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2d6 is bigger and better on sophomore release
By GUY D’ASTOLFO
Hip-hop duo 2d6 caught a lot of ears last year with its curveball of a debut album, “Pat Benatar Told Us to Stop Doing This.”
The Youngstown-based rappers — Cliff B and DJ Stuck — introduced nerdcore to the area, layering witty rhymes about geek-chic culture over video-game beats.
The act is back with new material with its sophomore effort, “Hey Fartface,” released this week. In advance of a show Saturday night at The Lemon Grove, Cliff and Stuck answered a few questions about 2d6.
Q. How does the new album vary from the debut? What themes does it explore?
Stuck: Our theme for this album? That’s ridiculous. Don’t be ridiculous.
Cliff: Well, there aren’t too many thematic differences. The biggest alterations we have made to our sound is actually learning to rap WELL. That, and we have more guests willing to work with us on this album. But, as far as thematically, we have songs about grammar, doctors, nostalgia for 1992, the existential discussion of what constitutes a real band versus a fake one, and others in which we would be ruining the surprise if I were to tell all of them. But this has higher quality wordplay from both Stuck and myself, as well as better beats by Stuck and better mixing by me. All in all, while there might not be too much diversion from a winning formula thematically, “Hey Fartface,” is a better quality product.
Q. 2d6 has been quiet for a few months, and I’m assuming that’s because you two were busy working on “Fartface.” But it looks like a lot of shows are planned to push the CD release. What can we expect?
Cliff: Well, it’s not so much that we were quiet, we just were out of the area. We’ve been in Columbus four times this year, up in Sandusky once, in the area a few times. Generally, up until summer began, we were only doing one to two shows per month, with Stuck’s chosen profession, as well as attending my college courses. And while we knew “Fart-face” would have a summer release, we weren’t sure exactly when it would be coming out, so we just planned a bunch of shows. And recently, we were asked to perform at the Cleveland Music Festival, August 9 through 12th. We’re going to be performing on the 12th, alongside a bunch of really talented artists. So, in a way, we will be promoting “Fartface.” But what you can expect is what has become standard for 2d6 — lightning-fast rhymes, candy-slingin’ and a high- energy debacle of rap music, which happens to be nerdy.
Stuck: If we aren’t performing live, we are barely a band. Even when we work on our new album, we still perform live shows. It’s our bread and butter.
Q. Your song and album titles often have no rhyme nor reason. That being said, tell me about the existential meditation on humanity that is inherent in the phrase “Hey Fartface,.”
Stuck: You’re serious. Stop being serious. Can we talk about knockwurst? Stuff is straight up taaaas-tee.
Cliff: Yeah, there’s absolutely nothing existential about “Hey Fartface,.” Remember, the comma is part of the title. It’s a copy editor’s nightmare, I’m sure. But, if there’s anything to be said philosophically about the name, it’s that an 8-year-old’s mind is a funny thing. When Stuck was just a young Stuck, he wrote a letter to his sister asking her to quit being mean to him, and “Hey Fartface,” is how it started off. Stuck tweeted a picture of the letter, and a musician we are friends with, Shael Riley, said we should use that for the title of our next album. Two things come to mind after reading that last sentence. The first is that I can’t believe tweeted is now an adjective in use that does not just refer to noises made by birds. The second is that “Hey Fartface,” really does capture the essence of 2d6: 27-year-olds rapping with the sense of humor of an 8-year-old.