Local Artist Feature

One of the things I'd like to do with my blog is spotlight local artists who are doing good work. Dale Coachman is the twenty-something year old publisher of the online magazine, Scheme, who has the distinction of being the very first feature on this blog.


I met Dale Coachman at Bus Boys and Poets, a hangout, artsy, lounge-like place where creative and political people convene. Dale was spotted at Bus Boys with his business partner when he first created his online e-zine, Scheme Magazine [www.schememag.com]. Dale is very much typical of the hip hop generation: he hustles with his 9-5, yet finds time to commit to what he loves and he juggles it all so well.


Dale: hey

abdulali: Thanks for doing this interview, Dale.

Dale: np

abdulali: Can you tell me a bit about why you created Scheme Magazine?

Dale: Well I created Scheme because one night my fiance and a good friend, who is now my partner, Khary Campbell asked me within 5 minutes of each other if I ever thought about starting my own online e-zine. I've always wanted to contribute to hip hop and I can't spit a hot 16 or make beats so I figured why not. Plus the interviews I would read didn't get at what I wanted to know about these artists and individuals in the hip hop community.

abdulali: Where would you say Scheme is now? It's still under a year old, yes?

Dale: We are 6 months old.

abdulali: Congratulations! What are you learning about online publishing? About being an artist, an entrepreneur?

Dale: It's tons of work and long nights especially after my 9-5 job, but its very rewarding when you give an artist some light and they are so grateful and appreciative for being recognized and it's cool for me because we can slowly educate people and get them out of the matrix, lol

abdulali: Tell me more about the matrix, and your mission to educate people.

Dale: Well the matrix to me is what mass media has created and commodified and told the hip hop community what their hip hop is and have through every media outlet brainwashed a people and trained them to listen to certain kinds of rap music and how to somewhat socialize in hip hop culture from how to walk, talk and dress to how to approach a women or man and has told us what they think each gender ultimately wants out of the other

abdulali: In a sense, you're trying to "flip" or "rewrite" the script, huh?

Dale: Our goal is to tell people they have other options and bring back the balance of hip hop not just with the music but with the culture on a whole. Not rewrite because it was written already, but because of the dollar it has gotten away from why it was made and done

abdulali: I know this point has been addressed on numerous occasions but can you state what the difference between hip hop music and Hip Hop culture is?

Dale: We're really not trying to change much we're just trying to give people other options and different branches of music and occupations to apply their expression. To me hip hop culture is what you live and rap music is what you do, to take the statement from KRS-ONE.

abdulali: LOL. I was afraid you'd quote somebody else.

Dale: But media has really erased that line and the term has been used so much that
people call this and that hip hop. To me hip hop is something you can see hear and feel

abdulali: Where would you like to see Scheme Magazine at 1 yr old? and at 2 years old?

Dale: Well at 2 years old I would like to see it develop a print version as well. at one year I want to have enough ad sales to get to that point of print. However, we don't want beer and or liquor ads
we want Microsoft and Black Enterprise and companies that we can work with in the future

abdulali: Good for you...What can the local arts community do to contribute to Scheme Magazine?

Dale: And maybe put computers in someone's school.

abdulali: What can the local arts community do to contribute to Scheme Magazine?

Dale: Basically keep doing what their doing we just had the hip hop theatre festival the 10th Movement Session Anniversary event and in August there is the Can A Sista Rock the Mic Fest and there are plenty of artists here the reality is DC really isn't known for it's hip hop scene but I would slowly like to change that and get cats like Kev Brown, Stacey Epps, W. Ellington Felton, Oddisee and others that exposure. Hip hop does exist here.

abdulali: Are you doing anything with young people? I think every movement should begin with young people. Perhaps you can identity a HS and have the students do some freestyling or maybe some writing and learn about hip hop journalism.

Dale: well I'm trying to create a festival right here on U Street with a friend of mine and give some of the proceeds back to Duke Ellington because I heard their losing funding and have had to shut down some of their programs because of it.

abdulali: Let me know. I happen to be good friends with the Chair of the Creative Writing Program there.

Dale: Cool, I'm trying to get a proposal in order.

abdulali: Any final comments you'd like to make before we conclude this interview?

Dale: But the kids are the one's that are going to change hip hop culture and the music so it's important we give them more than Young Jeezy, Jay-Z and Lil' Wayne and Flavor Flav and that show A hot Ghetto Mess. Just keep your mind and you ear open to new and different things and be a leader not a follower just because the music is played on the radio and a certain form of hip hop is given to you that doesn't mean you have to accept it

abdulali: I agree. I think our young people just need the tools to critically decode some of the messages that are sent their way via media via hip hop

Dale: Very much so...

abdulali: This has been fun, will you let me call you so I can rap to you for a few....?

Dale: Sure, one final thing

abdulali: uh huh?

Dale: ok I'm done. Nah, but really, lol. I think the minute we labeled this expression we we're in trouble because it's already boxed in. Why can't we just have artists just make good music. Do people want to be known as a great hip hop artists or just a great artist or musician.