Rappers rubbing shoulders with D12

May 19 2009 by Andrew Welsh, Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

A TEENAGE Perthshire rap crew have fulfilled a burning ambition by collaborating with international chart-toppers D12.

Incredibly, Pitlochry-based hip hop exponents Conspiracy Of Three clinched rare studio time with superstar Eminem’s long-time cohorts following trans-Atlantic correspondence between Perth College student Darren Stewart and the Detroit outfit’s unique leader Rufus ‘Bizarre’ Johnson.

Darren (16), who records and DJs under the alias DJ Rhyme-Zee, described the amazing rendezvous as his band’s “big break”.

“I arranged over the phone and through myspace to record with D12 while they were in Glasgow doing a show as part of their European tour,” he told Music Scene yesterday.

“We met Bizarre about 45 minutes after the amazing D12 show at the ABC ended, outside the hotel they were staying at.

“Then we got a taxi from the hotel to GoGo Studios on Charing Cross.

“We could have walked there in 10 minutes, but the streets were crawling with hardcore D12 fans from the gig and Bizarre could easily have been recognised and given hassle.

“When we got there, I got Bizarre to listen to the beat I had pre-made ready for him to spit over, and he wrote some lyrics to it in like 20 minutes.

“I still actually have the lyric sheets he wrote after he left them behind in the studio.

“Although I was doing the track with Bizarre only, I got to meet most of the other guys in the group such as Kuniva, and Maestro, D12’s producer.

“My speciality is making rap beats and I was extremely star-struck.

“But they were all cool guys and Bizarre was amazed at how young we were.

“I’m a huge fan of these guys and being in the studio with them was phenomenal.”

Darren, who is a sound engineering student, was joined at the session by his Conspiracy Of Three band-mates Darren Adamson and Andrew Easton.

And the resourceful teenager revealed the unlikely alliance promises to yield further creative fruits.

“We were in the studio for a few hours, from around 12am to 2am, but me and my group stayed behind after the D12 crew left to do some solo recording,” Darren went on.

“Everyone I know says I’ve shown a lot of initiative and determination to organise this and actually make it happen.

“A lot of people doubted me recording with my idols, even I didn’t think it would happen when I first contacted Bizarre through myspace months ago.

“It was a long shot but it happened, and I feel accomplished and determined to keep moving up in the game.

“I’ve already arranged further collaboration. I’m putting together a new mix tape for Bizarre to be released on the internet, with some remixes and of course a few new exclusive tracks, which he gave me the green light to do.”

The track Darren produced during the recent session, ‘Bizarre Of D12 - Look Out’,' is available on his myspace page www.myspace.com/djrhymezee

There’s also a video at youtube, while the mix tape is expected to be available in June or July.