Artist on the Lookout: Dance Myth

A-Natural, left and Dance Myth, right

Looking like Sonic the Hedgehog, Dance Myth (born Dan Smith) runs the boards like Sonic jumps through golden rings.

Smith was a video game fanatic until he was 11, when his parents said that he needed to get off the controller and do something productive. So he bought a pair of turntables, a mixer, and a keyboard and started making music, Hip-Hop being his genre of choice.

He knew how to play keys, so he could make beats, but his big creative breakthrough came when he learned how to use samples, Smith said.

“I firmly believe that if it’s Hip-Hop, it should have samples somewhere on the album,” Kitchen said. “Because that’s where Hip-Hop started.”

He discovered sampling after transferring his beats onto his laptop, which is what made sampling possible for him. He feels like sampling makes his beats sound “authentic”.

Although he constantly cycles through sampling sources, he is currently taking a lot from the Delfonics and The Main Ingredient, Smith said.

Like many Hip-Hop artists, Smith is a devout Christian, but unlike many of his Hip-Hop peers, he does not forget about his spirituality in his music. Although he does not consider himself a Gospel artist, he does say that his faith is a factor in his music, Smith said.

His friend and partner, A-Natural, who shares Smith's spiritual values (the two met in Church), has released two albums, Refocus and 738215+, both of which are available on iTunes Plus.

He’s executively producing and partnering with A-Natural’s new album, A-A-R-O-N. Together, they are producing an album for the well-connected, Newark-based rapper Hom. Hom’s album is almost complete and will be released upon a distribution settlement. Smith is also working on his own albums, as he is himself an MC. His album is on the back burner, but he ensures a summer release, Smith said.

“What I’m hoping to do is get my foot in the door with my production, and [that] way I can have a stamp of approval for myself,” Kitchen said.

As of now, his marketing strategy is mostly limited to MySpace. However, it has proven to be helpful for selling beats online, and has helped him connect with other artists, Smith said.

Smith is not a fan of many mainstream rappers, but he does respect how the business is carried out.

“One of my problems with underground Hip-Hop [listeners] is that all they do is complain,” Kitchen said. “[The music industry] is a business. You do it for the love of it, but it’s a business.”

Smith’s studio (Dan's Kitchen) is located in Plainfield, N.J. at the Soumas Heritage School of Music. Studio time costs $45 an hour, and he can master tracks too.

Click HERE to visit Dan Smith's MySpace page.

Dance Myth featuring Mobb Deep - Now That I've Found Myself