While the group went back to the drawing board, Rap-A-Lot franchise artist Scarface approached Devin to be a part of his new group, Facemob. Their debut album, Fadanuf fa Erybody!!, was released in 1994 with "I Can't See It" as the lead single and video.Īlthough hip-hop fans praised the effort put out by the Odd Squad, their album was not as commercially successful as they hoped. Screw (who was later replaced by DJ Styles) took the group's demo tape to Rap-A-Lot Records CEO James Smith, who quickly signed the group in 1992. Later, the duo formed a group named the Odd Squad and recruited Devin's longtime friend Jugg Mugg and a local DJ named DJ Screw.
In the late '80s, Devin met Rob Quest, a blind rapper and producer who was part of a Houston crew called the Coughee Brothaz. As a child, he went back and forth from New Boston to Houston and finally settled in the latter after he graduated high school. Devin the Dude has remained a left-of-center favorite with albums like 2017's Acoustic Levitation, 2019's Still Rollin' Up: Somethin' to Ride With, and 2021's Soulful Distance.ĭevin the Dude was born Devin Copeland in Pontiac, Michigan, but raised in Florida and Texas. He landed in the Top 20 of Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart in 2010 with Suite 420 and Gotta Be Me, and hit number nine on the Top Rap Albums chart with 2013's One for the Road. Though he never rose to the mainstream success of some of his peers, albums like 2007's stony yet intricate Waiting to Inhale were hits with critics and a dedicated cult following. Dre and Snoop Dogg to De La Soul, Nas, Andre 3000, and many others. He quickly became a rapper's rapper, collaborating with big-name talents from Dr. Producing as well as rapping, he began releasing solo albums in 1998 with The Dude. He was stoned.With deep ties to Houston's influential early-'90s rap scene, Devin the Dude rolled through several generations of hip-hop, cultivating a laid-back style fixated on weed, partying, and his distinctively hazy perspective on everyday life. As for this writer, his first experience with Devin was in 2002, looking westward over the Blue Ridge Mountains from the Shenendoah National Park while “Doobie Ashtray” echoed into the night from the back of a Subaru Legacy. ( From the New York Times: “Devin’s ongoing joke, in the old tradition of viper humor, is that he will always be his own worst enemy.” Viper humor? Why does it have to be linked to an “old tradition”?) But decide for yourself. Domo said “remember when we were talking about releasing something on 4/20 and we thought it was going to be too far away?” time has really passed by man.Įarly notices on the album’s quality are a little somber. We just got through talking about it a few days ago again. I was like oh shit, I don’t even know if I’ll be rapping anymore, forget about it and we scratched that whole idea. We started looking for the next available release date that was going to be April 20th on a Tuesday and we kept flipping through the calendar and he says “oh damn Devin, there isn’t a Tuesday on 4/20 until 2010” (laughs). We looked at the calendar and we said oh shit, 4/20 doesn’t fall on a Tuesday. Anyways, in 2007 he said “Yo Devin, you should name your album about weed and put it out on 4/20” and we were laughing, we were high and shit and said “no doubt, let’s do it!” (Laughs). DJ Domo did tracks for me like “Boo Boo’n” and he helped me with tracks like “See What I Can Pull”, “It’s Gonna’ Be Alright” and he’s still down with me. Mind you, me and my homeboy DJ Domo thought about this.
I looked on the calendar and said oh shit, 4/20 falls on a Tuesday (laughs). It didn’t really ring a bell until later when it was looking for a February release date. I wasn’t really thinking of that because it was so far fetched, like six months before and we were trying to think of a good date within the next three months or so. : Suite #420 is the new album – how ecstatic were you when you realized 4/20 fell on a Tuesday and you could actually pick it as a release date?ĭevin the Dude: (Laughs) well it hit me early this year in December-January when we trying to find a release date for this new album. In a recent interview with Word of South, Devin explained the record’s origin: I doubt I have to explain to you what the title means. Houston rapper Devin the Dude has a new album out today, and it is streaming on his Myspace page.
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