-Funk synth, and a clever vocal sample that sounds like “holler, holler”.

Beyond borrowing from the staple sounds of 90′s hip-hop, like Mobb Deep or Brand Nubian, they also draw from more obscure sources from the era as well. “Sh*t Rock” is a sleazy beat that would have easily fit somewhere on Dr. Octagon, while the lead single, “KnowntchooTahLie” blends heavy DJ Shadow-esque grooves with today’s trap drum patterns. The latter marks a step forward for the group, showing they are capable of making more “modern” music, yet that still holds the integrity of their original sound.

While their earlier works were a bit more grainy and almost seemed like a bit of a novelty act for aging heads like us, The Doppelgangaz have really grown and come into their own on Peace Kehd. Its only a matter of time before this crew is a more widely accepted and respected staple of underground hip-hop music.

The second release from Peace Kehd, dropping 2/18/14.

The Doppelgangaz will release their 7th album on February 18th, and today we have a full album stream of the project.

The second release off Peace Kehd dropping
2/18/14 on Groggy Pack Entertainment, LLC.

The first release from Peace Kehd, dropping Feb. 18. The Gang gets their dance on and goes ice skating for the first time. Directed by The Doppelgangaz.

Rapper/producers EP and Matter Ov Fact, together known as the New York duo The Doppelgangaz, release a brand new track today on Noisey. The drizzly, chill “Holla x 2″ is the lead single from their upcoming album, titled Peace Kehd, to be released February of next year. Diehard Dopp fans will not be disappointed, as the opening lines “He waking up to dark liquor throw some cola in it/And some Chobani yogurt throw granola in it/Hit the road it’s like he got to pay a toll a minute/Look inside the wallet ain’t no Gorgonzola in it” prove that the duo’s quirky punchline rhymes will be witty as ever on the upcoming album.

The menacing and grimy feel of The Doppelgangaz’ music reflects their rugged vagrant lifestyle and tendency to drink rubbing alcohol straight from the bottle. Selling out a European tour after this year’s release of their latest album HARK, named the #2 Hip-Hop Album of 2013 by the Village Voice, the duo have built a dedicated following by spreading what they call “the Black Cloak Lifestyle.” “We do everything [ourselves] because we smell bad and people refuse to work with us,” the rappers jokingly explain of their independent career choices, like producing and mixing their own music and releasing it through their own label Groggy Pack Entertainment. The album Peace Kehd will be released next year on February 17th.

From Marco Polo’s LP, PA2: The Director’s Cut available now via Soulspazm Records, with exclusive vinyl courtesy of Slice of Spice. The album features appearances from Talib Kweli, DJ Premier, Posdnuos, Masta Ace, Kardinal Offishall, Styles P, Lil Fame, Alchemist, Oh No, MC Eiht, King Tee, Michael Rapport, Large Professor, Inspectah Deck, Rah Digga, Slaine, Ill Bill, Organized Konfusion, Doppelgangaz & many more.

Another self-directed clip from The Doppelgangaz’s Hark, as recently reviewed here.

New self-directed clip from The Doppelgangaz HARK, available now.

While the 90′s are often referred to as hip-hop’s golden era, the dark, sample heavy beats that dominated New York rap at the time is a sound long lost. While artists like Joey Bada$$ and Action Bronson have successfully sprinkled that sound into today’s style, a lesser popular crew called The Doppelgangaz have embraced the sound in full, as if the millennial clock never turned.

Hailing from Orange County and New York, hooded figures Matter Ov Fact and EP have embraced everything about the early east coast boom-bap style, with self-produced beats that might sound like something from an early Mobb Deep, Black Moon or Dr. Octagon LP. Their rhyme style also throws back to that era, blissfully using dated 90′s slang, meshed with darkly humorous, third person, MF Doom-esque narratives. It’s no wonder the title of their fourth studio album is Hark.

While the sound of the NYC 90′s has evolved into today’s backpack beats, for older heads, there is a “holy shit” factor here, once you first hear some of the tracks from Doppelgangaz. Tracks like “Hark Back” and “Oh Well”, for instance, present that cold, off key sound that was so prevalent back then, while “Us 2 Da Man” makes you feel the Ill Street Blues all over again.

It’s clearly not a gimmick for these cats, whom have been producing tracks with this sound since 2008, however the novelty does wear thin after a while. While not as polished or as their forefathers, many of us that were there in the era while feel that sense of nostalgia, and appreciate where they are coming from. Unfortunately, many will overlook this project due to their subterranean status and lack of powerful affiliations. Perhaps to claim that coveted rap authenticity the crew so obviously desires, a wise move for them would be to collaborate with some of those very rap legends with a full on production-based LP.

Today, The Doppelgangaz are releasing their new album, HARK. The 12-track project, out via the group’s Groggy Pack Entertainment label, is the first official album since 2011′s Lone Sharks, and musically, the project continues to assert The Doppelgangaz, comprised of rapper/producer’s Matter Ov Fact and EP, as part of the up-and-coming group of standard bearers for New York’s resurgent hip-hop scene. And while fans will be able to catch The Doppelgangaz celebrating their album release with a performance at Audible Treats’ Fourth Annual Official SXSW Hip-Hop Showcase this Thursday at Bar 512, today, The Dopps are releasing the video for new single, “Skin Yarmulke.”

The video shows The Doppelgangaz lighter side as they don wigs and yarmulkes. “The main inspiration was the awful prank genetics can play on you,” explain the duo, “leaving you with your sun roof open before you’ve made a mark in this world.” The video, self-directed by The Doppelgangaz, who direct all of their own videos, was shot in a stripped down, undisclosed location, a fitting space that echoes the duo’s Black Cloak lifestyle. “The location is sparse, almost tribal,” remarked EP and Matter. “It represents the lack of follicles we’ll have on our head before we even get a chance to ball on these haters.” Beyond their performances at this year’s SXSW festival, The Doppelgangaz will be hitting the road later this month, embarking on their first official headline tour through Europe. Kicking off March 20th, in Berlin, Germany, the tour will run 12 shows deep, closing out on April 7th in Leipzig, Germany, with stops along the way in Denmark, Belgium, and France along the way.

Buzzworthy retro-90′s crew The Doppelgangaz will release their new album, Hark, on March 12th, and today they give us a full stream of the 12-track release.

Off Beats for Brothels, Vol. 2. Makin’ capes dope.

NYC crew that Apathy put us on to. Check the video for “Suppository” as well. Both taken from their mixtape, Lone Sharks available now.
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