Throughout the years, some of the
heavyweights in battle rap got their
start from a league in Northern
California called Da Jungle. Da
Jungle took a long break from having events, but founders J Fox and
The Battle Rap legend Okwerdz
have brought the league back
with an event held on Saturday,
September 20th in Stockton,
California. The S.O.N.S is a group
birthed from Da Jungles and in the
wake of the September event, PeBee
Butler met up with one of it’s members — The Deadman — to discuss
his experience at Da Jungle and
much more.
PeeBee: How long have you been
battle rapping?
The Deadman: I’ve been battle
rapping for over a decade now;
since I was a kid, but back then
it was a completely different
era — especially out west. Only
off-the-top-of-the-head freestyle
battles were respected out here
and my style was off-the-top, but
had a few pre-meditated punches
mixed in, so everyone always
assumed it was all written.
PeeBee: Were you a part of the
S.O.N.S at the start of your career,
with another crew or solo?
The Deadman: I started solo,
but I made a conscious choice to
do my first battle in Da Jungle
and knew I’d end up in S.O.N.S
before I even went. Their style
— back-to-back punchlines and
wordplay — was just too similar
to the battle style I was already
using, so I knew it would be
a perfect fit. Plus, most them
n***as were from Cali or battled
out here, so I didn’t have to
travel far.
PeeBee: Who are the members of
the S.O.N.S ?
The Deadman: You got the original S.O.N.S; Fox, Conceited,
Brixx, and Ty Stats. Stats doesn’t
really battle any more; he
focuses on music. Then you got
the first wave: Heartless, QP —
who Fox found in Stockton —
then Luciano Crakk and myself,
who joined a little later. So
there’s eight of us in total.
PeeBee: How are the S.O.N.S
crew’s relationships with each
other these days — with each
group member making the most
of their respective lanes ?
The Deadman: We good, man.
This s**t ain’t like other groups,
where n***as don’t really know
each other; me, Hearts, Con
and Fox pretty much talk daily.
QP is always in and out, up to
his s