Raised by Hip Hop in the music and culture rich city of Detroit, Frank “Nitty†Bush is
what happens when passion turns project. Frank Bush met Derrick “Dank†Harvey in
1984 when Frank moved into a neighborhood on the east side of Detroit. Sharing the
ability to break-dance and an undying love for the then relatively new music style known
as Hip-Hop, the two immediately became friends. As middle school age children, they
united and would compete in Hip-Hop breakin’ battles against other neighborhood crews
on Saturday nights. “We were hip-hop kids,†Frank says. “Hip Hop has always been
apart of my thing. It was that, Prince and Michael Jackson.â€
Considered the weird kids in high school, the duo and their friends including the likes of
James “J-Dilla†Yancey (February 7, 1974 – February 10, 2006), were apart of many
formations of Hip-Hop, DJ and Breaker groups until finally being labeled Frank N Dank
by J Dilla. Over the next few years their Hip-Hop hobby grew into a craft. Frank,
always anxious to develop a new skill, moved from just break dancing into DJ-ing and
rhyming.
It was in 1999 that Frank N Dank would release their first album on Fat Beats, which was
two 12†vinyl’s with one song on each side; Me And My Man / Love (A Thing Of The
Past) and Everybody Get Up! / Give It Up pt II, both produced by J Dilla. In 2000, Frank
N Dank signed a recording deal with MCA records but released no records. In the midst
of the major labels’ collapse, Frank N Danks’ prospective MCA release, 48 hours was
continuously pushed back and eventually appeared as a bootleg LP in 2003. Frank N
Dank were granted release from MCA records in 2003.
After a host of successful singles, touring with J Dilla across the US, London, Japan,
Germany, Paris and Amsterdam, and attaining tour dates alongside A Tribe Called Quest,
The Roots, Slum Village, Common, Ludacris and Wyclef Jean, Frank N Dank released
their first official debut X-tended Play Version 3.13 in 2006. The album featured 13
tracks that Frank n Dank described as, “soul music for players,†including an intimate
track titled MCA that outlined their frustration with trying to release an album on a label
that was falling apart.
The years that followed were full of over seas tour dates and numerous ideas as Frank
worked to improve his craft and find ways to gain control over his own creativity.
Having encountered difficulty with getting quality beats from other producers, Frank
tried his hand at creating beats and arranging vocals to rhyme over for himself. Shortly
after, “…people started hearing my product, and liking it. Next thing I knew, production
was something I could say I do.â€
In 2008, Frank decided to lay the foundation upon which his musical talent and concepts
will stand by launching his own label called Digipop. The cleverly named label is formed
from the words “digital†and “popular music†and is aimed at welcoming the change in
how consumers and artist buy and sell music. “If it wasn’t for the internet, some people
wouldn’t know who I am. I have had things that only released overseas, that people in
the US love, and it is all because of the internet.†Digipop is also not limited to Hip-Hop
artists. Finding a variety of music palatable, Frank wants to be able to interact with a
variety of genres.
The first product of Digipop is an EP titled The Concert Hall due out in the summer of
2008. The EP features vocals from Big Pooh of Little Brother and production from
Detroit’s own “Young RJ†Rice and Craig Lane. The Concert Hall EP feels like a live
performance, dressed with interactive interludes and full sounding instruments within the
beats. The project is a prequel to a full-length album to be called Stadium Music. “A
concert hall is smaller than a stadium, this concert hall is just a small piece of a big thing.
Stadium music is an experience,†says Frank. Equipped with masterful rhymes and
catchy hooks, The Concert Hall, sends you through a head bobbing and atmospheric hiphop
performance that ends in deserving applause. “I want my hip-hop to be reminiscent
of the way hip-hop used to feel, but sound like nothing anyone has ever heard hip-hop
do.â€
Layout by CoolChaser