The young aspiring artists of today are fortunate to have various tools to use as their platform. Thanks to social networking sites artists can build a buzz and begin creating a fan base before they are even signed. In today's society, social networking sites such Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, among others, give this new generation of musicians an upper-hand.

D-League, a two man group consisting of rappers Unkut and Demo out of South Florida, are members of this new class. Along with everyone else, they are taking advantage of modern technology to lead their movement. For example, through their Twitter page they are searching for ladies to take part in their "Rep D League" campaign.

D-League formed five years ago and they continue to create a name for themselves in and around the South Florida area. Thus far, they have served as the opening act for artists such as Rick Ross, Chamillionaire, and Lil Wayne, to name a few. The duo released their first mixtape Makin Moves, which was hosted by DJ Q45 and their second mixtape, I Rep D League hosted by Shadyville DJ Young Cee.

Yo! Raps caught up with the D-League and talked about their inspirations, which record label they would like to sign with, South Florida, social networking, the best rapper in the game right now!

Explain the name of your group D-League and talk about how you two came together?

The history behind our name is we used to be called Dynamics in high school and we were given the name D-League by my brother Trace and we ran with it. The "D" stands for Dynamics.

How did you get your names Uncut and Demo?                                                  

Uncut: I got my name by people saying I give it to people "raw and uncut," so after that it just stuck.

Demo: Well, when I tell people that I rap they are always curious and ask me to spit and I never think twice about rapping for them. I would always demonstrate and show my skills so that's where we got my name Demo. It's also is short for democratic which stands for the people and that's who I do it for.

When you both were growing up who were some artists that inspired each of you musically? 

Uncut: I was inspired by a couple artists like DMX, Jay-Z, Eminem, Missy Elliot etc.

Demo: I got into Hip-Hop a little late, so who I really like musically is Jay-Z of course, Lil Wayne, Eminem and Kanye West

Uncut, you are of Jamaican heritage and Demo, Vietnamese. How does each of your cultures individually influence your musical style?

Uncut: Well for me being Jamaican, I believe it has influenced me by wanting to continue to break barriers and broaden myself in both the Hip-Hop and Dancehall world. You will definitely start hearing more Reggae/Hip-Hop songs from us in the future as well. Not all the time, but it will be one of our elements.

Demo: When I make music I just talk about my everyday life and I like to make a lot of Asian punch lines and just let the Hip-Hop world see a different world then they are used to. I let everyone know there are not too many differences between the cultures.

So what are you working on currently?

iRep D-League 1.5 will be dropping next month along with some music videos. We are also working on releasing some singles and really pushing them. Before we were more focused on mixtapes and press, but that comes ten fold once your joint is in rotation on radio. We bout our business, so we are always working on something new.

Since you guys are unsigned I'm sure at times you think about who you could potential sign with. As a group, if you had the power to pick the label, which one would you pick to sign a record deal with and why?  

RocNation or Shady/Aftermath maybe so we could cross pollinate with Eminem's and Dr. Dre's fan base and actually add to it because we see ourselves dominating the Asian market as well. To be completely honest we just want a label home that's going to believe in us and actually work as hard as we are. Wouldn't make sense to sign to any major label and not be a priority or to just get shelved.

The South Florida/Miami area is buzzing with so many artists in the Hip-Hop industry, is it difficult to shine right now with so many artists trying to get in?       

Whether you're in South Florida or anywhere for that matter you gotta make yourself stand out by being the best and hard work. We already stand out because we don't look like the norm, but we use that to our advantage and back it up with music.

What do you think separates South Florida/Miami area artists from the rest of the artists in the music industry? 

The South Florida area is a melting pot of everything so there are many influences that others might not be exposed to as much. Bass music, Reggaeton, Dancehall, Pop, Dance, to Hip-Hop. Everything is here and to get played you have to have elements others aren't exposed to.

How do you both feel that social networking has affected the music industry?     

It's great because we can interact with fans and the industry alike much easier. Like Yo! Raps for example, we have a stronger business relationship because it's easier to interact on social sites like Twitter, Facebook, MySpace etc.

On the IRepDLeague twitter I saw that you guys were looking for some ladies models for the Ladies Rep D-League campaign. What is that about?     

Basically for all our ladies that rep D-League we make them feel apart of our campaign to success. So whether they model or are just fans we give them special treats like freebies, exclusives, and first dibs on anything we have going on. We also have D-League gear for sale that our ladies model.

Demo, on your Twitter you said, "Follow the illest azn to RAP." How do you feel about the rapper Jin?

Demo: Me personally I like Jin and what he has done for the Asian community. Basically giving us a little shine like when the 106 n Park battle scene was blowing up and he was just killing everyone off the top. Not too many artists can come ill like that off the top being Black, White or Asian. I do believe I will take it one notch higher. I basically want to be the Asian rapper that is compared to by every other Asian rapper coming up just like Eminem is for the White people. They can compare, but it will never be the same like the original.

Can you each talk about an experience that was eye opening to you as new artists in this industry?

Uncut: A real eye opener for me personally is all the business that you need to know and be aware of. Being hot and having great music is just one percent battle because with out the business side, only your inner circle is going to ever hear your music. Also all the money you have to some how come up with and put in, especially if your young and don't sell drugs.

Demo: Yeah basically what Uncut said and also the people around you. You can always tell who's with you from the start and whose going to enjoy the glory at the end.

There are people who believe that this new generation of Hip-Hop is "dumbing down" the music. Since you guys are in this generation, what are things that you both believe can be done to preserve Hip-Hop?         

In some aspects it is "dumbing down", but at the same time good music is good music and people forget Hip-Hop is the youngest genre and still developing. There is space for Soulja Boy as well as a Drake. They target different fan bases and it's up to the artist to find their fan base and capitalize on it. As long as your being true to yourself and making music that we can relate to and believe you, then it's all good.

There are constant debates over who is the best rapper right in the game right now and we have a poll going on for Yo! Raps as well. Could you both tell us who you believe should be #1 and why?

Well we both agree that Jay-Z should be number one. I believe he is Hip-Hop's #1 icon and no other rapper that I know has remained relevant after eleven albums. His business is number one; he has the number one chick in the game. Come on, being on Oprah? A Michael Jackson on a song? Chilling with Obama? Everything about him says number one. We need to be in the poll for best new group coming [laughs].

Where can people find D-League online?                     

Leaders of the new school so follow us on Twitter.com/iRepDLeague, Twitter.com/iRepDLeagueDemo, iRepDLeague.com, Facebook at iRep D-League, myspace.com/dleague, and youtube.com/dleaguetv. Lots more coming soon so make sure to keep checking and shouts out to Yo! Raps. We appreciate it!

- By Isha "Ice" Cole