WRITTEN BY JAY DENSON

The group Chiddy Bang is made up of Chidera (Chiddy) Anamege and Noah (Xaphoon/DJ & Producer) Jones. The duo teamed up while attending Drexel University and was introduced through a mutual friend. Emcee Chiddy being a resident of New Jersey and Xaphoon born and raised in Philadelphia capitalized on the chance meeting utilizing elements of indie rock and electronica creating the group we know today as Chiddy Bang. Their most popular song “Opposite of Adults” is a catchy, playful and rhythmic track that samples MGMT’s song “Kids”. The video is a juvenile based illustration of high school life filled with skateboarding, basketball, and dancing in the classrooms. The cut and paste style utilized in the video will make you laugh and provides a level of creativity which “in my opinion” is what the group is all about. If there is any indication that they have solidified a fan base, then their recent sold out performance at the Highland Ballroom in NYC this past August is proof. Currently on tour back and forth between the U.S. and the UK, the group had to push back their debut album “The Swelly Life” which is currently slated for an early 2011 release. Producer Xaphoon confirmed that “The Preview” which is a mini album would be released in the UK Oct. 11^th and the U.S. Oct 12^th.  I had an opportunity to sit down and speak with the duo at the Virgin Records/EMI offices in NYC where they were signed this past January.

Do You Feel That Emcee’s Should Explore a Different Sound Outside of Hip-Hop? 

Chiddy: Yes definitely, before I met Xaphoon I wasn’t really open to this other world, the world that exists beyond rap. I think I’ve grown tremendously, not just how I make music but how I listen to music, after exploring the indie world and being open minded listening to other stuff. So with that being said, I didn’t know about MGMT when I first started the group, I didn’t know about MGMT when he first gave me that beat, but afterwards I went and researched what they’ve done and its dope. As a musician listening to other people and seeing what’s cool and what’s unique about them in a different genre and now I totally respect that.

What was the concept of the song Opposite of Adults?

Xaphoon: We didn’t sit down and think of one, it was more created. We were experimenting in going beyond what the normal samples are. The soul records and the funnel breaks and just kind of seeing what else we can throw into the loop and get weird with it. This happens to be one of the more catchier ones, we never said “this is the single, this is the one” it just kind of happened.

What is the definition of Swelly Life?

Chiddy: The Swelly Life in its condensed version is the pluses and the minuses of “Living the Life” the life that we now live. A year and a half ago we were in a dorm just making beats, spitting raps and stuff like that and trying to chase this dream. Now we’re sort of doing it, we’re sort of living the dream that we always wanted to pursue but its like there’s highs and then there’s lows to it. Always being on the road, being away from your family, but at the same time being happy because your doing what you loved which is the dream you’ve always chased. Like that’s the Swelly Life, chilling here doing this interview, doing a photo shoot for 4 hours, and going back to your crib and cooking up some fish.

Why was the album “The Swelly Life” pushed back?

Xaphoon: We wanted to make our first album probably one of the most epic and we’ve been touring non-stop since June 2^nd before that since March, so there was no studio time. We wrote a lot of new stuff but we don’t want to release the album until it’s the best it can be so we have a preview coming out on Oct. 12^th and that will be the songs that we have had so far. It’s really important to us to have a clean slate and a new record and not have “Opposite of Adults” and not have “Truth” and those songs on there because those songs are almost two years old now and its time to show what our vision for the future is.

Do you look to be different when shooting your videos?

Chiddy: We definitely want it to be different. We just shot a video with Pharrell called “The Good Life” and it was in Jersey City and it was crazy. I was locked in a trunk, we were driving around, crazy DJ party it was like, it was an amazing experience. We definitely try for each video to have a crazy different feel not stereotypical how you would expect it from a rap video per say.

People are drawing comparisons to B.o.B and Kid Cudi, would you say your sound is similar?

Xaphoon: I would say Kanye and Cudi opened a lot of doors for us to be successful, I would definitely say there are similarities but I wouldn’t know about saying that we’re in the exact same lane.

If you guys ever retire, what do you want the fans to remember you by?

Xaphoon: That we had crazy energetic live shows, we gave away a lot of free mixtapes, and we changed the game a little bit.

Chiddy: That we was a group that sort of did it their own way but in a way that anybody can do. Like people could look to us sort of like an inspiration to do it because the way we came up we went to college, we were college students like a year and a half ago and we just made music in the dorms, in the school, used what was provided to us, used our own resources, and just somehow managed to make it happen. So if we can do it, they can.