Natural: I’ve known Justo for a long time, and I don’t think anyone’s ever been like, “Are you half-Fillipino?” ĪLL IN THE FAMILY: Natural: have a lot of family out there in Kenya, so the last time we were out there was two years ago, and we spent a couple of weeks there. Every once in a while, someone will be able to guess, but only very rarely. But my mom was born in the Philippines, and so it’s part of my culture. Most people, when they meet me, can’t tell. He’s half-Filipino.ĭ’Amato: Yeah, I’m half-Filipino. HOME BASE: Natural: Me and my bro, both our parents are from Kenya, so we have that Kenyan heritage. IF YOUR FLOW WERE A COGNAC…: Natural: It would be Hennessy. Sometimes it actually works out, and ends up sounding dope, and we end up keeping it. Sometimes it turns out whack, and we just throw the track away. A lot of times, we don’t know how it will turn out. KEEP IT NATURAL: Natural: We try not to force anything, and sometimes we get in the studio, and try to do things that are different. Thig won, and I can’t remember what song it was for, but it was one of the songs that he liked, and it ended up on the album because I lost the Rock, Paper, Scissors match. We steer each other along as the music is being developed, and have fun doing it, for sure.ĬONFLICT RESOLUTION: Natural: When we were picking out songs for the album Tomorrow People, we had a disagreement on what songs should be cut, and I think we might have done Rock, Paper, Scissors.ĭ’Amato: It was Rock, Paper, Scissors. It’s definitely a collaborative thing, though. So that’s where I’m at currently, when the coaching aspect comes into play. Thig might say, “I don’t like that beat.” I might say, “I don’t like this word.” We don’t take it personally, but I usually have the leisure of being able to sit back and watch what’s going on while he’s just writing lyrics. We’re real honest with each other, so it’s real easy. It’s not always the correct opinion… but sometimes it is. There’s other kinds of small things.ĭ’Amato: In the studio, I just give my opinion. And, there’s different personalities, so you get into arguments about the music. WE CAN WORK IT OUT: Natural: I think, as a group, you go through ups and downs. Like, I take that role and try to help people, give my own insight-he saw that as kind of being like a coach, and the boxing I used to do when I was a kid, so he called me “Just D’Amato.” I like that name not a lot of people are able to pronounce it, so I normally go by “Justo.” called me that because I coach people in the studio. He trained Mike Tyson and a couple of champions in the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s. A friend of mine, who sings with us, one day called me “Just D’Amato,” which is a derivative of “Justo” plus D’Amato, who was a famous, old-school boxing trainer. Some people say my flow is kind of natural, smooth, not forced… so it kind of works out well with my personality.ĭ’Amato: It’s a rendition of my birth name, which is Justin. WHAT’S IN A NAME: Natural: My name is Gathigi, so “Thig Natural” is just a nickname that people have been calling me for, you know, ever since elementary school. We’re big fans.ĭ’Amato: We saw him in the break room real briefly. ![]() Which was great, because he’s someone that we listened to growing up. SHARING THE STAGE WITH MOS DEF: Natural: We played with Mos Def like a month and a half ago. LOCATION AT TIME OF INTERVIEW: We’re in Seattle. Interview caught up with two-thirds of the hardworking Seattle hip hop trio-Thig Natural and Just D’Amato-on break at Natural’s day job, where they spoke to us from a parked car about nicknames, playing music in front of their parents, opening for Mos Def, conflict resolution, and strip clubs.ĪGES: We been around long enough to remember life without cell phones and the Internet. The record, an unapologetic love letter to hip-hop’s golden age as well as the group’s stormy hometown, name checks specific Seattle streets, restaurants, parks-even Natural’s first romance, also from the Emerald City (“The first girl I ever fell in love with was from the District,” he confides). “Seattle is where I’m from,” declares Physics emcee Thig Natural within the opening seconds of his group’s most recent release, Tomorrow People. Somewhere between Lonely Planet and The Low End Theory, you’ll find The Physics: real-life acquaintances of Macklemore and proud Seattle hip-hop boosters in their own right. Macklemore’s success story helped shine light on a scene that few outside its city limits know exist, and provided other aspiring emcees with an outlet to be heard. Things have changed since then-the 29-year-old rapper’s passionately received debut offering, The Heist, dethroned Florida’s Rick Ross from the coveted number-one spot on iTunes-all without the support of a major label. “There was barely a hip-hop scene in Seattle,” Macklemore told Interview‘s Dan Buyanovsky in October.
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