On The Floor! - Live at Free Your Funk, La Bellevilloise, Paris

Frank Nitt & Illa J

Frank-N-Dank, Digipop, Detroit

Raised by hip hop in the music and culture rich city of Detroit, Frank "Nitty" Bush is what happens when passion turns into profession. Frank Bush met Derrick "Dank" Harvey in 1984 when Frank moved into a neighborhood on the east side of Detroit. Sharing the ability to break-dance and an undying love for the then relatively new music style known as hip hop, the two immediately became friends and partners in crime. As middle school age children, they united and would compete in breakdance battles against other neighborhood crews on Saturday nights. Considered the weird kids in high school, the duo and their friends including the likes of James "J-Dilla" Yancey (February 7, 1974 - February 10, 2006), were a part of many formations of hip hop, DJ and Breaker groups until finally being labeled Frank N Dank by J Dilla. Over the next few years their hobby grew into a craft. Frank, always anxious to develop a new skill, moved from just break-dancing into DJ-ing and rhyming. It was in 1999 that Frank N Dank would release their first album on Fat Beats, consisting of two 12"s produced by J Dilla. In 2000, Frank N Dank signed a recording deal with MCA records but released no records. In the midst of the major labels' collapse, Frank N Danks' prospective MCA release, '48 hours' was continuously pushed back and eventually appeared as a bootleg LP in 2003. Frank N Dank were granted release from MCA records in 2003. After a host of successful singles, touring with J Dilla across the US, London, Japan, Germany, Paris and Amsterdam, and attaining tour dates alongside A Tribe Called Quest, The Roots, Slum Village, Common, Ludacris and Wyclef Jean, Frank N Dank released their first official debut 'X-tended Play Version 3.13' in 2006. The album featured 13 tracks that Frank n Dank described as, "soul music for players," including an intimate track titled MCA that outlined their frustration with trying to release an album on a label that was falling apart. The years that followed were full of tour dates and numerous ideas as Frank worked to improve his craft and find ways to gain control over his own creativity. Having encountered difficulty with getting quality beats from other producers, Frank tried his hand at creating beats and arranging vocals to rhyme over for himself. Shortly after, "...people started hearing my product, and liking it. Next thing I knew, production was something I could say I do." In 2008, Frank decided to lay the foundation upon which his musical talent and concepts will stand by launching his own label called Digipop. The label is aimed at welcoming the change in how consumers and artist buy and sell music. "If it wasn't for the internet, some people wouldn't know who I am. I have had things that only released overseas, that people in the US love, and it is all because of the internet." Digipop is also not limited to hip hop artists. Finding a variety of music palatable, Frank wants to be able to interact with a variety of genres. "I want my hip hop to be reminiscent of the way hip hop used to feel, but sound like nothing anyone has ever heard hip hop do." Here you hear and feel him doing just that alongside comrade Illa J - live at Free Your Funk, Paris.