Most likely you weren’t there.
It was deep into the night, very cold outside, and in a rough part of Chicago’s South Side. It wouldn’t make sense for you to be there.
On paper it wouldn’t make sense for an unassuming but talented musician from a well-to-do Long Island town to be there either, but he was there, alone.
He made his way halfway cross the country to watch his idol Ghostface Killah put on a show with Sheek Louch. Next thing he knew, he was on stage with Ghost about to murder Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s verse in “Protect Ya Neck!”
ChicagoMusic documented the whole happening and for the first few days cited DOCTAKH as an “unkown rapper.”
It was a fitting, and not totally unfair description of this mysterious character. Nobody in the audience had ever seen him before. But after he was done he had them all in the palm of his hand.
As quickly as it happened, that is how it ended. DOCTAKH made his way back home to Long Island, leaving everybody who witnessed his prowess wondering who the f–k was that skinny white kid on stage with Ghostface?
We were able to track down that skinny cracker and tried to get to know more about him. In a reassuring twist, he’s down to earth and kind. Soft-spoken and happy to chat about anything and he just wants to be heard.
NIS: How did the name doctakh come about and what does it mean?
DOCtAKH: My nickname in school was akh then when I started doing college radio my dj name was doc akh. I put the T in the middle when I started doing open mics.
NIS: Why ‘doc’?
DOCtAKH: “Doc” is the mental aspect of me (mind), “akh” is the physical aspect of me (body) and “T” is the one that brings it together which is represented by the mask — basically dualism with a driving force(music) in the middle. And if you want to break it down to each letter: Divine Omnipotent Cognitive Truth And Knowledge Herald
NIS: Why the mask?
DOCtAKH: Its directly inspired by DOOM. All these so called hip hop artists and rock bands try to have an appealing “look” or “image”. Sex sells so they try to be as sexy as possible or as flashy as possible and the mask is the antithesis of that. The mask represents the music and it doesn’t matter what I look like, its what the music sounds like that matters.
NIS: How did you get onstage with Ghostface Kilah??
DOCtAKH: That’s between me and Ghostface.
NIS: And what is the name of the album
DOCtAKH: Ridin’ Wit Tha Devil. had a dream that I was driving in a van with GG Allin before I wrote the album.
NIS: It seems like you pay homage to a lot of people of that same ilk, can you go more into detail about this?
DOCtAKH: Well I pay homage to GG because he took it further than anyone else has in rock n roll and he is the epitome of not giving a f–k. His only child was born on my birthday, he died on my brothers birthday and his funeral was on my mom’s birthday. I pay homage to the real mother f—–s, whether it be punk rock or hardcore hip hop. I give respect to the guys who pushed boundaries and who were original in what they did. The guys who never gave up or gave in to corporate standards.
NIS: What is your opinion on current music? More specifically on modern hip-hop and rock ‘n’ roll?
DOCtAKH: I don’t listen to too much of today’s music so I have no opinion on it. I don’t listen to too much of today’s hip hop but I feel its all smoke and mirrors now. All unconscious radio friendly bullshit that has no soul and heart to it. Hip hop used to be revolutionary now its all about how much money you got, how many bitches you get, what kind of intoxicants/drugs you put in your body, or how hard you are. It’s Simple minded music for simple minded people My opinion on the state of rock n roll is that there is o attitude, no balls, no danger. It’s all safe corporate band and no one iss pushing boundaries. F–k hipsters.
NIS: So this album, is used as an outlet for your hard feelings towards music today?
DOCtAKH: Yeah, I basically wanna rip down this whole industry and rebuild it in my name. I go more into detail on the song “One Man Army”.
NIS: You also have some choice words for some politicians in there, do you hate all politicians?
DOCtAKH: I don’t hate all politicians. I hate the corrupt mother fuckers that don’t do their job to the fullest extent to serve the people. Most of these guys running the nation are selfish money hungry animals, they’ll stab you in the back to get ahead. Listen to “obama(don’t)care” for my opinion on that matter.
NIS: The first track on the album is pretty much all venom, and then you follow that up with an inviting track (PMA Is The Way) about kicking back. It’s an interesting juxtaposition. Spill on that.
DOCtAKH: Well I wanted each track to be different from the next. Every song has a different idea and a different style to it. I didn’t want to focus on one lyrical style or one type of sound. I put together a variety of songs that have its own personality and theme to it and the first two songs definitely set the tone for the album in that you don’t know what’s going to come next.
NIS: You’re not from an area where many turn to hip hop or even music for comfort or an escape — how does that effect your music?
DOCtAKH: it doesn’t effect my music too much. I don’t give a fuck what people do around here or listen to. I’m an individual around here while most people that live here follow the path that’s been laid out for them. I don’t care if I get stares from people in town that hear me blasting big L from my car.
NIS: If you could pick five people to sit in a room with you and listen to this album front to back, who would they be and what would you serve?
DOCtAKH: That’s a hard question but since this album is more of a hip hop record I’d have to pick: ODB, Big L, DOOM, DJ Premier and J Dilla. I would serve them homemade Mac ‘n’ Cheese.
NIS: How do you feel about the Islanders trading Matt Moulson for Thomas Vanek?
DOCtAKH: It’s a risky trade because of the chemistry he and Tavares had, plus we lost two draft picks but when it comes down to it Vanek is a more talented player and if he clicks with Tavares they will kick ass. We need to start winning. Snow made the trade to shake up the team to let them know management is serious about winning now.
NIS: Who is on your personal Mt. Rushmore?
DOCtAKH: Hendrix, George Harrison, Chuck Berry, GG Allin.
NIS: What was your favorite subject in 6th grade?
DOCtAKH: I was too busy looking up girls skirts at this point.
NIS: Did you watch TV as a kid? Which shows?
DOCtAKH: WWF(not WWE!), Rocket Power, Hey! Arnold, and Jackass.
NIS: What was the writing process like?
DOCtAKH: I chose beats I liked and the music inspired how the lyrics came out. After writing all of the lyrics I wrote bass and guitar parts over the beats to put that doctakh touch on it so it would be somewhat original music
NIS: Would you say this is more a hip hop album than a rock album?
DOCtAKH: DOCtAKH’s background is rock n roll and it will always be that, but this album has more of a hip hop flavor to it especially in the lyrics and delivery of rhymes. I would call it “heavy hop”
NIS: Whats the message of this album?
DOCtAKH: Listen to the fucking album and you’ll know.
NIS: How long did it take to put the album together?
DOCtAKH: Wrote out ideas and fucked around with the lyrics for about a month, then wrote the guitar parts in about a week and recorded and finished mixing the album in three days, no bullshit!
NIS: Whats next for DOCtAKH?
DOCtAKH: Shows. This album is just the beginning. I got a whole other original album in the bag that needs to be recorded. Got a whole cover album of hip hop songs that also needs to be recorded.
NIS: Do you think your parents will listen to this?
DOCtAKH: I hope not, they’ll prob disown me for some of the shit I say on this record.
NIS: Whats your ultimate goal for this album?
DOCtAKH: To do music full time and not have to deliver pizzas anymore.
YOU CAN LISTEN AND PURCHASE THE ALBUM “RIDIN’ WIT THA DEVIL” HERE
Thanks to Oh, Handsome Studios for the pictures.
