Dan-e-o

The best indication that Dan-e-o has been involved in this hip-hop thing for a minute now? Back in 1991 — when folks used to turn on their television and watch people dance better than them — he won a rap-off on MuchMusic's Electric Circus at the age of 13. Countless trends, styles and reality show concepts have come and gone since then, yet Toronto's Daniel Faraldo is still writing letters to his first love. Proper solo LPs have been few and far between for Dan-e-o, who has dabbled in acting, radio, and in 2012 dropped a collaborative LP with MC Promise as Perfeck Strangers. Inevitable finds the 36-year-old vet rolling solo for the first time since 2004's See No Evil, Hear No Evil, and that familiar Monolith warmth still rings true. With Monolith co-founder Charisma handling the production exclusively, the 14-track Inevitable maintains a late-'90s groove, complete with En Vogue references and a Chip Fu cameo. While the sappy "Love Before" should push you to hit skip the way a late-career LL Cool J ballad would, Dan-e-o sticks mostly to quick-tongued punch lines and the always-welcome ragga influences on "Get Up On It," "Hoo Yuh Want?" and "Bossmon." Standouts include the grown man breath control on "Lil Elijah Say" and the somber "Return to Sender," a Dwayne Morgan-assisted sequel to Dan-e-o's most iconic tune, 1996's "Dear Hip Hop," that reveals there is shame in the game. - Exclaim!

Working together with long time co-producer and best friend Charisma, Dan-e-o has returned with the highly anticipated Inevitable album, the follow up to Immortal EP.

Dan-e-o, a well-established yet modest anchor in the Canadian hip-hop scene, has been on his game since 1996, but feels like now is the beginning, now’s going to be his time.

“I feel like this is the starting point,” said Dan-e-o. “I feel like all of this time I’ve been paying dues, not instantly put on international status, but it’s all been training. I’ve been steadily honing my craft.”

As he simply puts it, it’s not measurable on a level of commercial success or album sales. It’s about gaining listeners to him. As a traditional style emcee, is only concern is to be heard, and whether you like it or not isn’t an issue, as long as you listen.

The new album was produced entirely by Charisma, the original founding member of Monolith, best friend of Dan-e-o before the crew was even a crew. Monolith is the hip-hop crew that Dan-e-o established in 1997 after he dropped his first hit track “Dear Hip-Hop.”

“As a main emcee of Monolith and now making his way as a producer, Charisma’s beats on this album had to make a statement. It helped me to come up with the lyrics and the flow on the album.”

The album is a reflection of wisdom accumulated over the years as an emcee, a lyricist, a producer, an entrepreneur, a mentor, but most importantly, as a man.

“It was important for my influences and what I’ve learned to come through in my music.”

From track to track, you get a taste of Dan-e-o’s perspective of various aspects of life, whether it be about friendships, relationship, hardships, or partnerships, you gain a little insight into the cranial of Dan-e-o.

“We’re multi-dimensional people, with a wide range of emotions, and I felt like this album needed to express that,” said Dan-e-o. “It was put together in the back and forth style to portray both the ever-confident Dan-e-o who can’t be stopped, then there’s this vulnerable Daniel guy, who’s had a girl break him down to almost nothing to the point where I had to rebuild.”image-inevitableDan-e-o now teaches song writing and he said that as he grew up learning from the best, there’s more to it than just being a rapper or an emcee.

“They taught me that above all else, you have to be a songwriter, a great lyricist, so that you can compose timeless music.”

“Being in the game for as long as I have, the least you could expect is to have grown as an artist, developed as an artist, and especially as a song writer,” said Dan-e-o.

One thing that stands out with Dan-e-o as an artist and also a person, is that he is steadily committed. The reason the new album is called Inevitable, and why it was inevitable, is because Dan-e-o won’t quit until he accomplishes what he set out to. His determination shines through in is music.

Many called him a “Dreamchaser,” hence the title of the first track of the album, the only difference between him and some, is that he focuses to make his dreams a reality.

“I have to shout out Black Cat of Monolith, because it was him that called me a ‘dream chaser’ and inspired me to write that song.”

As one half of Perfeck Strangers, and one tenth of Monolith, Dan-e-o is as much a solo artist as an integral part of these two other organisations. Perfeck Strangers, along with Promise, released their debut album Series Premier in March 2012.

Up above an accomplished emcee, Dan-e-o also has numerous acting gigs on his resume, from an episode of the A&E series Breakout Kings, had a starring role in the film Anything Goes (2011) and is now filming another lead role in the upcoming movie Tapped. - Martyr Magazine

• Music » URBAN/Intersection: Dan-e-o
URBAN/Intersection: Dan-e-o
posted by Ryan B Patrick | November 7, 2013 | In Featured, Music

bio3-1The rap veteran known as Dan-e-o owns a hallowed place in Canadian hip-hop history. It was back in 1996 when the Toronto-based artist delivered the hip-hop classic “Dear Hip Hop” off the Beat Factory label’s Rap Essentials Vol. One LP, a historic album that also featured soon-to-be big names such as Choclair and Kardinal Offishall. Dan-e-o would go on to proudly rep his Scarborough, Ontario roots with celebrated underground rap collective Monolith, along with his solo effort The Book of Daniel in 2000. Simply put, Dan-e-o (real name Daniel Faraldo) has been a fixture and influential part of the Canadian hip-hop landscape over the years.

Today, the rapper, actor, producer, and baseball aficionado has rededicated himself to the rap game — he’s currently one-half of hip-hop duo Perfeck Strangers and now has a brand new solo effort, Inevitable due out later this month.

URBAN/Intersection connected with Dan-e-o to chat about the new project, his place in Canadian hip-hop history, and where things go from here.

When did hip-hop start for you?

1987. I was on a camping trip with my Grade 4 class and suffered a major asthma attack the first night. I kept the entire cabin up coughing while someone summoned whoever it was who had my inhaler. They wouldn’t allow the kids to hold on to their medication and they stupidly had it all stored in another cabin. No one could sleep while I was hacking away so while I awaited the puffer, my teacher Mr. Nash decided to chill everyone out by playing some music. He popped in the Beastie Boys “Licensed To Ill” album and I was hooked from that point on. I survived the asthma attack and bought the tape the first chance I got.

How would you define your sound at this point in your career?

Dan-e-o is a grown up. Therefore, my music has grown up as well. I consider myself the sharpest I’ve ever been lyrically. I’m a lot more strategic with my songwriting and I always strive to expose my vocabulary and penchant for intelligent lyricism. But I’m also allowing for my other musical influences to shine through in my latest work. My three favourite artists of all time – Michael Jackson, Bob Marley and Sade – aren’t hip-hop artists. So me getting more comfortable as a singer is shining through on this new album. You can’t make the same records as a thirtysomething that you made as a teenager. I’ve experienced a lot in my life and I’m very honest about it in my music. You’ll hear a lot about pain but you’ll also hear a lot about how to overcome it. That’s where the concepts of “Immortal” and “Inevitable” come from. I never say die and I know that my destiny awaits me.

As an artist, how do you approach the creative process?

I have a variety of ways to approach my songwriting. It almost always starts with the music though. For “Immortal” and “Inevitable”, I worked solely with Charisma a.k.a. Skizzz, who is a Monolith co-founder and a friend for over 20 years. He’s insane talented and on the same wavelength as me musically. We love soul, funk, reggae, hip-hop and rhythm and blues so there’s doses of all that throughout each project. For the most part, he’d hit me with beats and I’d concoct a concept from them. Sometimes he’d hit me with the beat and the concept. In some cases, the lyrics came right away and in others, it took some time to craft. My approach, however, has always been to write from the heart. Be completely honest and the music will touch people emotionally. That’s what I set out to do anyways.

Talk about the album Inevitable and how it came about. What did you want to do differently with this project? Who did you work with and why?

The “Inevitable” album was originally entitled “Immortal”. I was really motivated by this “I will not die” attitude but felt that since a Michael Jackson compilation was released with the same name, I needed a new title. When the project grew into two projects (an EP and LP) I decided to go with the original title for the EP and change the name of the LP. As much as I felt underrated as an MC, Charisma felt unrecognized as a producer. So we decided to join forces to make a statement about that. I definitely knew that I wanted this record to have a more mature and soulful sound while not compromising on my affinity for lyricism. I worked with Red Rat (my cousin) because he’s fam and a world recognized talent and I wanted to show I could hold my own on a dancehall record. Chip Fu is also a legend in my eyes and I wanted to show I could go toe-to-toe with a double time king. I worked with SepTo and Rich Kidd as well as Conwell and Slick Mason (the duo L.I.U.) as they are among my favourite Toronto MCs from the younger generation. On “Inevitable” I show I can hang with both legends and the new breed.

What’s success for you? Any advice for indie Canadian artists looking for success - Canada Arts Connect Magazine

Host DJ 2 Creamz set off the party with CircaBeatz on the 1s & 2s, an interview and exclusive track from Toronto emcee/actor Dan-e-o, a studio visit from CapCityHipHop.com's Lil Thrilla, a guest call from Kevin Lo repping King of the Dot, plus lots more great Canadian music. Played: Electronic, Trap, Hip Hop, Old School, Remixes, Mashups, Canadian Content Stay in the loop with show updates, features, and events: ----- www.facebook.com/TheMixCKCU931 www.twitter.com/themixckcu www.twitter.com/dj2creamz Connect with Dan-e-o: ----- www.twitter.com/Daneo10 www.facebook.com/daneo1010 www.dan-e-o.bandcamp.com www.youtube.com/donfaraldo www.dan-e-o.com Follow CircaBeatz on Twitter: www.twitter.com/circabeatz and catch him live on air Friday nights 9-11pm EST on The Cypher Show with DJ So Nice and The Kid Gorgeous on chuo.fm. - CKCU 93.1fm

”Immortal” is Dan-e-o’s brand new 6-song EP which is available for FREE download from URBNET Records. Produced in its entirety by Charisma a.k.a. Skizzz and featuring guest performances by Nigerian up-and-comer Dice Ailes as well as Canadian lyrical legends, Moka Only, Big Kish and Maestro Fresh Wes, “Immortal” serves as the “appetizer” to Dan-e-o’s full-length album “Inevitable” which is due out this November! - City On My Back

Hip-hop lifer Dan-e-o released his free Immortal EP last month through Urbnet, and now he's shared a video for the cut "Worldwide Vapors" featuring Big Kish and Maestro Fresh Wes.

The track references Biz Markie's classic track "The Vapors." The clip, which was directed and edited by XCON of Will X Movement, is in black and white, and shows the rappers and some friends rhyming in front of a plain background. Some friends show up to join in on the fun as vapours rise in wisps in front of the camera.

Immortal will be followed by Dan-e-o's upcoming full-length, Inevitable, due out on November 12. - Exclaim!

Gain more insight about significant hip-hop figures by checking out their answers to our Allow me to reintroduce myself questionnaire.?

The dynamic duo of Dan-e-o and Promise from Toronto have joined forces as Perfeck Strangers and their debut album, Series Premiere is out this week on URBNET Records. Check out Dan-e-o's answers below and some new songs too.

What was the first hip-hop record you ever bought and where'd you get it?

I bought Beastie Boys' Licensed to Ill album on tape when I was in Grade 4. I heard it on an overnight camping trip with my school and fell in love with it. It was my first real introduction to hip-hop. I went crazy buying tapes after that. Albums by Run-DMC, LL Cool J, Fat Boys, Big Daddy Kane and mad others were soon added to my collection … and I haven't stopped yet. I can't exactly remember where I got that tape from but it may have been from a long-since-gone Sam the Record Man at Scarborough's Woodside Square. I used to buy a lot of music from there including Maestro Fresh Wes' Symphony in Effect on vinyl.



Where did the name that you perform under come from exactly?

I created the name Dan-e-o when I was 12 years old. My homeboy, Jaytrill and I were a duo known as “2 Weird" … . Our names came from simple abbreviations of our full names. I took the first half of my first name, middle initial and last letter of my last name to come up with my alias.

What was the last book you read and how was it?

The last book I read was The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown. As an English major, you would think that I would read more but I barely have time for it. But after hearing so much about The Da Vinci Code years ago, I read it and kinda got hooked on reading all of Brown's books. Very suspenseful and cleverly written stuff. I'm about to start reading The Power of the Actor, by Ivana Chubbuck. Highly recommended reading for actors, I've been told.

Where is your favourite place to eat on this planet Earth and what are we having?

I have a lot of favourite spots to eat. But it's a tie between Lobster Trap and Lobster Royale, which both offer the illest dish on the planet, known as "lobster thermidor." It's an expensive and fattening dish so I've literally had it only a handful of times in my life but it rules. Other than that, my choice sushi joints are Super Sushi House and Ten-ichi in Scarborough.





Which artist, living or dead, would you most like to collaborate with and why?

Michael Jackson. Hands down. He's my all-time favourite artist and the reason I've wanted to be a musician my whole life. When Thriller was released, my life changed. And I was only five. An irreplaceable legend. I can’t imagine a higher honour in music than recording a track with him. - CBC Music

Toronto, ON – Immortal is Dan-e-o’s brand new 6-song EP which is available for free download from URBNET Records. Produced in its entirety by Charisma aka Skizzz and featuring guest performances by Nigerian up-and-comer Dice Ailes as well as Canadian lyrical legends, Moka Only, Big Kish and Maestro Fresh Wes, Immortal serves as the “appetizer” to Dan-e-o’s full-length album Inevitable which is due out this November.

Dan-e-o has also released a video for the EP’s title track. Click here to check out the XCON-directed video now. - Hip Hop Canada

If you've already heard the new Dan-e-o interview on the website today, props for heading on over to check out the "Immortal" review. If you haven't, it's not a prerequisite to this write-up per se, but it may shed light on what Dan-e-o is all about if you're new to his music. Long time readers should be familiar with his steelo though. We've been writing about him for almost a decade now, and he's been in the music business even longer. His longevity would be impressive in any hip-hop scene, but regrettably his survival skills have not resulted in requisite fame South of the maple divide. Despite that Dan-e-o is "Immortal" - no matter how little or how much cheddar he has, no matter how little or how much mainstream airplay he's getting, Dan keeps on outlasting his peers.

"Ha ha! Yeah! It's a whole new era I'm Immortal! Yeah Just when you thought y'all had this rap game locked up Ha ha, reality check niggaz - I'm Immortal! Witness the rise of a guy whose been underestimate All rumors of Dan-e-o's death have been exaggerated See I'm Immortal! I'm Immortal!"

The title track of Dan-e-o's latest short release (22 minutes) is also a tribute to hip-hop's longevity, as he namechecks a slew of classic rap albums like "Illmatic," "Buhloone Mindstate" and "It Takes a Nation of Millions" in a rapidfire second verse. In fact the whole album is a salute to classics in one way or another. "Eritrean Girl" makes absolutely no bones about the fact it's a tribute to "Liberian Girl," a song which has been sampled many times before in hip-hop. My favorite was always "Keep On, Keepin' On" by MC Lyte, others prefer "Letter 2 My Unborn" by 2Pac, but this one pays homage to MJ in a way neither song does. The same can be said for "Worldwide Vapors" featuring special guests Big Kish and Maestro Fresh-Wes, an updated 2013 take on Biz Markie's theme from "The Vapors" back in the 1980's.

The entire release is a (free) prelude to Dan-e-o's upcoming "Immortal" album, and ends with the uptempo sex song "Girl (Boom Boom Pump)," showing off not only Dan's nimble lyrical tongue but his ability to assert the machismo and charisma of LL Cool J in his prime - where a breathy whisper was just as powerful as a shouted epithet. It's Dan's versatility that has kept him relevant throughout the years - he can flip the flow from serious to silly, from party to political, from hardrock to heartfelt at his discretion. This teaser has me excited for the full length "Inevitable" album due November 12th, and my suspicious is that if you download this free release and/or listen to the interview you will be too. - RapReviews.com