Feel like having a little dirt rubbed in your face? In the world of music, all genres can be over-played and taken too seriously, but every once in a while an artist comes along and revives the scene making it worthwhile once again. Dirt Nasty has rolled up his sleeves and successfully rejuvenated the hip-hop scene. The name comes from a simple phone conversation in which Dirt was asked how he was and his witty response being: “I’m just chillin’ dirt nasty.” Humble beginnings for what has now become the hip-hop trio: Dyslexic Speedreaders - composed of Mickey Avalon and Andre Legacy with other crew members on the peripheral.
As I talked to Dirt Nasty our scenery changed from liquor store on Sunset Blvd, the nearby sidewalk, the parking lot behind the Roxy, to sound check at the Roxy. Originally from the Bay area of California, Dirt Nasty’s roots and career stem from the world of acting. Influenced by “hard music” such as “Ozzy Osbourne, Too Short, Metallica, and NWA,” his influences are mainly from when “music wasn’t watered down. It was just fresh and hip-hop was new.” Hip-hop has always been a part of his life: a passion that started when free styling to beats that he created himself. “My friend had a karaoke machine and I would always just rap. But no one knew because I was just doing acting.” Not that the two professions don’t cross paths; in “Scary Movie 3” Dirt Nasty, also known as Simon Rex, plays the role of a rapper. The distinction for audiences is sometimes hard to grasp but once people let go of that “they laugh because [he’s] just taking a piss…rappers take themselves so seriously anymore.”
The stereotypical attitudes of rappers is what kept Dirt Nasty from further developing his own hip-hop career until his friend, Ben, introduced him to Mickey Avalon and Andre Legacy. At first Dirt Nasty “didn’t want to meet anymore rapper…[he] was tired of ghetto rappers who sought beats for free.” But he finally relented and let Ben bring the two guys over; they ended up “becoming best friends.” Andre and Dirt Nasty created beats in their bedrooms while Mickey was in a halfway house. “He used to get mad at [me] for handing [demos] out, but [I] always knew it would be a good thing.” Dirt’s foresight was accurate because the demos eventually fell into the hands of their current manager who at one time managed System of a Down in accordance with Velvet Hammer.
It has all paid off. The Dyslexic Speedreaders, a name created by the same friend, Ben, who introduced the trio, are opening for the Red Hot Chili Peppers on an upcoming European tour. “That’s going to be the sickest shit ever…touring with the Chili Peppers in Europe – it really doesn’t get any better than that.” The approaching headlining nationwide tour is an event worth taking in as well; at “those shows the kids are really there for” the Dyslexic Speedreaders, whereas at other shows they get boo-ed on occasion, but “that’s just paying your dues.” But kids are starting to embrace the music and the new direction that it is providing for hip-hop. When one has no modern-day music heroes “aside from Britney Spears,” what can be lost by listening to the Dyslexic Speedreaders? The least one will gain from the experience is a chuckle. “[I]” think that people really like [us] by default…feel like it’s [our] job to bring back the raw shit to music. [We’re] trying to bring back the fuck you, suck my dick shit, that’s been gone for a while.” With the entertainment industry in a cyclic downward spiral, the Dyslexic Speedreaders are greatly needed.
Dirt Nasty makes a lot of the beats for the group as well as working with other producers such as Cisco Adler from Whitestarr. It started out as just Dirt in the beginning of the Dyslexis Speedreaders, but as they “got bigger and Mickey got bigger…bigger producers got involved. It’s good to have many sounds, not just one dimensional.” The writing process for a Dirt Nasty song is a fascinating and lighthearted one. An idea is created that makes one laugh. Take “Amanda” for instance, a song about transvestites because “she’s a man-duh.” Dirt wants to make his songs “a three minute movie.” An obvious connection to his film past and an ingenious way to think about music: a fresh outlook for a fresh twist to the scene. “All rappers talk about how big their dick is so [I’m] gonna talk about a baby dick…go against the grain and if it makes [me] laugh, [I] will write a song for.”
The full length album will soon be out. Another current project of Dirt Nasty’s is The Remede with “fake British accents and new wave beats like Duran Duran and Depeche Mode.” Fresh ideas are what propel his creativity. And Dirt Nasty has just finished an independent film called “Hotel California” that “might go to theatres or straight to video.” Either way the face of Dirt Nasty - or Simon Rex – however you know him, will soon be in a town near you.
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