Urban Vault caught up with DJ Illegal of the Snowgoons, (Hip Hop producers based in Germany), to ask him some questions about his music, inspirations, and collaborations

The Snowgoons are Hip Hop producers based in Germany. The Goons consists of DJ Illegal, Det Gunner, Sicknature & J.S.Kuster. Throughout the years, the buzz surrounding the Snowgoons has steadily escalated as their gritty, authentic and eclectic beats have gained recognition in both the US as well as within the burgeoning European Hip Hop scene.

What is your name?

I go by the name of DJ Illegal from the Snowgoons.

Where are you from?

I’m from Germany but I consider myself from Planet Earth.

How long have you been making music?

Like producing since the late 90’s but really doing music with the turntables already since the early 90’s. I came from creating loops on the turntable with beat juggling to doing loops on an Akai sampling machine. I consider playing around with the turntables already as making music.

How many songs /albums have you released to date?

Wow, this is def too much to list up now. It is over 20 album and projects that I am involved. I made already DJ Breaks and Beat records in the 90’s before I start releasing music with the Snowgoons. But our latest album is called Goon Bap.

Can you tell us about your new song/album, the background, and inspirations behind it?

The Goon Bap album is heavy influenced by the 90’s Hip Hop era. That’s why we called it Goon Bap because of the Boom Bap era. We made our own sound mixed with the 90’s and called it Goon Bap. We tried to pay homage to our favorite era without just biting that style. We still kept it Snowgoons.

Who have you collaborated with so far in your Career?

This is even a bigger list than our releases itself. Snowgoons are known for collaborate with other artists. On our first album German Lugers, we had already over 20 artists and we keep going like this. So you can imagine with over 10 albums in and a couple of collabo album with Onyx, MOP, PMD and so on we worked with over 250 heads worldwide already.

Who would you like to collaborate with in the future?

There are still artists we would love to work with like Nas, Chuck D, Royce Da 59. Plus many others.

What inspires you when you make your music?

I think Hip Hop itself. I’m still a big fan of the music and the culture so I get motivated and inspired but other releases or projects. But also movies and TV Shows can inspire me to create songs or music.

How have you ended up in the music industry?

It all came automatically. I started as a DJ and went from spinning in Clubs to work with artists to release my own music. I grow into it and running now my own label.

What do you think of the music industry in 2017?

Everything is changing and you have to go a bit with the flow but also, on the other hand, you have to stay true to yourself. If we look at the music industry today and 10 years ago it is changed completely and then looking even back 20 years ago it was way different too. This goes from how an artist used to work in a studio till the way the music gets promoted and distributed out there.

What have you got planned for 2018?

Like always the Goons never sleep and we working on so many projects right now. Sicknature is about to drop his new Solo album and we keep recording songs for different projects. I believe 2018 will be a strong year for us.

What’s your favorite track at the moment?

Like right now I listen to the new Heavy Metal Kings album and Sicknature produced a crazy banger on it. But I’m also checking out the new Westside Gunn mixtape.

What do you do when your not making music?

I think beside spending time with my daughter I watch a lot of TV Shows online. I don’t have a TV but use Netflix or Apple iTunes to watch my favorite TV Shows.

Facebook or Twitter?

None of them. I have to use it but personal like Instagram the most.

In a few words sum up your thoughts about Urban Vault UK and what we’re trying to do?

Websites and blogs like Urban Vault UK are important because there is not much underground media that covers music like we do. It’s like the radio they mainly play the same bullshit 5 songs over and over again. But if you dig deeper you will find some dope Radio shows and stations. So don’t only take your info from Facebook or Twitter. There are good blogs like Urban Vault UK out there.

Thank you for your time and may you carry on making dope, fresh music…

Thanks a lot too and let’s all keep Hip Hop Alive!

www.facebook.com/DJIllegalSnowgoons/
www.snowgoons.de/
www.facebook.com/SnowgoonsMusic/
https://twitter.com/snowgoons
https://instagram.com/realsnowgoons/