The Doppelgangaz: Inside The Black Cloak World

I got to profile the Doppelgangaz for Impose. Handily, they’ve made my favorite rap album of the year so far with HARK:

There’s a brothel in an undisclosed location in Orange County, New York that hides a recording studio in its basement. Down inside that decrepit vault, towards the back of the building, two guys don full-length, hooded black cloaks and take on the monikers of EP and Matter ov Fact. The basement, which is affectionately dubbed as Parts Unknown, has been sound-proofed against the churn of top 40 radio and Carly Rae Jepson Pandora stations that sometimes seep in from the dedicated ladies grinding away above them. Against this backdrop, the two men busy themselves mastering their subterranean art of forging endearingly stark and brilliantly grubby hip-hop music; they write songs that rattle off bizarre medical ailments and sexual peccadilloes as if they were once interns during Kool Keith’s Dr. Octagon-era but were let go when the gyno-doc discovered they were a little too peculiar for even his taste. They call themselves the Doppelgangaz. Back in March they released HARK, one of the most magnificent rap albums birthed this year. Consider this an introduction to their black cloak lifestyle.

(Click here for the full article, plus the excellent “Barbiturates” video.)

Doppelgangaz ‘HARK’

Stream what’s likely to be one of my albums of the year here. Then read on for the duo’s highly important musings on Drake and cows and cats. 

What’s the meaning behind all the cows that feature in the “Oh Well” video?

EP: We tried to tie in the fact that you look at human beings and we pretty much have the free will to do what we please and make any types of decisions we want. Then you have animals like cows. Whether or not a cow is on a farm or not, they barely do anything; they don’t do a damn thing. Yet at the end of the day we’re all heading to the same place. Credit to Drake, you might as well get that YOLO lifestyle going on ‘cause, honestly man, who knows what happens after this? You look at a cow, you don’t have to live like that being bound behind a metal fence eating out of a trough. You might as well get that YOLO, player!

Matter ov Fact: We like to find a cool spot and document it when we’re in video mode. The cows were just literally on the road, hanging over. Also, I feel like it adds to the dramatics of the track: The cows are there but they’re gonna end up in the slaughterhouse and however you wanna put it everyone’s gonna die so enjoy yourself on Earth.

If the Doppelgangaz had an animal as a mascot, what would it be?

Matter ov Fact: That would have to be a shark, definitely.

EP: I guess the appropriate answer would be a shark, but if it was up to me, I’m a cat lover. I’d have a nice sweet little cat. We’re just nice guys who like to eat, relax and chill.