My City: God-Des and She - Midwesterners By Heart, Texans By Calling Posted by Nathan S. on 12/07/09 | Filed under My City, God-Des and She

In the article on God-Des and She's new single "Respect My Fresh" I wrote that while the duo might not look like your "typical" rap crew, anyone who listens to their unique style will have no choice but to give them some hard-earned respect. Now living in the creative capital that is Austin, Texas after doing time in both New York City and Madison, Wisconsin, God-Des and She are out to prove that dope hip-hop can be found anywhere.

RefinedHype: In 2004 you both moved from the Midwest to New York City. In terms of your music and careers, what prompted the move?

God-Des and She: As much as we loved Madison, we knew that we could never “make it” if we stayed there. We wanted to go to the heart and center of hip-hop. Not only did NYC teach us how to truly hustle and bang doors down, but it also influenced our actual musical sound and style. It was the best move we ever made. After only two years of living in NYC, we were able to quit our jobs and become full time musicians.

RefinedHype: You met in Madison, Wisconsin. What did you learn in Madison that you carry with you today?

God-Des and She: We are true Midwesterners at heart. Madison is a very artistic town that inspired us, and made it fairly easy to start gigging around town. We were able to create our own scene there and kind of learn on a small scale how to gain a following and start really thinking about doing music for our career. And since there is really not a totally defined hip-hop sound in the Midwest, I think we were open to creating music that didn’t sound like any one particular region. I think the fact that we were open early on to experimenting and not following trends, led to our unique sound we have today.

RefinedHype: God-Des, you currently live in Austin, Texas, a city that's known for its live music but not necessarily its hip-hop. Is there a thriving hip-hop scene in Austin?

God-Des: There is a really cool innovative music scene is Austin in general. There may not be a bunch of A-List celebrity rappers living there, but there are definitely people creating dope music. We kind of did all we needed to do in New York. SHE is moving to Austin next week as well. We tour for a living now and wanted to have a more low key, affordable, sunny place to come home to. And we are going to form a live band in Austin and starting gigging a few times a month in Austin with our band.

RefinedHype: Where do you go to get inspired?

God-Des and She: We get inspired by all the crappy music we hear. LOL. No, we get inspired by everything. Everyday life, struggles, hatred, love, parties, any and every human emotion and experience. We also get inspiration from other musicians and artists.

RefinedHype: Last words?

God-Des and She: Our record dropped on December 3, 2009. We found it appropriate to drop in on the third since our record is called "THREE". Our music appeals to all the hip-hop heads, and all the people who hate hip-hop. If you want to hear something totally unique and genre bending, check us out [listen to and download their single "Respect My Fresh" here]. You can get our music via our website at www.god-deseandshe.com and on iTunes, Rhapsody and most online sites.