Both fostering their musical skills from a young age in Austin, Texas, rapper Dowrong and producer Eric Dingus have together crafted a raw and hardened collaborative sound that expresses “desperation, anger, glory, hope, faith and the realization that history can too often repeat itself – the stakes are real.” After finishing up their debut mixtape titled The Dowrong EP, both artists realized how well they complimented one-another and have gone on to create a full-length album titled Stack or Starve via Dream Sequence Records. Ahead of their album release, both Dowrong and Eric Dingus have graciously offered up the album’s title track as today’s XLR8R download.

You can download “S.O.S. (Stack Or Starve)” below via WeTransfer.

S.O.S. (Stack Or Starve)

XLR8R got the chance to catch up with the duo to get some further insight regarding their collaborative spirit, overall artistic approach, and what the future holds for this adept hip-hop project.

The themes of this track seem pretty serious. The phrase “Stack or Starve” alone evokes a pretty severe all or nothing mantra. What inspired the intensity behind this song?
DOWRONG: Basically I was trying to encapsulate that emotion, when you feeling like you don’t have no choice but to go out there and do whatever it is you have to do to make a means so that you can provide. “Watchin’ me stack while you starve.” Either you gon’ starve or you gonna watch somebody else get this money. That emotion right there: “I’m tired of doing this shit, I’m gonna make a change for myself.” That’s where that came from.

You and Dingus have been working together as a rapper/producer team for over a year now. How does your chemistry effect the music you make?
DOWRONG: We just cooler than a motherfucker. We have that mutual respect, it just happened like that. We didn’t force it. We both have the same ethic, the way that he makes beats is the way that I write songs and create. Like when we feel it we just gotta make it, we do it right then.
ERIC DINGUS: I feel that working as a duo gives more consistency to the full projects, as well as more of a personal connection in the music’s vibe. Also, working alongside Dowrong over time, we help each other’s creative side and try and push each other to grow with each project. When we recorded the song (SOS), Dowrong was staying at my apartment and we had been recording all day, every day. The full project really was made during the span of 2-3 weeks.

The first project you and Dingus did together, 2015’s The Dowrong Ep, introduced you guys as a group. How does the music you’re making now compare to the first album?
ERIC DINGUS: The Dowrong EP feels more like a mixtape, or a collection of collaborations. With S.O.S. It’s more conceptualized, and has more of a consistent sound and feel.
DOWRONG: I’m actually making songs, at first I was just rapping with hooks. I’m making cohesive songs with a more flawless presentation of my concepts than on the first project we put out. Where do you see Dowrong and Eric Dingus’ music fitting in to Texas Hip-Hop? I see Dowrong and I’s music providing an abstract soundtrack from Austin. We’re just making the music and vibes we enjoy and in the process trying to push Texas hip-hop forward.