The Doqument's new album worth the download

The Doqument have released their ambitious new album online for free.

Kiwi hip-hoppers The Doqument have released their ambitious second record, a double album that was two years in the making. They talk to Chris Schulz.

NZHerald.co.nz: Blank Canvas is your second album, and it's a double. That's a lot of music. Has this been a long time in the making?
The Doqument: We kicked this project off in January 2013, so It's been almost two years in the making.

Is it split into two distinct albums? What's the difference between the two halves?
The album evolved naturally over the course of its creation, from the original sound that we had established ourselves with to the newer sound and style we developed over the two years of experimenting and just making music as a crew. Thus the album was split in two.

There's a lot of different styles here. Was it an easy album to make?
There was a few hiccups along the way but more so just finding the time to get all of us together at the same time was difficult. We try link up at least once a week but with full time jobs etc its kinda hard. Nonetheless we make it happen.

The album's production and its cinematic qualities really stand out. The beats are all class - who's handling the production side of things, and how did they get so good so quickly?
All the beats on this album were produced by our youngest member Shaqles A.K.A Shaq Gavét. He's a wizard basically. How he got so good? Patience and practice are definite factors, but all-in -all I think it's more so a natural talent and ear for rhythm and sound. Dude's got swing like no other producer in NZ hands down.

When it comes to recording verses, are you all in the studio together, is it a collaborative process, or do you like to do those things separately, in private? Do you like to critique each other, or do you trust each other's vision at this point?
Amazingly we have pretty similar approaches to the music. Critiquing each other's lyrics happens occasionally but almost never and when it has happened, it's been very minimal. We only ever record if we are all present so that if needs be, opinions can be voiced and changes can be made.

You initially gave away the digital version of your album away for free. What was your thinking behind that?
Basically we wanted people to hear our music and free music is a good way to get out there. People don't often pay for something they don't know anything about.

For those that maybe don't know that much about you, can you give us a quick history lesson about how you all met and formed the group?
It's that classic two degrees of separation scenario. Image and Shaq knew each other at high school and reunited years later at an Audio engineering course by chance. Then Sike and imaGe were introduced through mutual friends. Shaq just happend to be in the studio one day when Sike and imaGe were laying a track down. While laying down their verses, Shaq made a beat titled "The Doqument". We all jumped on it and from that day forth The Doqument has been going strong. DJ Mac Major joined the gang in 2013 and is definitely an essential part of our team.

* Download Blank Canvas: Wall & Piece here.

- nzherald.co.nz