Before Earthgang would sign to Dreamville Records
Before Twitter would compare Earthgang to Outkast, which lead to a cosign of the group
from Big Boi himself
And I have to say, the comparisons really need to stop. Outkast is legendary and EarthGang
is building themselves into an incredible new group in the game. But let them grow and
let them all co-exist!
Before they would have standout performances on Dreamville’s “Revenge of the Dreamers
3” Album
Before Johnny Venus and Doctor Dot would drop their Dreamville debut album “Mirrorland”
with features from Young Thug, T-Pain, Kehlani and more.
Before Earthgang would have over 100k followers on Twitter, and close to 400k followers on
Instagram at the time of this recording
In a world full of industry plants, Earthgang has had an organic rise from seeds that were
planted years ago! Johnny Venus and Doctor Dot formed Earthgang in high school but it
wasn’t until recently that their music would make it into the ears of the mainstream. Earthgang
is an example of working hard and working consistently over the course of a decade.
Because over the past 10 years, the duo has dropped 3 albums, 4 EPS, 3 mixtapes, 4 compilation
projects and countless singles. But before they signed to J.Cole’s Dreamville Records,
the two were just a couple kids attending open mic nights and paying $35 dollars a night
to perform. But we’ll walk you through their entire story in this video.
What’s going on good people in the comment section? I hope you’re having one Hecht
of a day. My name is Jeremy Hecht and I’ll be your host today helping out Michael with
weekly content, as we take you through the life and career of Earthgang prior to fame,
here for you of course on Before They Were Famous. We’ve covered other artists for
the channel like J.I.D. and 6lack so be sure to check those out later. But before we start,
I’ve got a trivia question for you:
“What is the first tour EarthGang went on where they got paid?”
Alright, let’s get into the show!
Johnny Venus was born Olu O. Fann on October 9, 1989, and Doctor Dot was born Eian Undrai
Parker on October 25, 1990. The two grew up on the southside of Atlanta, which is also
home to Outkast and Future. But Dot says that he has always had problems following the pack
and always wanted to be his own individual.
In 2008, Johnny and Dot formed what would later become a legendary rap group. While
the two were both attending high school, they first connected on a school field trip in
the 9th grade at Mays High School in southwest Atlanta. The two formed an instant bond after
joking around and talking all day. Apparently the school was even set on fire during that
day and the two took it as a sign that something special was going on there.
Okay so maybe it wasn’t as magical as it sounded. But over the course of the next few
years, the two would hang out, share music and became really good friends. At first,
Dot didn’t even know Johnny was also creating music, but once they found out about their
mutual passion, everything changed.
One night, the two even snuck into a school to play instruments in the music room. And
it didn’t take long before they started to throw around the idea of starting a rap
group together. At first, there were other people in the group too:
They were trying to get beats from local Atlanta producers but no one wanted to work with them.
So the two ended up sneaking into an Atlanta Guitar Center and stealing Reason so that
they could produce their own beats. The two were camp counselors at a camp called “camp
best friends” which sounds like a name you would make up for a camp if you were creating
a fake one. But it was real!
And they had a lot of jobs before music:
After work, they would head straight to a local open mic night to practice their skills.
They even had to pay $35 dollars to perform. And they would pass out mixtapes after the
show! In terms of their other rap names:
That’s a lot of names. But while Atlanta had a lot of successful artists to look up
to while the two were growing up, they actually have influences that range from painters to
poets to comedians. They’ve stated The Ohio Players, Lauryn Hill, T-Pain, Basquiat, Jay
Z, Wu-Tang, Nat Turner, Prince, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Richard Pryor, Madonna and more
on different occasions when listing off their inspirations.
On their name, Johnny told Vibe magazine:
“It encompasses the connectivity and relativeness of life. Everything is related; everything
is intertwined. It’s kind of like when people say they’re cool with God, but it’s like
you can be right with God but if you’re not right with the people around you then
it’s still a disconnect. So it’s acknowledging the symbiosis of life.”
I definitely want to sit down and talk to these guys because they seem really spiritually
aware and self-aware. The two both attended Hampton University in Virginia together on
scholarships. The craziest part is that the two didn’t even know they were both applying
to Hampton.
It was at Hampton that they met fellow ATL native J.I.D. Earthgang needed a place to
record their music at and found out a guy named Pat had a dorm room studio. Pat played
them one of JID’s songs and Earthgang recorded verses over the same beat! So when JID came
back, he was like, wait who are these random dudes who just hopped on my song?
But once he realized how dope it sounded, they connected in person. Dot also realized
that he had a class with JID, but they were sitting on separate sides of the room at first.
By the end of the semester, the two were sitting next to each other and cracking jokes in class.
Along with JID and a bunch of other creatives, they formed the creative collective called
Spillage Village. The group of friends all loved to experiment with sounds, instrumentation
and wanted to try to push each other to make the best music possible. They told Consequence
of sound:
That’s where we just started seriously pursuing the craft and putting things in our lives
into the music — getting high, getting by, whatever. All that stuff.
Earthgang began recording in studios all over Atlanta. Well, by studios, I mean dorm rooms
at Hampton University, crowded Atlanta closets and occasionally in Hampton University’s
music studio. But, they were able to finish a full length project. The two mixed and mastered
their own vocals with the help of Jack Swain and they released their first project on January
26, 2010. The mixtape was called The Better Party. Later that year they began to do performances
around the US including the A3C Festival in Atlanta. Over the course of the year they
also released some loosies. In 2011, the group released a few music videos and released 2
separate albums “Mad Men” and “Good News.”
In 2013, they got a beat from 808 Mafia for their single “Machete” and they dropped
their self-titled release later that year. Their song “UFO” released later that year
and began to make some waves as the 9-minute-long song lives up to its name, with an otherworldly
sound. They also dropped their “Shallow Graves for Toys” album under their Spillage
Village Imprint. The album reached number 11 on Billboard’s Emerging Artists Chart.
Noisy said of the album:
"an engaging, clever rap duo… One of the most well thought-out releases of the year."
Earthgang followed the album up with “Strays With Rabies” and kept putting out music
and let loose album after single after video after compilation project. Hoping that their
talent would be able to reach the masses. But their biggest opportunity would come as
the opening act on a tour. While in LA opening for Audio Push, Punch from TDE saw their performance
and after Atlanta legend Coach K put in a good word for the duo, Punch asked them if
they would open for one of TDE’s artists on tour.
In 2014, Earthgang was one of two opening acts for Ab-Soul’s “These Days” tour.
They performed alongside Dreamville artist Bas. But this may come as a surprise to some
of the up and coming artists watching out there, opportunity doesn’t always come with
a pay-check. Earthgang wasn’t paid at all for their opening slot and they even had to
borrow money from people in order to throw the show. It was 50 dates and 2 months of
traveling, that’s a long time with no money.
It
all paid off thought. Because there WAS a special member in the audience during the
New York show on that tour named Jermaine Cole. The group didn’t even know Cole was
in attendance but I guess that’s why you have to perform every show like it’s your
last. Cole was so impressed with their act that he asked to meet them backstage after
the show. Cole had come across their music before online, but this was his first time
seeing them perform live, and he left an open invitation for them to come to his North Carolina
abode and record some music if they wanted. And you know Cole only works with true lyricists,
so any time you get that invite, it’s a stamp of approval from Carolina’s finest.
So the group obviously accepted that offer. They drove from Atlanta to North Carolina
where they got to know Cole on a personal level and also made some music.
They went back on the road in 2015 as an opener for Mac Miller on his GO:OD AM tour. It’s
crazy how far Mac’s influence reaches in hip hop. Miss you Man. In summer of 2016,
the duo would join Dreamville artist Bas on his “Too High To Riot Tour.” Also, I feel
like we need a before they were famous on Bas, so let me know in the comments if you
want me to get on that!
On August 31, 2017, Earthgang signed with J.Cole’s Dreamville Records. The duo headed
out on tour with their man J.I.D. and also got to open up for Cole on the European leg
of his 4 Your Eyez Only Tour and his North American K.O.D. tour. They began to build
up their fanbase from all of the shows and the music they were releasing.
But after years of grinding, 2019 finally became the year that Earthgang would blow
up. They released the song “Proud of U” with Young Thug and featured on 5 separate
songs for the label’s Revenge of the Dreamers 3 project. The album proved to be an introduction
to an entire group of new fans.
On individuality, Dot has this to say:
“I think that’s important for life. We all born on this Earth alone, and we’re
going to die alone… So it’s important for you to be able to express yourself completely
and thoroughly through anything that you do. Whether it be rap, whether it’s being the
most unique, influencing CEO possible — a writer or mailman. You ought to be able to
do it to the fullest of your ability as a complete expression. I think that’s important
in music, specifically, because it’s one of the greatest forms of expression throughout
the world.”
So to a group that has individuatlity at their forefront, I think lazy fans need to stop
comparing them to Outkast. I get it, Atlanta, different, but let them grow as artists and
be individuals. There’s room for everybody to be the first them, not everything has to
be the next something.
But as for the first tour they got paid for was opening up for Mac Miller. But the group
apparently only broke even.
But as for the rest of the story, we’ll have to wait and see because this is Before
They Were Famous.