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Donny Goines - Legit & Honest
Interview By: Quinton Hatfield
 Honest is sometimes the best way to be and when you keep it real people will respect you. When it comes to the hip-hop industry many rappers are accused of being studio gangsta as their cards are finally pulled when someone exposes them. If you decided to be true to yourself from the first place and do what you do then many rappers wouldn’t face this. Just think about the ones on the rise always talking about they got this and that,b but really don’t have shit. They just out here grinding like everybody else doing what they have to do to reach their dreams while still working they nine to five. Trust me I know as I’m doing whatever to get my shit poppin too, but that’s another story. Anyway upcoming MC Donny Goines is one of the few dudes in the game that stays true to himself keeping it legit and honest.
I had interviewed Donny Goines late last year and during that first conversation/interview you can hear the grind in his voice. The man works hard and as a person on the rise to reach his dream he tells of the struggle, the grind, and the bullshit politics in the music industry all in his music. Passion is what has this man going forward and when you work hard the industry indeed will take notice. Already featured on many major hip-hop sites already Donny Goines now gets his first on Nobodysmiling.com. Top notch producers in the game see the potential of Donny Goines so he must be saying something nice in his lyrics for these dudes to fuck with him from the start (Dame Grease, Statik Selektah, Ron Browz, etc). Donny Goines goes hard full-time and in this interview he tells what he looks for when going through beats, why it’s nothing wrong being a 9-5 rapper, and why this game is all about sacrifice.
 Nobodysmiling.com : Donny this is the second time were talking and not too long ago I talked to a well known producer by the name of Dame Grease. When I asked him who he was feeling in the game right now he mentioned your name. How it feels to have somebody like Dame Grease who has a lot of credit in the industry to support somebody like you?
Donny Goines : It’s an honor and a privilege, that dude is a legend and he’s a very talented producer. For somebody of that stature to say something like that really humbles me and let’s me know I’m going in the right direction. That’s a blessing.
Nobodysmiling.com : So what it was like when you first met Dame?
Donny Goines : He’s a good dude [laughs], when I first met him he was kind of laid-back. That’s the way he is in general, he’s a real laid-back dude. You know how some people be bouncing all-over the room and shit he really ain’t one of them kind of people [laughs]. He’s really calm and collected you know what I’m saying. When I met him I came up there to do a joint on one of his records. He was like “Yeah that’s hot” and that’s pretty much how we started [laughs].
Nobodysmiling.com : That’s funny because when I was talking to Dame I asked “What if somebody was wack, what would it take for you to work with them”. Then he said if you wack I will make you hot!
Donny Goines : Yeah, he can definitely do it [laughs]. I got the opportunity as I’ve really been around him a lot these past couple weeks, because he’s executive producing my debut album. I’ve been around him and fortunate enough to see a lot of things and he’s one of the best producers out here hands down. He can really make people as far as who they need to be. He can make artists into stars and that’s actually the reason why he’s executive producing my project, because now I’m at a point where I feel I need to take my career to the next level. I know that with his work with DMX and a lot of other artists he will be able to do the same thing with me.
Nobodysmiling.com : Let me ask you this, speaking from an artist perspective a lot of producers try to send you beats, especially when you on the come up and on the grind. What do you look for in a beat, what type of sound you need?
Donny Goines : In all honesty for one it gotta be rich, it has to be rich. The sound has to be very big, I don’t know how to explain it, but it’s something you listen and hear with a good ear. Once you hear it you know what it is. When you listen to a lot of up and coming producers they will send you beats and it’s not mixed right or it sounds muffled whatever the case is. I don’t try to be cocky or nothing, but I come up under producers. I’ve had the ability to work with a lot of well known producers and get a lot of music from one of those producers. I go down the list from like Dame Grease, J.R. Rotem, I’m cool with Scott Storch, I was talking to Cool N’ Dre the other day, Scram Jones. These are people that I’m reaching out to and speaking to now. These producers have to understand that they going against these kind of people you know what I’m saying [laughs]. When you come you got to come correct you have to bring you’re A-game and that’s just being real.
Nobodysmiling.com : If a producer was trying to holla at you about some beats what is the main thing you would tell them what you looking for. What would you tell them like example “Come like this or I’m not fuckin with it”?
Donny Goines : Nah it’s not that I’m rude or nothing I just try to help guide people in the right direction. As an artist if people didn’t do that to me then I wouldn’t be going in the right direction. When I hear something that got potential knowing it can be better I tell them and I’m completely honest with them. I’ll be like listen “You need to get your beats mixed better or incorporate sound”. Everybody is different, you can really pinpoint one thing for everybody. I really try to give them a lot of advice as a person that’s had an advantage of hearing a lot of A-list producers. I just try to give people advice and point them in the right direction.
Nobodysmiling.com : Switching things up, when you’re an upcoming artist a lot of people might don’t understand that they might still got their regular 9-5 job while still trying to get on in the game. Speaking from your perspective can you speak in that situation that it’s not always what it seems?
Donny Goines : I’m a tell you something and I’m glad you asked that question, because a lot of people don’t understand. That’s actually the reason where the title of my album derives from. I’ve title it “Minutes After Midnight” and the reason I titled it that is because it parallels with the story of Cinderella. The whole story of Cinderalla a lot of people tend to focus on the ball. She found the glass slipper, she came in the ball, and everybody was like “Oh wow, she all this and that”, but what happens after that? A lot of people are so fixated on the ball, the show so to speak, and as a parallel to the artist they don’t understand what goes on behind that.
It’s a lot of things that people don’t see and that’s the crazy thing about it. Going back to your question I ain’t got a job, I don’t got a 9-5, and that means honestly I ain’t got no money [laughs]. I be sitting here trying to fuckin make wine out of water. I’m very grateful as I have a lot of support from a lot of different people and I’m able to use a lot of resources, but what I’m lacking in money definitely hurts the process. At the end of the day it’s a lot of people out there working 9-5’s. I’m not going to mention any names, but I know a lot of people that got 9-5’s that got placements right now, some of the hottest albums out there. Some artists they got 9-5’s too it’s nothing wrong with that. You have to do what you go to do to make it to where you tryna get. For me if a 9-5 would help me get to where I’m going then I would have a 9-5, but the way I work actually a 9-5 would hinder my process so I just basically work 24/7 on music. I just suffer with lost of income, things of that nature, but it’s very hard.
Nobodysmiling.com : Hey so my man Donny Goines is doing a sacrifice?
Donny Goines : Exactly, a very big one at that. A lot of people I’ll be completely honest they don’t know me personally. Before I got into music I used to be the dude on the block getting new kicks every week, new outfits all the time, nice car, always had jewelry. I’m always running around going on dates every other day and this was my lifestyle before rap. I tell a lot of people about that, because that’s just the way I was. When I did this all that shit had to go out the window [laughs]. I can’t buy the nice kicks no more, I can’t buy jewelry, I can’t do whatever, I have to pay for studio time. I have to pay for mixing, CD’s, and I always tell people if you want to go into this and really try to pursue it then you really need to get it in. You need to push all your energy forward to making your dream a reality and that included finances.
Nobodysmiling.com : At least you keeping it real, because a lot of these upcoming artists trying to get on have no idea.
Donny Goines : Yeah and they be bullshittin too [laughs]. They be sitting around like I got a Maybach, I got this, I got that but let’s be real. If you got a Maybach, a 100,000 dollar chain would you really be rapping, why would you rap [laughs]? You making a lot of money obviously doing something else, you making it seem like you don’t need to rap. It’s sad because a lot of people are being fooled at what they see on the screen and what they see at these shows. My album is going to be the complete Anti-Christ of that [laughs]. I’m really going to shut niggas down, because you can make great music without fuckin lying all the time saying you got this and that. That shit is a fantasy man, I ain’t never been in no fuckin Maybach [laughs]. See what I’m saying so it’s like come on you really got to step it down a notch and focus on reality. People are just lost man you know.
Nobodysmiling.com : What made you decide that you want to speak on the realities of life?
Donny Goines : What else can I speak on, how can I speak on something that I don’t know [laughs]? If I don’t know how to drive a stick how can I say I’m a come pick you up in a stick? If I don’t know how to do something or I don’t know about something I can not portray that. It’s certain things that I do know that I really don’t portray either, because it’s always a double standard. I can talk about shit like the criminal activities, drugs, and crazy shit. I can really go in with that shit, but it’s like what is that really solving? That’s really negative, then I could go on the other side of the fence and talk like everything is happy go lucky, but that’s not real either. Life is a balance, it’s always ups and downs, have-nots and haves, poor and rich, etc. You have to speak on what your familiar with and right now that’s what I’m familiar with. I’m familiar with the have-nots, I’m familiar with the poor, I’m familiar with people in the struggle on the come up. That’s where I stand and that’s what I’m going to represent.
Nobodysmiling.com : Damn you doing a good ass interview right now!
Donny Goines : That’s what’s up, I’m glad you like it.
Nobodysmiling.com : Can you speak on the ups and downs with you pursuing your career in the music industry like the politics that go on within the business?
Donny Goines : [Laughs], We would have to do a three part interview for something like that [laughs]. For one it’s a lot of “Clickesh” behavior in this game. A lot of people they tend to be in one crowd and if your not a part of that crowd you can’t really break in. For instance, I’m not really big on the mixtape circuit like that, because that’s sort of a “Clickesh” arena. I would have to break in with somebody that’s in the click, let’s say a Kay Slay or a Clinton Sparks or whoever. I would have to break into one of those major entities for people to respect me and bring me in. That’s something that I really don’t like, because it reminds me of high school or some shit. You know how the jocks stay with the jocks, the fuckin nerds stay with the nerds. That’s how I feel this fuckin game is and it’s crazy. People don’t know how to just fuckin respect people based on music, talent, and drive. It’s always some other shit about how much money you got, who you fuckin with, etc.
That’s something that’s a pet-peeve of mine that I really don’t like, I really truly don’t like it and that’s one issue. Another issue that I feel like is a problem is that people are dick-riders. That’s real, they don’t try to be innovative and creative they try to do what everybody else is doing. I’ll tell you something a lot of people try to pigeon-hole me and say “I’m a certain kind of artist or I do certain kinds of songs”, but truth be told I can do anything kind of fuckin song I want. It’s just that I do a song the way I want to do it. If I’m a do a party song it’s gonna be a party song the way Donny party. If it’s going to be a hip-hop song it’s going to be the hip-hop I’m familiar with. A lot of these people they’ll see a Soulja Boy sell three million ringtones and all of a sudden you got to crank that Batman or whatever the fuck other million imitations you have out there. The truth of the matter is that doesn’t help the game as a whole and in actually it hurts everybody involved. The talented people are being locked out while the fraudulent ones are being let in and it just really doesn’t help the game. I would say that those two right there are really the biggest issues of mine.
Nobodysmiling.com : It’s funny because a lot of artists that I interview say the same thing. The game sucks right now due to the lack of diversity.
Donny Goines : Yeah, it’s true. Everybody wants to be a certain kind and it’s fuckin crazy to me [laughs].I can give you an example now, this hipster trend that’s coming up now. Now all of a sudden everybody wants to be a hipster. Not that it’s nothing wrong with that, don’t get me wrong you can do whatever it is you want to do, but that’s true to you. You got people emulating that, because they want to be where others are. It’s like that shit is crazy to me just be yourself. Do what it is that you like to do, talk about things you like to talk about, speak on things that make you happy. A lot of times people talk about things, because they think that’s the “In” thing to do or they think that’s the move. Truth of the matter a lot of people from the beginning is lost and that’s understandable. But if your like a ol’ G that’s well into the game and you still making that shit continue you should fuckin shoot yourself or something man [laughs]. It’s just fuckin corney man.
Nobodysmiling.com : You dropped a project earlier so how would you compare the new to the last?
Donny Goines : They are two different projects. The “Excerpt” Page One was a concept album from start to finish focused on hip-hop. This new project it’s just me on beats and I’m just spitting. Like I said before people try to pigeon-hole me and say I’m a certain kind of artist or certain kind of whatever. No that’s not the case I can rap or whatever beat I want to and say what I want to say. I can spit too don’t ever confuse it. That’s because I talk about hip-hop or whatever don’t think it’s all story-telling. I had to show people that and I really got a lot of love from that project.
Nobodysmiling.com : Once this project drops what do you look forward to hearing from the people?
Donny Goines : I’m not realty expecting much I just want to give the people something they can enjoy. I just want to build on what I already started to do. As far as the mixtape I heard a lot of critiques some were good. Now I’m a switch it up a little bit and try something different.
Nobodysmiling.com : Donny Goines appreciate the love on getting down with Nobodysmiling.com. Give some shout-outs and how fans can reach you out there?
Donny Goines : I first of all appreciate Nobodysmiling.com, Q The Question I appreciate ya’ll for conducting the interview, all the readers thanks for the love and support. Be on the look out and keep ya ears open. Check me out on my myspace www.myspace.com/donnygoines, send me a friend request and if you’re a girl leave a comment and holla at ya boy [laughs].
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