Kidz In The Hall has returned with Land Of Make Believe, their second effort released on Duck Down Records. The duo has maintained a sonic musical progression, creative cause and innovative relevance on par with that of their major label deal having peers.  With the aim for a more personal design, the album is chock full of references describing the exploits and experiences of Naledge and Double O.

Using metaphorical movement and no samples, whatsoever, Kidz In The Hall is out for the brand, and the blood. Leaving no stone uncovered, the album is a masterpiece of production. Reaching audiences far and wide is the aim, reconciling the idea of experience, with a bit of humor; Land Of Make Believe is a fast paced step in the direction of alternative Hip Hop, if such a thing exists.

Boasting production from both Double O and Naledge, along with Just Blaze, not to mention well placed features from Marsha Ambrosius of Floetry, Amanda Diva, and others, the crew has created the proverbial Avatar of rap. The Land Of Make Believe is exactly that, what you make it.

Double O of Kidz In The Hall chops it up with Yo! Raps on the new album concept, comparisons to other Hip Hop artists of the more enigmatic variety, and the way life imitates art.

The album Land Of Make Believe is dropping on March 9th.  Is this with a throw or nod of remembrance to Biggie Smalls?

I wish it was [laughs]. It was a date that was chosen because it was the first date in March as a Tuesday that would benefit us retail wise. There's a lot that the public doesn't see on the retail side. Honestly, it was just one of those things. We looked at the competition and things like that.

I thought maybe it was a throw to passing the rap torch.

[Laughs] Let's go ahead and make it that! For too long, we are sitting and waiting for albums from cats that have been around for 10 or 15 years, and not giving a chance to some of the younger populations to evolve and grow and become the masters as well.

Is it harder to fight the comparisons with other artists in the eclectic Hip Hop arena?

I feel like we've already been in those categories. Everything is a possibility. With us, the difference was to tell a much more personal story. Even from the onset, dealing with the foundation of what Hip Hop is, digging deeper; it's a lot more personal. It's things that have to do directly with our lives. Names that Naledge uses when he's talking about girls, it's all real. I don't mind being in a group with the Wale's and the Kid Cudi's but, just know that we are not interchangeable. A Wale show is the quintessential go-go experience. Kid Cudi's show is more of an emotional rollercoaster ride. It's a little more pop because he sings. With us, our energy is at 20, at all times. With our prior albums, I don't know if we separated ourselves as much. With Driving Down The Block, there were a lot of things similar in the musical landscape, from The Cool Kids and echo of the sound from other areas as well.

How important is the idea of branding in this market?

We looked at it, it's time to be Kidz In The Hall from this point on. When you see us on TV, or when you come to a show, that's the idea we are going for, is to understand where we're coming from, and what we do, through our music.

The album is completely free of samples.  Did you find any difficulty in beginning from scratch?

To me, it wasn't really difficult. My producing career didn't start with samples. In the beginning, I couldn't sample because I didn't have that equipment. I had to master that before I ever got a sampler and could chop things up. I've always had both sides of that coin. What I experimented with on the second album is the merging of those two worlds.  It might be a sample chopped or it I might play a bunch of crazy synth and sounds over those things. Our more successful records didn't have any samples with it. Because I knew our second album was our biggest, it became our calling card and I could get away without having a very sample heavy album, because the fans weren't familiar with the first album.

Land Of Make Believe is not only progressive sonically but in concept as well. How were the features chosen to fit this theme?

For us, on our second album, there was a lot going on that we wanted to showcase and enhance. This time around it was much more of a personal experience so we wanted to keep the appearances and have people around us that could relay what was going on.  Colin Munroe, being a part of Take Over The World was going in a direction, we knew it could be big but it was lacking the grandiose Hip Hop feel that Just Blaze is known for. I like his voice a lot and what he was doing. Originally, it was just me on the hook, and we changed it and took it to the next level.

Russoul is Chicago soul and church and all of those things that Naledge is as well. That was the culture that really bred Naledge. For me, it's really important that we have those things juxtaposed with, where I come from, super eclectic, Caribbean, and world music background. Having those vocal performances, kept it soulful but tells the story on a very personal level, because that's where we're from. Everything was really about what makes sense. It was a very methodical process. We knew who we wanted before the tracks were even made.

So on the track with Marsha Ambrosius of Floetry, for example, you just went with your gut feeling?

The record that Marsha was on had no hook initially, on purpose. The conversation at the end of the track was meant to be broken up over the course of a hook. It was meant to tell the tale of Kidz In The Hall. She was on Twitter commenting about not being involved with the project. I hit her up like; I've been in the studio with you with Rick James wigs recording songs that won't go anywhere [laughs.] Twitter is how that collaboration came about. I loved the way it came out, and her vocals add so much.

It's great that you can connect with artists before the product is even created. How does that work?

I like to send incomplete things to people, including Naledge; because I know what is going to come back will be the things I need to complete the song. There might be instruments that I know may throw Naledge off that I won't send to him right away. He then, builds his ideas around a skeleton and I can finish it from there. Then, I get inspired by different beats or melodies, and we build the whole thing from there. It was really quick and effortless, as most of our records are, with her.

That's a thorough explanation of the creation process. Most aren't able to break it down so easy.

I guess it's the engineer in me. I graduated with an engineering degree, but I am far from engineering right now. I'm doing this rap shit [laughs]. I'm rapping about rapping, losing my vocabulary!

The track with Amanda Diva, Simple Life, is another standout track.

It's a great thing with Amanda and. One day I just decided that I wanted her on the record and called her up and asked her to come down the street and get on it. There is a comfort that we wanted to have with all of the artists featured on the album. Russoul is somebody that the comfort level is just there and it works. There are other people we wanted to work with as well, like Estelle, but it's hard to make both things happen. I wanted it to be intimate with the fans.

Is Kidz In The Hall happy with Duck Down Records?

We can't really talk too much because I don't wanna go into the nature of our deal structure. I've been happy. I am definitely impressed, daily with Duck Down. For any true independent Hip Hop label right now, they've got the structure and the design. It was almost like they preemptively knew what was happening with the music industry so they started evolving. We were really the first non Boot Camp Clik artist involved in the label. There's always going to be a little back and forth over the way to do things. Once you get through that, I've always enjoyed the enthusiasm and the opportunity for success. With Duck Down, I have to say that I pride myself in being the first group on TRL with this and go to that level. They're still thinking about the future. They are clear on the way we are growing, and they're growing as a label. We have our tiffs, but everybody does.

Ultimately, the relationship is good then.

Everything is good. There will always be an underlying frustration for me because I'm the crazy over achieving kid that says, if I can just get $150,000 to waste on radio, or little things like that, it's an indy label.

Right, so the resources run differently, yet the creativity stays the same.

That's the only frustration I have when we are compared to Kid Cudi and Wale and acts like that. We're cool with them, and the music is great, but their budgets are 20 times the size of ours. That's a for real thing. Just remember that. Sometimes the fans get caught up because they see us on MTV and we get all these interviews, and that's a big advantage of having a record label as well, but they have the big red button that has all kinds of prizes. We have the one that you push and the confetti falls out.

I see what you mean. You guys are going on tour soon too, right?

That's the biggest thing we're working on. Us, 88-Keys, Donnis, congratulations to Donnis for making the XXL mag's freshman cover, by the way. Land Of Make Believe coming Mar 9.

- By Maxine Ross