EarthGang's Origin Story, Present Phase and Endgame
On a stormy November day in Mayfair's high-gloss Bape store, Doctur Dot and Johnny Venus of Atlanta-based duo EarthGang are squabbling like siblings about which Marvel superhero they're most like.
Forget interviewer, I'm assuming the role of conciliator. My mediation centre is a camo-clad room on the top floor of the streetwear mecca. The hip-hop-adjacent musicians – signed to J.Cole's record label, Dreamville – have taken a break from the studio to do a spot of shopping; Venus looks mega cosy in a high-pile beige The North Face Nuptse whilst Dot is layered-up in a red corduroy Adidas shacket which sits atop a black hoodie.
“Olu is Captain America,” remarks Dot (also known as WowGr8, born Eian Parker) with commitment whilst looking at me, before peering towards Venus (born Olu Onyemachi Dakarai Fann) to gather his reaction.
Venus chuckles uncontrollably. “Captain America is craaaazy,” he exclaims, shaking his head. His smile now Cheshire Cat-sized.
“Cap's got the shield – he holds it down!” responds Dot, stressing the complementary nature of his decision.
“And you know he's Black now!”
I suggest that Venus – known for his holistic practices (he meditates before every show to “charge his batteries”), reflective verses and all-round celestial mien – smacks of Doctor Strange. He gladly embraces the wizard.
“Hell, I might be Doctor Strange,” Dot chimes in,” “I am a multi-dimensional n****.
Venus gives him an acute look, one Dot is evidently familiar with. The grin has gone, and there's a flicker of seriousness that cuts the playful mood.
“OK...” Dot resigns from provoking Venus, the older of the two (Venus, 35; Dot, 34). “I'm the Hulk because when I'm on stage, it's power. And when I'm off stage, my glasses are on and I'm doing my research and shit.”
He continues: “And Spillage Village [a hip-hop/soul collective founded by Earthgang – comprising the Dot, Venus, Mereba, JID, Hollywood JB, Jurdan Bryant, 6lack and Benji] is the Avengers. I don't know when we'll get together again, but when we eventually do, it'll be super.”
All members are currently “carving their own way”, including Earthgang who are gearing up to release four projects in 2025 – two as a group, one each as solo artists.
But right now they're promoting their most recent release, Perfect Fantasy. It's what brings them to London between trips to Tokyo where they filmed the album's visuals and will go on to perform the songs for the first time.
“I've been seeing a lot of love for 'The Zone',” says Dot as we discuss the cuts from the 18-track album that have made the greatest impression thus far. It's a bop that's archetypal of EarthGang's sound: a transcendent amalgamation of hip-hop, funk, soul, jazz and, arguably, gospel.
He's also spotted people showing love to “Deep Blue” – the song inspired by and featuring Swedish quartet Little Dragon.
“It sounds like one of their songs from maybe the first three albums. And we would know as we've been on Little Dragon since young, bro. They're part of our origin story.”
Venus and Dot met in high school in Georgia – a shared panoptic appreciation for music is what soldered them into brotherhood. “We created a place for ourselves in 'Yo, you heard this', 'You heard that', 'You got this' type conversations.”.
“It was just two people geeking about making music and then it was like shiii, why don't we just make our own,” contributes Dot.
In college, they founded Spillage Village, which Dot informs me “started with all the homies we went to school with coming together to make music. “Songs would be made in a friend's dorm and the producer was whoever had the laptop.”
As for the name? “Whenever we got together, no one could shut up and everyone had ideas – a lot of ideas all the time. We were just spilling out our brains all the time, so that's why we called it Spillage Village.”
Whether collaborating with Little Dragon or their “Spill Vill” comrades, Dot and Venus encourage the artist(s) to inject their own flavour into the sound.
“We want to be hospitable,” Dot tells me. “We want to open up the space for them to come in, sit down, feel comfortable and do their thing. A lot of times when we make music we're thinking of the phase the artist we would like to feature on it is currently in.”
“That's what happened with the Gorillaz track,” says Venus of “Godly”, the number featuring the band's lead singer, Damon Albarn. “I made the beat years ahead. At the time I was simply dreaming of a Gorillaz collab, so I started putting something together. Then we built a relationship with them during the pandemic which resulted in us touring with them and subsequently featuring on their project. Now, Damon's on our project.”
The T-Pain tune “Love You More” is also the result of a long-term relationship. “He actually sent us that song,” Venus imparts to me, his eyes wide in disbelief at the surreal nature of his friendship with the legend. “This was after we spent time with him, played video games with him, been on his podcast and stuff. So, you know, he was like, I think you guys will fuck with this.”
“The people that are on this project are the people that influenced our whole sound,” says Dot, not just referencing Little Dragon, Damon Albarn and T-Pain, but also Pharrell and Snoop Dogg who contributed to “U Gotta” and the album's titular track respectively. “They both influenced the project before they got on there, just from the freedom of their creative expression,” states Venus.
Some rising stars also lend their sounds to the record, including Floridian rapper Cochise (on “Electric”) and Manchester-born, Kansas-based alt/indie singer Tommy Newport.
EarthGang's ear for talent means burgeoning artists like Mach-Hommy ("His album was snubbed of a Grammy!"), Skaiwater ("They're really good at music!"), Lazerdim ("I found him on BandLab!"), Riovaz and Paris Texas are on their musical radar.
As we chat through the current vanguard of the global music scene – in other words, who's poppin' right now – the guys also show love and appreciation towards Doechii, Glorilla, Doja Cat and most intriguingly, the British pop star of the moment, Charli XCX.
“Shout-out to her,” says Dot. “I love, love, love her journey.”
Venus agrees – “People with long, unique journeys, their story is always so much better. And the story lasts” – before passing the metaphorical mic back to his compeer.
“Our engineer over at Dreamville, Mez, always says that when you microwave something, it gets cold hella fast. But if you slowly roast anything on the store with the fire, it's gonna retain the heat for longer. That brought me enough piece to keep going.”
As if juggling four upcoming projects wasn’t enough, EarthGang has a European tour on their January agenda.“I'm excited to get people turned up,” says Venus. “Starting the year with a tour is always good.”
Beyond that? Dot certainly has an endgame.
“My goal for the wealth I've ever tried to get out of all of this music always has been and always will be family-orientated, and not just the family I'm creating, the family I've always had: my mum, my dad, my siblings, my cousins,” he offers, kindly revealing his tender side to me.
I'm always pushing myself to be in a position where I've got a bunch of land – a bunch of space for my family to feel comfortable and free. Diamonds, they're cool but I don't wear much jewellery. And if I do, sometimes it be fake jewellery because I lose jewellery. As long as I'm saving and putting away for that big nest, that's all that matters.”
Venus simply nods in agreement, holding onto his personal wants and wishes as if they won't come true if he reveals them. We wrap up, and head towards the stairs to arrive at the shop floor/exit.
On our decline, Dot turns to Venus and says, “I've just realised, we didn't mention Black Panther.”
Venus giggles. “Black people usually throw that out there straight away!”
Dot turns to me, points at Venus and says “He's actually T'Challa – 100%,” before crossing his arms over his chest, just like the king of Wakanda in the Marvel movie, and bellows
“EarthGang forever!”
Earthgang's European Fantasy tour comes to Manchester on Sunday 26 January 2025, London on Tuesday 28 January 2025 and Glasgow on Friday 31 January 2025. Tickets are available now from £28.50 on Ticketmaster.
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