How did you get started with your music?
Inf: I started out like a lot of emcees, just freestyling with friends at school, on the bus, on the corner, wherever. It was just a fun thing to do. I made the conscious decision to make a career out of music as a senior in high school and have been working toward that goal ever since. I guess it can even be taken back farther than grade school since my father was a DJ, so I was always surrounded by good music like Marvin Gaye, Isaac Hayes, and other greats of the time. That probably also explains why I like soul samples so much.
 
DEMO:  Mine didn't start off so simple.  Music wasn't my first love.  It was actually football.  I dreamed of being in the NFL when I was a kid, until I got sick.  And I mean real sick.  I couldn't play sports ever again.  So I had to turn to my second love, music.  My mother used to play LP's and 45's every Sunday all day, before and after church.  Ever since I got sick I worked at being an artist.  I used to rhyme on the block with my boys, used to write raps in my social studies books.  But I didn't like being "known" so I worked on being in the background.  I started making beats and learned how to use various pieces of studio equipment.  I didn't really get into sampling until way later in my production years... it had to have been 2 - 3 years ago. 
 
What are you currently working on?
Inf: Right now DeMo and I are working on The Exception, which is the first project that we will release under the group name E.B.B. & F.L.O.W., which by the way stands for Every Beat Bangs and Fresh Lyrics on Wax. Whatever tracks don't make the album for whatever reason will be put on the mixtape that we will be using to promote the album and build a buzz throughout the country. The mixtape should be out around the end of the first quarter '07 or early second quarter and will be available on CD and on DJ Esquire's (Brooklyn, NY) iPod Candy series.

Demo:  The exception project is more than just "our" music.  It’s also "our" lives and the people who relate to it.  Our whole mission statement is to bring hip hop back to its early essence.  We're not too much concerned with the state of hip hop or the other artist who people label as underground or commercial.  What we're concerned with is the validity of hip hop as a true art form.  Hip hop is a voice for the voiceless a conduit for people who other wise have no outlet to express themselves; from the high school drop outs to the Howard U alums.  The exception is a project and a way of life dedicated to individuals who correctly use hip-hop, and its various sub-genres, to honestly express themselves and promote change.
 
What kind of music do you listen to and how does it influence your music?
Inf: I listen to everything alternative, R&B, reggae, jazz, and even a little country. I think it's important to not only understand hip-hop but to understand music in general. Listening to all kinds of music provides inspiration for tracks, sample ideas, keeps what I write different from what every other emcee may be writing about.

DeMo:  I listen to everything and I mean EVERYTHING.  In my iPod I go from old soul to jay-z to throat monk choirs to samba to Kompa, the list goes on.  As Inf said, it’s important to listen to everything keeps everything fresh.  It adds a different element to music.  Hip hop, like R&B and Rock music, is a hybrid genre.  You can use any kind of musical scale, any instrument, any language and it can still be called hip-hop.
 
What's your opinion on mainstream hip hop today? What do you like or not like?
Inf: I don't want to sound like everybody else and say hip-hop is dead because it's not. Hip-hop is a culture and a way of life so it can't die just because most of the music isn't up to par. Since I am from Mississippi, I have to say I am proud of what the South has been able to accomplish over the past few years. However I'm not so thrilled about how we have had to do it. I like a lot of the cats who are getting some burn Strange Fruit Project, Little Brother, and Saigon. I'm also glad to see some of the legends are back doing their thing Eightball & MJG and UGK to name a few. I'm not a big fan of one type of hip-hop being made over and over again, and that has been a problem for the past six or seven years. That's what we hope to help change though.
DeMo:  Contrary to popular belief Hip - Hop is not in a state of emergency nor is it dead. I just think there are just a few people who are mad they aren't being respected like they think they should.  It’s the south's time to shine, let them shine.  It’s good for hip hop to have so many sub genres and avenues for listeners.  It helps validate our music. Right now I think people want badly for hip-hop to be what it was in the early 90's, that’s not going to happen.    

Who do you admire?
Inf: Musically I admire Nas, Jay-Z, Big, Mos Def, Common, Talib Kweli, Rakim, Pac, Lupe Fiasco, KRS-One, and Outkast for what they have done for hip-hop. I admire folks like Dick Gregory, Cornell West, and Walter Mosley for what they represent for people of color and people who have had to struggle to make something out of nothing.
 DeMo:  On top of what Inf said.  I really respect my family.  Its cliché but they've taught me a lot.  They've been more than supportive of my career and next to godly when it comes to their love for me.  with out them I don't think I could enjoy what I do today.
 
Why would people want to listen to your music over someone else's?
Inf: That's a good question, and I don't think there is one answer to it. Some people will feel the music for the lyrics. Some people will feel the music for the beats. Some people will feel the music for the messages. I think overall people will feel this music more than a lot of what's in the market now because it's real and it's done in the traditional spirit of hip-hop instead of something contrived to sell records.
Demo: Couldn't say it better myself

Who have you worked with and how have they affected your work?
Inf: I've worked with a lot of different emcees and producers throughout the years, and everyone I have worked with has helped me continuously develop my craft and keep me from making the same record over and over again. For that I definitely need to shout out my brothers L. and Joey Bunns, Mitch Green, Big Rell, Sweaty Palms, DJ Esquire, Bem, Alex, Bread, and Mega.
DeMo: Right now I'm working closely with a few Mc's and working on some major things right now.   The People I working with now are Rhymez well, WHATTUP MAAAAN!!!!!! Lucky dice, Py Inf of course, Letia Larok, Reks, XL from the Kreators, Bright eyes who was on Mike Jones debut album, Absuloot and a couple others.    They all bring the best out of me in different ways.  So urge me to be more creative and push the envelope more.  Others urge me to be better than my last beat.  Then others just make me think about why do you need a producer when you’re so talented?  They all make me who I am and all of them have taught me to be greater than my last joint.

What is your local hip hop scene like?
Inf: There are a few of what I would call real hip-hop artists in Mississippi, but for the most part, cats are emulating what's coming out of Atlanta and Houston. Not to say that there aren't any original cats doing their thing because if you know anything about the Southern music scene you'd know that a certain Atlanta artist ripped off his biggest hit from two cats from Jackson, MS. We do what we can to preserve the essence of hip-hop in MS though.
DeMo:  Boston is a hotbed for talent.  We've been on the bubble for years and never had the right tools or the right artist to break through without hurting the city or leaving it.  We have birthed many "underground" heavyweights and we've also sustained a habitat for hip hop culture.  Unfortunately Boston is also in the middle of an assimilation crisis.  Too many of the artist here want to be NY so bad that they lose sight of who they are and don't focus on being themselves.  Boston doesn't have a "sound" yet.  Its unfortunate but you can only lead by example, hence THE EXCEPTION. 

Where do you see yourself in a year from now?
Inf: I've never been big on projections and all that, but a year from now I see us still grinding and make good music just on a larger scale.
DeMo:  I just see us both doing a lot more shows, a lot more notoriety, a lot more fans and of course less dead ends.  We have no choice but to go up.  We aren’t even at the tip of the iceberg.

Any additional information you would like us to know?
Make sure you check out the MySpace page at myspace.com/demoandinf . You can also go to our individual pages at myspace.com/pyinfamous or myspace.com/demobeatz. Anyone out there looking for a hip-hop group that puts on a memorable show get at us 601.940.7059 (Inf) or 617.642.8757 (DeMo). Hip-hop is still alive!