Features : Donz Moran is keeping hip hop original with newest release “On Time”

With his latest single, “On Time,” Donz Moran is coming to the front of the stage with the kind of hip hop he believes in – original.

That’s what he means when he says he wants to bring back “the original, uncut New York flavor.

“I mean original music and original lyrics,” he said. “Nowadays, music is either a remix or a sample loop that people try to construct songs on.”

In “On Time,” he wanted also to create something sexy but grown up and respectful toward women.

“I wanted it to be something that has a perspective women love to hear from. I wanted to bring that flavor back, where women get some love, even when it’s hip hop.”

“Can’t live without you girl / You are always on my mind,” goes the refrain to a soft, mellow beat. “It will always be your time / And this one’s for you.”

It is a return to an earlier time in mood, process and simplicity. With all original music and lyrics, Donz will not run into conflicts with permissions and rights and the resulting conflicts between artists and stations.

But with Donz it is mainly a question of artistry, creating music from the ground up.

“It's almost like people can't do it anymore, you know what I mean? There’s not that many people who can really do the one-of-a-kind thing,” he said. “When it comes to hip hop, a lot of people need some kind of guide, a sample or a track, and I want to change that up a little bit.”

Samples and sample loops have always been important to hip hop, he said, “And I love the sample game, and I know how to do that real good, too.” His heart, though, is with originality.

“Original work has not really been touched on a lot, so I made it my business to pay extra attention when I was learning production to focus on original work.”

For more than 20 years, Donz has worked behind the scenes in production and promotion, but he started out as a performer and artist in his own right in the late ’90s. He had videos on BET, MTV and other places, and he performed at the Apollo while “I was trying to gain traction.”

The late, great producer Kevin “Kyze” Ravenelle was assigned to be his producer, and from him Donz learned the profession of producing, which is what he turned to when performance didn’t work out the way he thought it should.

“I really didn’t understand the business, so I stepped back for a while,” he said, and turned to the production end. Then, when Kyze died, he turned his focus entirely to producing.

“I became really, really good in production, and I kind of got away from writing because I was wrapped up in producing,” he said. “But being an emcee is my first love. That's who I am first. So once my beats and my actual raps started coming together again, I knew I could be a force to be reckoned with. I knew I had something different than what everybody else is used to. This is my time to come back out and put some real stuff down and see where it goes.”

That said, he would like to get a production job with a label doing everything he is doing now as an independent.

“I'm always putting something together. I'm always producing,” he said. “I can go in the room with no sound, just me and a pen, and come out with the track and the words and everything put together.”

He plans to put out three or four more singles before the end of summer.

“They're nice, smooth bangers and they have that ‘On Time’ feel. They're different and original.”

To see “where it goes” for Donz Moran, connect with him on all platforms for new music, videos, and social posts.

On Time
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