When the divergent duo of Cadillac Muzik, Beseja Moses and Scott Campbell, matriculated into the world of hip-hop, it was during the earlier parts of 2003 in San Antonio, Texas, under the stage name Texas Hardnocks (THK).
Moses and Campbell also released a string of projects with fellow musician, Big E, from 2006 until 2007, under the group name “Big E and Lil Scott.”
In 2010, longtime friends, Beseja Moses (Stage name CaddyMack) and Scott Campbell (Stage name DaddyDville) ultimately branched off and began their journey as Cadillac Muzik. They linked up with producer and songwriter, James Howard (J-Marz), who helped the fellas establish a style that’s markedly comparable to George Clinton, Outkast, and Arrested Development.
Cadillac Muzik considers their distinct composition of melodies a mixture of Alternative Hip Hop, Funk, and Pop. Through the years, they’ve managed to keep their authentic sound. Both, Moses, and Scott agree that a traditional label might change who they are, so they are content with being in the biosphere of Texas for now, but hope to hit the globe with an unrestrained acclaim at some point in the future. They understand that they are different, but they have no doubts that the universe will receive their style with open arms.
The group recently let loose one of their singles entitled “Vibrations” as a follow-up to their 2015 release, “Sky High.”
“Vibrations” combines a timeless and feel good sound comparable to The Gap Bands “Outstanding,” as well as the Bee Gees. When asked about the track, Moses said, “We have so many styles. When we put "Vibrations" out, we planned to push it out into a broader audience. When we did “Sky High,” ‘We were just experimenting a little because we had a following,” Moses said.
“So, we tried to put something out that was motivational, that people could grab onto—something that would uplift people. Then we wanted to take it to another level, to kind of tailor our style—not to stay in one lane, but put everything that we are into, inside one song, and market that sound by adding all of our influences into one single instead of a little rap, here, and there.”
“Yeah, because sky is the limit,” echoed Scott.
Sky High
Do you get resilience from your peers and listeners because your style is different than mainstream music?
Scott: We really don’t focus on if everyone is going to receive it. That’s not what we focus on. We really focus on the message and the sound that everyone grew up on, is in there. We were groomed through our family members and music, which is years and generations of music. That’s not going anywhere. Movies, and movies, of Michael Jackson, that’s not going anywhere. People are afraid to take it there— No, let’s do it. We’re going to do it! That’s why there’s no limit with us. So, if the people receive it, they receive it. As long as the message gets across, that’s all that we’re worried about.
You guys decided to do positive stuff for this generation which is great—it’s very different. How big is the support? What’s going on down there in Texas?
Moses: The thing is, we all know that with everything that’s going on in the music industry—the direction that its going on the commercial level, it’s just like you said, everything is being pushed into that negative market. So, as far as the support, our family, our area—there are a lot of people that’s hungry for positivity right now, and I think it’s because of the need. There has been so much negativity and people are feigning for something different and fresh right now.
Like, Scott said, people are scared to take it there because they are afraid of being unique, being authentic, they are afraid of trying something that no one else is doing. One thing that we were raised to do is be ourselves and not follow the trends or the crowd. Yes, we have a lot of family members that don’t agree with what we are doing and that’s surprising. They don’t support us because they feel that we should do the trend and do what everyone else is doing. Being the fact that it’s so deep within us, we want to stay authentic, we want to stand out, we want to start something new, and we want to go the opposite direction; so it’s nothing for us to go against the grain. We’ve reached a lot of people in our area that are tired of the negative music—they want fresh energy.
Who are you working with and who would you like to share the stage with?
Moses: Right now, we’re pretty much working on branding, who we are, with Cadillac Muzik. We pretty much work in-house on our own music. The further we get into creating the EP, we do plan to get bigger features and more people involved. As of now, we are just focused on branding who we are, letting people know our image, and getting familiar with our character and what we bring to the music industry.
What’s your 5-year plan?
Moses: We plan to pretty much conquer our region. We may have a different plan than everyone else. But we go with our mind, and what God is telling us to do, and where we are being lead. Our 5-year plan pretty much start from where we are, and pretty much, will build out into our region with writing and music licensing, publishing, as well as putting other artist out. We’ll be doing as much as we can get our hands on and not just from an artist’s perspective, but a business perspective as well.
We know that Texas itself is experiencing some serious and negative shockwaves with all that’s going on with the police. How do you plan to use your platform for the people? Are you going to put out more material, per say, the incident last week with #Alton Sterling? Are you performing as a stress relief?
Scott: We are actually getting ready to get an event going down here. There have been a couple of events going with #BlackLivesMatter, and people are supporting that movement. We’re going to add on to that as well. We understand that Black lives do matter, but it’s a greater and bigger cause overall, and that’s the thing that we’re bringing balance to with all our shows and our image as well. We plan to bring the merchandise as well. That’s what we plan to do while joining the movement here, and not to mention, reach out and branch out here.
What do you think about global change? Do you think you can make a difference or is it baby steps right now?
Moses: I feel like; we really don’t have a limit. It’s weird with us, and I know this sounds strange, with us and how we’ve gotten to the point that we’ve gotten is strictly off of having faith in God, and there is really no limit. We don’t box ourselves, and we go—our steps are ordered. We don’t know where God will have us 5-years from now. It could be on a global scale—we may not even be doing music. We might be behind the scenes, pushing other people, and doing something else. We order our steps, pray, and move when God tells us to move. It could be bigger than what we’re thinking. So, we don’t really limit ourselves. We always saw ourselves on the global level. It’s like you said, goals… Having those short term and long term goals.
What mindset were you in when you released Sky High?
Scott: Actually, our life experiences inspired that record. We were going through things, people weren’t believing in us, people were coming in with broken promises. All the struggles that you hear every celebrity poor out, or have gone through on their way up, those are the things we experienced at the time and we were just fed up. Instead of releasing those frustrations on everyone around us, our peers and standing on a negative funk—God moved us in a positive direction to get away, and when God did that, we sat in that studio, it was just me, Moses, and J Marz, we decided to pop that record on. Moses did the hook and it was that. Everything that we were going through that was negative, we flipped it and made it positive.
So how important is it to secure a group name and not get sued or catch backlash to something that’s already used?
Moses: We stepped out on faith with the name. We feared it would be a problem so we researched, which is something that every artist should do, or I advise every artist to do. Do the research, secure the name, get the trademark and secure yourselves. That’s where the music industry is going. That’s what we want to inspire other artist around us to do, to encourage that they own themselves and their names, products, and stand behind it. We want them to support each other in the community. That’s the major thing that we press forward to—we want everyone around us to invest in themselves and get it. That’s the message we really want to get across, you are supposed to invest in yourselves, pour into each other, and you’re supposed to own yourself. That’s really important to us.
You’ve been doing music for a long time. Do you ever get tired or do you just want to work even harder?
Scott: At the end of the day, there are ups and downs. We’ve learned that it’s what you make it. If you take your L(Loss) and you learn from those L’s, they are no longer losses. You’re winning across the board and that’s what we’ve learned to think.
Do you have a musical background?
Scott: I played ball and that was my thing. I was a point guard. Everyone thought that I was going to the NBA. But that was my father’s dream, he wanted to go, but he had me. Long story, short, that transitioned into me and I lost the passion for basketball. All through school, I ended up in choir. I never knew the reason that I was winning all these accomplishments in choir. That was it. I didn’t take that. It wasn’t primary for me—my thing was basketball. Overtime I grew out of basketball, and became a music head. I asked God to use me, and here I am, Daddydville.
Moses: We’ve been knowing each other since we were like 10-years old. We met on the basketball court when were kids. My story was similar, and, yet, different. My real name is Beseja Moses, which means promise and that we have trust in God. I was raised in church, in a hard situation in the ghetto. We had to work hard. My mom was a single mother. So, she really put in me the positive aspects of life and keeping the morals as well as the Christian background.
My story is similar because my family thought I was going to the NBA, but God had a different plan for my life. In my family, everyone sung, they played music and had a love for music. But, I feel like people put expectations on people lives to be a certain way. They feel like that was their dream, so they want to make that their child’s dream, and that’s not what it is sometimes. God has something different. The talent was always there. The gift was always there. The foundation was always there. I was born to lead. I had to free myself from what everyone else felt, and find out who I was, so that God could use me. This is how we wanted to be used—through the music and not necessarily singing or rapping, but touching people, leading them with the right message, period.
What do you want to leave with the readers?
Scott: With everything we are going through right now—this was told to me by a wise man. With everything that we are going through right now, hold on to your loved ones, cherish the times, and keep God first.
Follow the group:
https://www.facebook.com/210CadillacMuzik/?fref=ts
Twitter: @ CadillackMuzik
Instagram @ Cadillack Muzik
Website:http://www.itscadillacmuzik.com/
Catch their releases on:
Spotify
Reverbnation
Google Play
ITunes