RESPECT. Interview: Understanding Duckwrth

Groovy. Androgynous. Stimulating. Funk.

Duckwrth, as a musician and as a character, is a hard topic to delineate precisely- a summary of him, his music, or his persona, is inevitably going to miss a few key items. Did you know he’s a mango person?

The good news is that oftentimes, a label is the very last thing to jot down when you’re mentally indulging in new things- music, people, a job, etc. It takes a while to get around the curves of something new. Duckwrth took a seat “somewhere” in San Francisco and got on the phone with RESPECT. to discuss his recent tour, genie wishes, ugliness, and Steve Jobs.

RESPECT.: What are you afraid of?

Duckwrth: Not being able to create something I like. Sometimes you’ll have writer’s block or some s**t like that, and the words and the music won’t come out right.

RESPECT.: How’d you get your image? it clearly pushes the envelope; really expressive, androgynous, etc. And I don’t necessarily mean what musical artists influenced you- tell me about how this mindset developed over your entire life.

A series of fortunate and unfortunate events. Who you are today is based on the things that happened to you; traumatic things. My dad dipped out at 8 years old so I had a lot of women in my life; my sisters and my mother. So I picked up with that. I struggled a bit with sexuality before, but, like, we all have sides of masculinity and femininity around and within us. My family’s filled with artists so they just wanted to expose me to different things and as many different colors as possible. I kinda just developed into it. It became a comfort. Helped me understand.

RESPECT.: So, follow up: hip-hop, as gorgeous as the genre is, has an issue with misogyny and hyper-masculinity; as it always has. Taking your very racy, non-standard black artistry, what are your words about the climate of your genre?

The doors opening up for sure. I hate to say it in this way, but I find it kinda ironic with people like David Bowie and Prince passing. With them dying, people are digging back into both of them and checking out their whole aesthetic, and it was filled with questionable items of both genders. Everything’s a cycle and a balance, and I don’t even think it’s hip-hop. In general, it’s society. With women, they were just like f**k this misogyny, we’re gonna elevate ourselves. I feel like misogyny isn’t even like, everyone wants to do it. People see other people being harsh to women and they imitate it in order to fit the standard. It’s a cycle of society and humans and s**t.

RESPECT.: So, say music didn’t work out. What would you be doing?

Graphic Design. Just design. I would be designing like advertisements and album covers. Doing art pieces or installments and stuff. And it’s not even if music does or doesn’t work out; Imma make music as long as I’m allowed to, and I’m gonna make the best of it. Then it’s on to the next thing.

RESPECT.: Are you entirely yourself?

I’m still learning. I’m learning to be myself. I’m definitely more comfortable with myself. It’s like, the more things I learn, the more I realize I know nothing at all (laughs). And that’s everyone. 95% of the ocean we still gotta check out (laughs). I definitely feel like I have a good grasp of who I am though, and who I wanna be. I got a lot better with it.

RESPECT.: In your video for “GET UUGLY,” you chose to have a certain clip be of a girl pulling down her pants to reveal an unshaved private area. Was that intentional?

Yup. It’s ugly. People always want a clean sheet and s**t. That’s the whole thing about ugly. Rappers always present themselves as ballers and getting mad women but s**t’s not really that clean in real life. People always aspire to be these fake individuals, model themselves after false things. I f**k with women’s body hair.

RESPECT.: Who are some non-musical influences?

Non music….. anybody who kinda just removes their ego from themselves and is kinda just able to exist and do amazing things. Whether it be like… Ghandi… or Jesus… or, I dunno. I f**k with them. Those individuals inspire me. Steve Jobs too. But he sucks (laughs). He was all about ingenuity and pushing the boundaries; not accepting the norm. What’s better than the norm? How can people relate to it? Can your grandma f**k with it? Can the garbage man f**k with it?

He didn’t claim his kids for a while though and with the people around him he was douchey, ya know? I think that’s crazy to me too. Like, business is always about getting the upper hand, but in order for you to get the most dollars signs, someone’s gotta take the bullet. You prolly can’t pay your employees what they deserve to get paid, cut corners, etc. I even watch people in the industry, like, flirting with each other and stuff, but in order to make business work you gotta make it like that; sometimes you have to have that sexual undertone. Maybe that’s another fear of mine: Karma. Like, f**king with someone. I hate when I mistreat someone, not on purpose, and they hold it against me. Like, say I was a public figure and then they decided to take that up away from me. Sometimes I just wasn’t paying attention to certain partners, and that’s all on me.

RESPECT.: A genie came out said you have one wish, what is it?

I’m trying to think of something that’s not material (laughs). A lotta people say immortality, but hell nah (laughs).

Uh…. If you had your own island you have to have maintenance, so nah…. OH ok. Maybe like a self-governing, peaceful society or some s**t man.

RESPECT.: What’s one thing you would ask/have ask your musical idol?

Man. I’ve always wanted to have conversation with Jimi. Because he did it being like a black artist appealing to a white and black demographic. But how did he maintain, you know? Also ‘cause he’s from a different era. Fresh outta civil rights and stuff, and appealing to white crowds.

RESPECT.: Yeah I always heard that before shows, he’d take his bandana and dip it in acid, so that when he sweats on stage it just seeps into his pores.

You know, people are always saying that and I’m always wondering, like, he wouldn’t have dipped his WHOLE bandana in there, ya know? (laughs). Like, he’d be f**ked up. Santana used to do the same thing, and at Woodstock people said he kept looking at his guitar real weird- like he was scared of it. And, apparently, during the acid trip he thought his guitar was a snake and he was scared (laughs). So yeah. Jimi couldn’t have dipped his whole bandana in there.

RESPECT.: Probably just the tip of it I’d imagine.

Yeah probably just the tip. That makes more sense.

RESPECT.: I think that’s about all I have for you today actually.

Yeah man. I really liked these questions. As soon as you opened it up with the “What are you afraid of” question I was like “oh nah, this isn’t gonna be like the others.” Those questions get boring sometimes, feel me? As an artist, I get annoyed, sure, but imagine being a reader? It’s like, you’re going from interview to interview, trying to get more info on this artist you like, and you’re reading the same s**t over and over again. So yeah, this was real cool man.

Oh! I’d also want to fly (laughs). I’d wish for the ability to fly.

RESPECT.: So now, you have to choose between world peace and flight.

Yoooo, alright. World peace (laughs). N**gas will be bombing each other and I’m gonna be in the sky. I’d plummet right the f**k to the back to the ground.

You can follow Duckwrth on Twitter and SoundCloud, and check out the video for “GET UUGLY” above.