12 April 2010
By Jonathan Jackson, Photography Deuce Eclipse
Dedicated to hard work and hip-hop, to his family and roots, Deuce Eclipse found what he loved to do at a young age and was fortunate to be surrounded by friends, family and a culture of support.
As a musician his versatility is undeniable. Flowing interchangeably between Spanish and English, you can catch him moving from straight up hip-hop, to experimental, to dancehall and even showing off his skills as a singer with his band Bang Data. With Deuce you always have the feeling that he has something to say, whether it be on record, YouTube, or talking with Hecho.
You were born in Boaco, Nicaragua, right? When did you move to the States and how did you end up in the Bay Area?
Well most people might think I was born in Nicaragua because of the way I revere that country or the way I act (laughs), but I am actually first-generation born in the United States. San Francisco, California is my place of birth, but inside my house was and always will be Nicaragua. My father and mother migrated from Nicaragua to San Francisco, where I was born. I always felt that just because I was born in the United States does not make me less of a Nicaragüense. All my family are Nicas, both my parents. They made me, therefore the blood in my veins is Nicaraguan sangre.
How did you discover your gift for music and what drew you to hip-hop?
I was raised with music as an everyday part of my life. My father was my first inspiration. He showed me the strings on a guitar and the keys on an organ. He was self-taught and doesn’t know how to read notes, which is the reason I was drawn to hip-hop. No one taught us how to do hip-hop, it was created by us for us, it came out of struggle as a voice for people who didn’t have one at the time. I was drawn to it like a moth to a flame. Something divine touched me on the head when I was 9 years old and told me that this is what I am here to do: Music.
What expectations, if any, do you place on yourself as the self-described ‘first rapper to rep Nicaragua’?
Well, I don’t know if I ever said that I was the first to rep Nicaragua, there are a lot of artists that are Nicas here in the Bay and in other parts of the world who are putting it down for our heritage. The only expectations that I hold on myself are the ones I put on myself. No one is harder on me than myself. I work very hard to earn my position on a stage and in life. When I do things I always have “us” on my mind, but at the same time, I am not asking anyone to follow me or to believe in everything that I say. I don’t do music for that. I do music to heal myself so I can try to do something good for the world. Music was a gift that God gave me, for me. If we don’t heal ourselves then what good are we to the world? I love going to Nicaragua because the people are real people, no fakeness, non-judgmental, at least the ones that I know. If my cousins and family are cool with me and love me, I feel good. I feel proud that they accept me as a true Nicaragüense, even though I wasn’t born there, and in turn they are proud of me because they know I think of them when I create my art.
How has your Nicaraguan heritage influenced you as an emcee and as a musician?
Nicaragua is a country of great history. It’s a country that has seen many struggles but continues to show its love for mankind. So whenever I grab a microphone I’m proud to represent it. My heritage showed me to have confidence, to have strength and rhythm, to speak my mind and never give up. All of those things transferred into the way I make music.
You seem very open musically when it comes to experimenting with different sounds and styles. What do you attribute that openness to?
Having an open mind. The reason I became such a good freestyler was because I didn’t want to stop rapping. I would run out of rhymes and be like “damn, I wanna keep going,” so I learned how to improvise. Sampling also opened my mind to creating whatever you want over music. You can sample Irish Celtic music and make a beat that you could sing or rap to. Maybe it sounded nothing like the indigenous music of Ireland, but you’re connecting to it by rapping it and putting a hard beat under it. For some reason when I was young I used to tell myself I wanna be able to rap or sing over anything. Till this day I will just turn on the radio and try to do something to whatever is on there. Sometimes it sounds incredible and sometimes it sounds whack! But hey, at least I tried and didn’t tell myself I couldn’t.
Describe what it was like for you to come back to Nicaragua and do a show in Boaco.
Well, the reason I went to Nicaragua was to do some free shows for my friends and family who live out there. Another big part, I went was because I wanted to do a show where my father was born and where my mother was born as a tribute to them and as a sign of gratitude to a country that has such a huge piece of my heart. My father was a well-known musician in Boaco and it was always a dream of mine to perform there to show him how much I love him. I also wanted to do a show in Malacatoya because my mother showed me to never forget where you came from. I wanted to show them that I love them and think of them everyday. So Boaco was for my Guerrero side of the family, and Malacatoya-Granada was for the Barahona side of the family.
You have an album coming out called “Indigenous Noise.” Explain what that term means to you?
“Indigenous Noise” is the name of my new album and a term that I use to describe my music in general. It’s also the name of the documentary that I am doing. It means my music is the sound of the earth and culture that existed here for centuries. The noise that we create is to be at one with the earth, the universe and ourselves; the original sound, the sound that is noise to our oppressors but music to our ears. When I say I’m indigenous or indio, I am giving homage to all the people who have roots that go back, way back, like the Native Americans of the United States, Nicoyas, Salvadorenos, Mexicanos, Latinos, we all are the native Americans of this side of the world all the way down to South America. We walked this side of the earth before the ships came and changed everything. This is what it means to me. To remind myself of the ones who died to get us here.
I saw a video of you performing all the way over in Hamburg, Germany with the group Zion I. What doors has music opened for you that might have otherwise been closed?
Well, Zumbi from Zion I is one of my oldest and dearest friends, it’s with them that I first truly saw the world. They are the reason I went back to Europe and got out to Japan and Malaysia. Music has opened the doors to the world for me. It has given me a worldview. My mother first planted the seed of travel when she got me a passport when I was a teenager. I will always thank her for that. She was like, “Here, we’re going to Nicaragua to show you where we are from.”
The doors that music has opened for me have been a blessing; it makes me want to see more. That’s why I do music. It’s the universal language. In Germany half the people don’t know what we are saying, but they are feeling it. It makes me proud when I step off of a plane in Japan that a Nicaraguan is about to put his foot down. It makes me humble and reminds me that the world is small and what we choose to do affects it in every part.
To check out Deuce go to www.deuceeclipse.com, www.myspace.com/deuceeclipse and www.youtube.com/eldos. For his new band Bang Data you can check out: www.bangdata.com or www.myspace.com/bangdata and pick up their new EP “Maldito Carnaval” on iTunes, Amazon and more.
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