Now That They’re Out, There is Absolutely No Stopping Them!
By Sean Corbett

There’s no need to guess. And there’s no need to say maybe. The East Coast DAWGGS (“Dangerous Allies With God Given Skills”), straight out of Worcester, are without question on their way to becoming stars in the Hip Hop/R&B world. “It’s been a crazy year, man,” said East Coast D.A.W.G.G.S. CEO Joe Black. And he couldn’t be more right.
 
Last year, the D.A.W.G.G.S were nine very busy guys. They attended three legs of the New York International Music and Film Festival, one of the largest exhibitions of innovative musical talent in the US. After two stops in NYC and a stop in Las Vegas in the middle, the group came away with the Best Overall Group Performance of 2005 award. And yes, awards are great and all, but Hollywood film producers and directors are a totally different story. Many of those present at the Festival took a genuine interest in the D.A.W.G.G.S’ sound and stage presence and even expressed interest in showcasing the group in their films. The most important contact the boys made there was their current manager, Frankie Munoz, who will soon take them on a 25-city tour of the U.S. Before any talk of the tour, though, Munoz had George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic introduce the D.A.W.G.G.S to the crowd for a performance of their own. Clinton took a strong liking to the group and wants the D.A.W.G.G.S to open for them in the future.
 
The best part of this success story so far is still how the East Coast D.A.W.G.G.S got their start. Their producer, Mike Mincey, notes that without the help of a certain special lady, the group could never have gotten off the ground. Says Mincey, “A stripper gave us our first investment and that’s how we got started.” From there, CEO Black collaborated with his Worcester artists and friends to record vocals onto the instrumental tracks put together by Black and Mincey. The two then worked together with the other artists to finish their first record, A Long Time in the Making, and to organize a tight-knit live performance group of nine men (Joe Black, Moe-B, Don Chill, Black Sun, Hollywood, E-Free, Dirty D, K-Kaz, and Magic Mike), all of whom are from Worcester or the surrounding areas. In fact, it was herein Worcester that Black truly realized his calling. “I always knew I had a good gift for music but it’s not ‘til I got to Worcester that I met up with the other half of the band and really started to focus in. So, about 7 or 8 years ago we started to put it down, trying to make something pop with it.”
 
Currently, the D.A.W.G.G.S’ songs can be heard on their MySpace site (myspace.com/ecd), and their CD will soon be for sale on that same site. In the Club starts up as soon as the site loads, and it’s definitely not what you’d expect after seeing the photos of the group. Quality vocalists belt out lyrics about night-life in an R & B/hip-hop style that doesn’t drift too far from the popular hip hop you hear (and enjoy!) on the radio. Black acknowledges the contrasting appearance of the group with, “When the fans see us walk through the door, it looks like a bunch of gangsters. But when they see how humble we are and how supportive we are, it really just lights up the room.”
 
Black and his DAWGGS are realistically hopeful when it comes to their current and future endeavors. “We just opened up a small company out here called UPATS (United Professional Association of Talent Services). We’re offering some of the music industry services here in Worcester. We’re trying to bring awareness and bring that attention out here to Worcester as the city’s changing. Which is a good thing, we want it to change all around”. Currently overseeing the recording of the D.A.W.G.G.S’ next album in Shrewsbury, Black cautiously predicts that “With the way we’re touring right now, and getting ready to hit the radio with our radio edits, in 5 years we should be making an impact on the industry, selling a lot of records.”