The Rap Up: The Beat Behind Damaged Good$

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Hipsters are gonna go apeshit over the Damaged Good$ guys. (Taylor Emanuelson)

It’s not everyday that you get two born and bred Texas dudes cranking out psychadelic, futuristic tracks the way the guys in Damaged Good$ do. If you had to compare them to anyone, think Andre 3000 with a bit of Kanye West on “Stronger.”

Coool and Trak Bully were teammates on a basketball team at the University of the Ozarks in Arkansas. United by an affinity for Daft Punk, they immediately clicked, happy to find someone to relate to on a team of otherwise “shady cats.”

They took turns bugging each other out with their music tastes. Coool, from Oak Cliff, and Trak, from Tyler, were shocked to have found common ground in their non-mainstream preferences.

Damaged Good$, though, evolved out of Trak’s overwhelming frustration with things on his mind that he didn’t know how to express. Coool, a long-time lyricist, encouraged him to write a few verses. Their first collaborative effort was less than stellar, but their second attempt, “Housewife,” earned mixed reviews on Myspace. They decided to keep going and eventually earned the kudos of Arkansas crowds who would have otherwise been listening to Waylon Jennings.

The duo was approached by producer Xrabit to remix a track of theirs called “Killin’ Em.” Though apprehensive at first, all worries were thrown out the door when the result came in and floored the duo. As a result, they continued to work with him-and, eventually ended up receiving a contract offer from Big Dada Records (home to Diplo, among others).

Trak, forever the skeptic, challenged the label CEO to fly them to London for a face-to-face if they were serious. When it panned out, they were sold–and immediately began working with collection of European producers who “got” their sound.

Damaged Good$ is currently working on a tour schedule that is tentatively scheduled to kick off before the beginning of the new year–around the time their debut record is expect to be released. For an instant dose, catch them tomorrow night at the Fall Out Lounge for the D-Town Booty Bounce show, along with DJ Fishrpryce, Prince William, Click Claack and Scuba Team Go. 835 Exposition Park, doors open at 10 pm.

Or just listen to “Yo That’s Righteous Bassline” on the duo’s Myspace page, and prepare to be floored. –Quia Querisma

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