Credit: Found On Internet

Ugly Duckling bring their laid-back California cool to the UK, supporting their third album, ‘Bang For The Buck’. It’s a jazzy collection of old-skool hip hop - party music that makes ideal groove-me-up dancing material, with honest lyrics that eschew  the hackneyed clichés of mainstream hip hop, and even go all philosophical on yo’ ass.

It’s been a slow rise for Ugly Duckling. Rappers Dizzy Dustin and Andycat formed the trio with turntablist Young Einstein in LA in 1993, slowly building a fanbase until their debut album ‘Journey To Anywhere’ dropped in 2000. And in a world of fly-by-night fame and five-minute wonders, that can surely only be a good thing. So we got quizzy with Dizzy to get the word straight from the Duckling’s mouth.

Hi Dizzy Dustin! You’re not dizzy right now, are you?
“What? Oh, no, no. It’s too early for me right now.”

So you’re touring Europe at the moment. Which is your favourite part?
“It’s hard to say. I like it all. People always ask me, What’s your favourite place to play?, but I’m just totally stoked to be in those areas. I never thought growing up that I’d be able to go around the world and step on foreign territory. It’s a blessing.”

Well my favourite part’s Germany – every town has its own local beer.
“Germany’s a cool place, man. Hip hop is alive and well there. But I just like being away from home and doing music. I don’t like the gruelling flights and the early mornings though. I’m a pretty free-spirited guy, and when you’re doing the same thing every day it’s like ‘Groundhog Day’. That’s the only thing I don’t like about touring. Andy brings his pillow with him actually. I’m satisfied with hotel pillows.”

You guys were the second Western hip hop act ever to play in China, right?
“Actually, I didn’t get to go to China. Andy and Einstein went. I had passport problems - it sucked. I thought I had a couple extra pages in there but when I went to the embassy, they took up two pages with paperwork. So I tried to renew my passport but I didn’t get back in time. It was only two shows out there, so it wasn’t a big miss, but the others were heartbroken.”