Posted on 05/26/2009
From cereal mascots to hidden talents, Donny Goines is a seemingly random commodity at first glance. New York bred, this up-and-comer is trying to leave his footprint in the concrete jungle of hip-hop. His methodology is one of organized chaos. After garnering a buzz with his first album, Minute After Midnight, Donny takes time out of his hectic schedule to show us that joy indeed comes in the morning with his latest release, The Breakfast Club.

OKP: What’s going on in your world?

Donny: Right now I’m just glad to be out of the studio. I was going stir crazy. (laughs) Glad to be done with album. I’ve just been working hard for past month or so.

OKP: It seems like you have a vicious internet-grind going on. With so many musicians trying to be heard, how do your differentiate yourself? Why should people pay Donny Goines attention?

Donny: Well first and foremost, when I decided to rap, I knew the internet was the path I was gonna take. I didn’t hop on the bandwagon. I think I was one of the first people to embrace the internet and utilize it to distribute my music and put get buzz up. Throughout the last three years, I focused mostly on the internet. I think it is the best way to get my music out; it allows me to reach a large demographic. If I did it traditionally, my music would only get so far. I saw it early on and I made sure to cement my name and brand in the internet. That’s why people know me. That was my bread and butter. Essentially, that was the whole point of making sure I was different from everyone else. I’m not them and they’re not me. When my name is attached, you can assure the music is good and no bullshit. I don’t associate myself with anything that’s not high quality, whether it’s sounds, aesthetics, or anything. I feel like a lot of people throw anything out there. Since it’s the internet, they think they can do whatever and be the next Soulja Boy. Quality over quantity.

OKP: Why did you decided to use part of your name as opposed to a full stage name?

Donny: I basically decided that I wanted my real name incorporated in my artist name. I’m not a gangsta. A friend of mine suggested Donny Goines. For everyone that doesn’t know Donald Goines is an urban author from the 70’s that did a lot of novels. I felt like the moniker made sense. I speak on my community’s struggles and real life situations. I felt like it was a good reason. And we share a lot of similarities. We were both in the armed services, we’re from the streets, and we had run-ins with the law. I felt like if I was going to name myself after anyone, why not after an author? I’m an author in my own right.

OKP: Who’s your biggest influence in music? You probably have quite a few coming from New York.

Donny: I feel like at different times I have different influences. Starting out, like most, my influences were Jay-Z, Nas, and Biggie. As I grew and absorbed the culture, the thing that inspired me most was the people. Not the artists, music, fame, none of that shit; just the people. It’s funny because when I listen to people talk, I really become inspired to write music. I draw from those moments to create. When I think about inspiration and what moves my pen, it’s the people around me, the way people talk, the people that are full of shit. (laughs) Energy inspires me. My music is really organic.

OKP: That’s a very interesting perspective.

Donny: But that’s the truth. I grew up off artists just like everybody though. I think of those artists and initially someone sparked their interest, but different things helped them create music. I don’t listen to music and think “oh I have to do that because he’s on the top 40”. I draw inspirations from a lot of different places.

OKP: Besides the obvious, what was the biggest influence on The Breakfast Club? What thought process helped you create this type of record?

Donny: It’s the second part of a trilogy. I’m going to do these three albums to encompass me as a person. Minute After Midnight was very dark, very dark. Not only did it have a dual meaning, but it took principles from Cinderella. It talked about time. When you think about midnight and the evening, it’s very gloomy. Everything was very personal. There were some situations I had to get off my chest. My son dying, AIDS in the community, my upbringing, and a lot of different situations that needed to expressed. The Breakfast Club is actually the complete opposite. The time references are still there. But let me ask you a question: when you hear The Breakfast Club, what do you think about?

OKP: Uhm…besides the movie, Frosted Flakes, Captain Crunch, and Toucan Sam. I don’t know!

Donny: (laughs) When you think of stuff like that, you think about happier things that are less dramatic. Again, this album has two meanings. It does take away from principles of the movie. For anyone that hasn’t seen it, they basically take 5 kids and put them in detention. They had to spend the whole afternoon together. Long story short, they were all in different cliques. One was tough guy, one was a princess, one a geek, so on and so forth. I took those principles and put them in a novel. Instead of detention, it’s a studio. Instead of students, it’s different artists. People you wouldn’t expect to be on the same track. People that have to find things in common. The common thread is music. Regardless of classification, that’s what I’m trying to explain. I can work with whoever I want to. It’s different because there were no artists on the last one. From one extreme of the last. From the last album, I was thinking about this album.

OKP: Interesting to hear about different thought processes. Whereas one artist thinks, “I’m trynna make this club banger,” your intention seems more personable and relatable.

Donny: Exactly. [The album] ties everything in.



OKP: Speaking of working with different people, it seems like you have a circle of artists and producers you’re working with. Keeping it in the family?

Donny: As far as production, I kept the usual suspects because I’m a fan of their work. They’ve been DJ Static, dub.z, Apple Juice Kid, Dame Grease. If you go back to my previous projects, you’ll see them. Buckwild is new, Kwame I worked with a couple of years back. With this project, I wanted a whole lot of different vibes. With Minute After Midnight, I kept it extremely similar. This one has different producers and different sounds. That was done on purpose. It was meant to be extreme. Overall I kept it cohesive.

OKP: On The Breakfast Club, going from “Apples” to “These Times” is quite a shift.

Donny: I use those as an example all the time. They are two really different tracks. I made that record just because I wanted it different. “Party Apple” isn’t serious at all. I was just going crazy because I like the beat. I was showing people it’s cool to have fun.

OKP: What’s been your biggest challenge trying to be heard?

Donny: We don’t have all night. (laughs) I have way too many. I deal with them accordingly. At first it was finding a studio. Then it was finding beats. Then it was finding someone to listen. Then finding someone to post it. Every day was a different challenge. I wake up every day and my job is problem solving. No day is just cool and happy. That’s not my life. I try to make things happen with the tools I have. My biggest setback is money. I am by myself, I’m the one promoting pushing my music. I’m not with a major label. I do have a team, but I don’t have a machine behind me. No rich family or anything. Everything I do is straight off drive and motivation. It’s hard. How do you compete with artists that have money to do tour, grease DJs to play their records, or buy tools? I don’t look at it as an excuse, but it’s true. I’m in the same realm as them. I have to work harder than everyone else. I have to be high quality. I have to have high standards. It’s about finding the right situation. If I’m able to walk into an MTV, what do I need a label for? Honestly? What can you do that I can’t do on my own? Outdoing myself is a challenge as well. If The Breakfast Club is worse than Minute After Midnight, it’s a step backwards for me. I enjoy the challenge though; I always rise to the occasion.

OKP: What other ventures are you looking into? You know other artists got malt liquor and clothing lines…

Donny: Honestly speaking, I want to be great. Not going to become a great artist doing different things. My focus is 100% working on my craft. The different things I’m doing outside of music to an extent are working for different things. I wrote for a magazine. I don’t want to do anything else but become an artist. I don’t want a clothing line. I don’t know about anyone else. If I wanted to be a Post Man, I‘d be at a post office. If I wanted to be a doctor, I’d be in the emergency room.

OKP: Besides Hip-Hop, what’s another talent you have?

Donny: Good question. I don’t get that one too much. I’m a great marketing guy. It’s not hidden though, it’s obvious. If I wasn’t an artist, I would do marketing. I have a knack for it. If I wasn’t rapping, that would be it. I might open my own agency after I’m done. Necessity is the mother of all inventions. Being that I had to promote myself, I realized that.

OKP: What’s next for you?

Donny: Honestly, I live day to day. My goal today was to get this album out of my hands and get it into the hands of people like yourself. I accomplished my goal for today and now I can sleep easy. I can’t say what the future holds for me; it’s up to God. I hope in the next five years I’ve accomplished things that will inspire other people. When people look back, I want them to say “Donny G inspired me to follow my dreams”. That could be the best thing I could receive. Ghandi said “you must be the change you want to see in the world”. I want people to be like “that guy made a difference”.

- M. Antonio Silas



Download Donny Goines FREE album, The Breakfast Club, right here.