As we get to know the man behind
the camera — Jon Dough of
Syndicate Cartel — he speaks on
The Jon Dough vision, The Eulogy
card, people stealing sound effects
and people taking shots.
Dilly: Jon, how did this Eulogy
card come together?
Jon Dough: The card before that
— The Grudge — went so well;
our supporters wanted to know
what was next for Cartel. We
got that question the day after
everyone heard the event was a
success.
Dilly: There are lots of big names
on the card and even more femaleversus-male battles. Do you feel
female battlers can give male
battlers a run for their money?
Jon Dough: We do. Black Ice is
a huge fan of Queen of the Ring
and I’m a fan of URL, myself. So
we compared notes and came up
with a card that would interest
our fans. We’ve had this plan
to do an all-female-versus-male
card like four cards ago, but
now we are in position to finally
make it happen.
Dilly: You do the editing and
sound effects for all the battles?
Jon Dough: Yeah, that’s me.
Dilly: You always have great
quality videos; from the sound
effects to the clarity of the videos.
How did you get into editing?
Jon Dough: I started shooting
battle rap a little over a year
ago. I had never touched a video
camera before; a good friend of
mine and fellow videographer,
Justin Clough, taught me some
things. I was thrown to the
wolves, so to speak, from there. I
just shot battle rap how I wanted
to see it and being creative was
top priority. My main goal was
to stand apart from the other
leagues.
Dilly: How do you about people
jacking your sound effects?
Jon Dough: I feel like it’s the
worst way to get noticed. I’ve
had people hit me up and say
they are a big fan of our league
and what I do. Then they go on
to steal, mimic, copy, replicate
and bootleg what I work hard
on. I get paid to be creative, so
when someone comes along and
tries to rip off my signature,
it’s lame and unoriginal. I get
people trying to justify it as,
“That’s hip-hop.” or, “You
started a league after Smack, so
you’re copying them too.” and
all the other bulls**t people say
when you catch them stealing.
If I inspire you as an editor,
shooter or whatever you go
by, I should inspire you to
be original. I’m thankful to
everyone who supports what I
do and who has plans to make
their own lane in battle rap.
Dilly: Do you feel that because
you’re a part of a smaller league,
people feel like they can steal your
creativity?
Jon Dough: Yes, I do; and I
feel that because I’m a smaller
league, people justify it by
jon dough
Seen & Heard
saying “well it was bound to
happen”. I mean, if I ripped off
Twizz I would be set on fire,
but I respect Twizz. I wouldn’t
dream of taking any of his
ideas. Creative people are not
intimidated by other creative
people.
Dilly: There are bigger leagues that
don’t have a quality close to yours.
I think the real supporters will
always recognize that.
Jon Dough: Yeah, but I don’t
know if there is enough of
them to keep us in our rightful
place in battle rap. The worst
part is hoping someone notices
something you worked so hard
on. There’s a lot of risk.
Dilly: After this epic card, I see
Syndicate Cartel being on a higher
level in supporters’ eyes.
Jon Dough: I hope we do move
up, I really do; but it’s for the
supporters to put us there. Right
now, we are in a weird place —
like a purgatory surrounded by
hate — but we’re still moving in
the right direction.
Dilly: The hate will always
be there when you’re doing
something right.
Jon Dough: Yes. True fans want
classics, but there’s not a lot of
true fans. I guess it all depends
on who you cater to, you know?
We want classics over names;
nowadays, if you have two big
names and they put on a decent
battle people called a “classic”.
Dilly: Do you feel a lot of “big
names” take advantage of smaller
leagues by not putting on the
same show as they do on bigger
leagues?
31