Demetrius "El Prezidino" Doss, former wide receiver for the Marshall University Thundering Herd is set to drop a digital release album this weekend before his first major debut project this fall.  Doss, who goes by the stage name "El Prezidino" talked to me about his release, his ties to the Marshall University community, his burgeoning career, his future amibitions, the music industry and what consumers are to expect from him in the forseeable future.

Doss, who caught passes from Marshall alums and NFL veterans Byron Leftwich and Chad Pennington, was born with a gift for entertaining, a soulful spirit and a charismatic personality.  Doss's musical inspiration came from a combination of his faith and the creativity of Kanye West.

After surveying the musical landscape and doing subsequent homework on the business side of the music industry, Doss launched 3 Fingers Global as a corporate brand to produce and distribute his music, along with affilitated merchandise. 

Doss realized that to become successful, he had to differentiate himself to the listening public as well as have creative control over his product.  Doss created the name "EL Prezidino" which is a derivative of his childhood nickname "Dino."  Doss goes on to explain his unique sound and distribution strategy for his music.


DCMS: Tell me about the new album.  How long did it take to complete?

"The name of the album is called "Almost Genius, Almost Crazy."  The album crosses all types of music genres, hip-hop, rock, r&b, indi, even a little house music.  This mixtape/promo album is perfect project to release a composition like this.  There's no way I'd be able to get away with this on an official release (LOL)."

"This album took a lot longer than expected. I originally planned this album to come out in January or February.....the digital release is May 31st.

DCMS: How would you classify your sound or music?

"I've changed my ideas on music categories and genres with the past five months or so. At the end of the day, there is really only two music categories....good music and bad music.   That's what I classify my sound as.....smart, good music.  Of course, I'm a hip-hop artist, but with so many elements of other genres in my music, the best way to describe my sound is to just call it good music.

DCMS: How long has it taken you to get this first album off the ground?

"Well, this album is just a promo album...not a full length piece. This album will actually precede my first full length work which will be dropping later this year.  My last album, which was a EP, was released in 2009.  It's called "The Illness" (EP).  It's on iTunes, Rhapsody, Napster, etc."

DCMS: Are you still  tied in to the Marshall Community?

"Of course.  I was attended the Marshall Hall of Fame induction ceremony for Byron Leftwich, Chad Pennington, and Randy Moss.

DCMS:  Do you have a record/distribution deal?

"I release all my music through my independent label, 3 Fingers Music Group. You can get my music almost anywhere online music is sold.

DCMS: What is your opinion about your genre of music today?

"I hate it...sorry, I'm just being honest.  I honestly only listen to a few artist in hip-hop right now.  Kanye, Jay-Z, Raekwon, The Clipse, etc. I do like B.O.B., and I think Drake's songwriting ability is pretty tough.  Quite honestly, I listen to more indie and rock music now than anything.

DCMS:  Is making music directly available for download to the public the future for independent artists?

"It's the future for all music artist.  Don't get me wrong, people are still buying some CD's, but not nearly the quantity that they download.

DCMS: When exactly is the debut album available for download?

"The debut album won't be out until fall 2010 but the appetizer to my debut, my promo album "Almost Genius, Almost Crazy", will be available on May 31st

DCMS: Where can they download it?

"All the official EL Prezidino social networking sites like MySpace, Facebook, Bandcamp.com, etc

DCMS: Anything else you want to share with fans about the album?

"I think this album will get people excited about music again."

DCMS:  Any shoutouts or credits you want to acknowledge?

"Shout out to my band, M.O.R. (Music Over Recognition) and my 3Fingers Music Group Family."

El Prezidino is one of the top upcoming artist to watch in 2011. The  release of "Almost Genius, Almost Crazy" is set to become available May 31st.



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