The darker side of underground hip hop is populated with a lot of colorful characters. Elaborate gimmicks, facepaint, masks, etc… This is a world of escapism. Otherwise common elements of hip hop provide a contrast to our over the top section of the underground. In this context, I took note of Donnie Menace. The accomplished battle rapper that spits wicked shit.

To be clear, merely being able to battle rap doesn’t make a rapper notable. From freestyling, to a chopper style track, it’s just an aspect of a rapper’s repertoire. McNastee and I once had a conversation about a someone who was able rap pretty fast, which impressed me. McNastee’s retort was “he sounds like he has a mouth full of Cheez Whiz”. He had a point… It shouldn’t be about if you can freestyle, if you’re a great lyricists, how many times you got shot, or any of that shit, unless what you’re doing actually sounds good.

Donnie Menace’s (a resident of Las Vegas, originally from Connecticut) gritty east coast style showcases his talent. From a hard hitting track like “Hitlist“, to the horrific “Slasher“, Donnie Menace evokes the roots of horrorcore. The battle raps provides an additional layer. He’s had rap battles that got more views on Youtube than a lot of underground rappers have had total, for instance his battle against Nov:

I’ll reiterate that I don’t think battle rapping is a necessary skill. I’m not one of the people that thought Canibus having a horrible battle rap performance (I give Canibus bonus points for looking like Ray Charles) made him irrelevant as a rapper. But, that shit ain’t easy. Donnie has had some enjoyable rap battles, such as his battle with Franchise, which adds to his portfolio. I’ve enjoyed what I heard from Donnie and I’m looking forward to hearing more.

Donnie Menace also has a crew, NiteBREED, which he’s done some tracks with and who also battle rap. I found this James Joyce vs. White Cheddar battle to be amusing. They seem to have fun together, and have produced such lyrical masterpieces as “Make Me a Sandwich“.

Donnie is working on a mixtape right now, and if you’re in the area you can check him out with Twiztid, Potluck, (hed) p.e), Liquid Assasin, and War Paint @ LVCS on April the 18th.

We asked Donnie a few quick questions:

KrAzY3: Why did you get involved in music?
Donnie Menace: Music has been around me my entire life. My uncle was a drummer and my father was a DJ. I got introduced to rap music and Hip-Hop culture as a toddler and it’s basically been the soundtrack to everything Ive done ever since I can remember. I started writing little rhymes for fun as a child when i was like 9, i kept doing it and and realize when I was in middle school that I wanted to make something out of it because I kept getting better.

KrAzY3: What’s your biggest influence?
Donnie Menace: Musically I could take up a whole page so I’m not going to bore people to death with that side because I listen to a little bit of everything. In general though I will have to say just every day life experiences and the ambition to grow as an artist. I like to surprise and amaze myself with my abilities just as much as i like to do it for my fans.I strive for perfection and improvement to my craft.

KrAzY3: What are your aspirations?
Donnie Menace: To be able to reach and be heard by as many people that I possibly can. Im an oddball and theres too many people that are like me that can relate to my outlook, experiences, personality, and sense of humor for me to not be connected with them somehow.

KrAzY3: What are you most proud of?
Donnie Menace: At the moment, just even earning and gaining what little love I have thus far since ive started really pursuing this venture in my life on a serious level. I knew its what I wanted to do for a very long time but I never thought I would get as far as I have. I’ve had people message me on my social network pages telling me that my work (music and battles) have got them through extremely rough and dark times in their life and kept them amused and relieved when they thought they couldn’t carry on. Thats an incredible feeling knowing that I’m capable of doing that for people.

KrAzY3: Anything else you want to say?
Donnie Menace: Peace to every person that follows what I do. Whether you’re new to it or have been rocking with me since I was barely getting plays on myspace just know that Im not going anywhere but further up than what you might see now.You guys are the ones who keep my name going and growing. The Threat Vol. 2, merchandise, and music videos are comming VERY SOON!!!!!!!! Peace to my brothers in NiteBreed, The GoldMinded Family, iBattle, AHAT.TV, and most importantly everybody from Connecticut to Sin City and everybody in the underground that’s been holding me down!!!

Websites:

• Donnie Menace @ Big Cartel
• Donnie Menace @ Youtube
• Donnie Menace @ Facebook
• Donnie Menace @ Reverbnation
• Donnie Menace @ Twitter