Daniel Son speaks on touring with Rome Streetz and meeting DJ Muggs
WORDS WITH WORD$ INTERVIEW #34
Yo, it’s the Pope, 1000WORD$.
Today I am joined by the homie, Daniel Son, aka Son Tzu. Hailing from Brampton, Ontario, he is best known for his frequent collaborations with fellow Canadian Hip-Hop producer, Futurewave. Together, they run the WAVGODMUSIC record label, which has helped release projects with multiple past guests on WORDS WITH WORD$, including Eto (Interview #18) and al.divino (Interview #11).
Growing up listening to Wu Tang and Nas, his influences are apparent in his craft. Now, he raps with some of the best from the underground scene. With a discography that boasts features from rap heavyweights like Rome Streetz, Estee Nack, and Pro Dillinger, Daniel Son’s potent storytelling and gritty lyricism has earned him the respect of fans and artists alike. Back in the states from touring with Rome Streetz, Daniel Son sits down with us to talk about traveling in Europe and his unique Hip-Hop journey.
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1000WORD$: Yo, what's going on man? It's your boy 1000 and this is WORDS WITHÂ WORD$. This is my substack with my homie, Daniel Son. Daniel Son, holla to people.
Daniel Son: My brother. What's going on man? You already know, Northside shit man, brown bag money. Shout out my man 1000WORD$ for having me on this shit, man. Come on now.
1000WORD$: Fire, fire. Let's get right to it, man. You came back into the states after this whole pandemic shit, right?Â
Daniel Son: Facts.
1000WORD$: Â How did it feel coming back into the states?
Daniel Son: Aw man, it was... Bro, I was so happy to be back, man. Honestly bro, I was just happy to be there. It was good to be back around with some of the homies I haven't seen in a minute. And, you know, just soak up the vibes, talk to the people again, do some shows, and sell some merch. Shit, it was glorious man. I had so much fun.
1000WORD$: You went to a couple of states, you accompanied Rome on tour, right?Â
Daniel Son: Yes, sir. Yes, sir. The Kiss the Ring tour.
1000WORD$: How was that first leg of the tour?
Daniel Son: Yo, shit was great man. The first show was in Boston. That's where we got to link and the Boston show was dope as hell man. I had a fucking long ass night the night before, you know, kicking it with my man Vino and shit. I was a little hurt on the day of the show, but you know shit came together nice. Yo, Boston was super dope, man. Yo, sold a lot of fuckin' merch. I had a great show. Westside Gunn and Stove God came out on stage and people went fucking crazy. The fire alarm went off, man. Yo, that shit checked off all the boxes. Man, that shit was a riot, basically.
1000WORD$: Yo, for those meeting you for the first time, let people know where you from.
Daniel Son: Originally, I'm from a place called Brampton. Brampton, Ontario, Canada, which is like 20 minutes outside of Toronto, from a spot called Courtly, you know, Sandalwood and Kennedy. You know I was there for a minute but now I live right downtown Toronto, man. Parkdale, like clean Street.
1000WORD$: How is it being a kid from Toronto and absorbing all this hip hop culture? Where did you first tap into hip hop out there? What was the first time you was like, "Oh shit...The fuck!"?
Daniel Son: I don't know how old I was man, probably like eight, nine, maybe even younger, bro. Seeing Wu Tang on the TV. Seeing Nas on the TV and shit, Gang Starr, but you know, when I really really got into it was when I started seeing Freestyle Friday and 106 & Park and shit like that. That's when it really connected with me, you know?
1000WORD$: Now you just basically went on a... you was chilling with Nack, Raz Fresco. You guys did a couple of shows out there, Right?
Daniel Son: Yo, so I just came back from Denmark. I was in Lyon, France. Then I went to Copenhagen Denmark did two shows out in Europe and then we went to this fuckin grimy ass strip club, bro. Yo, I hit the strippers vape bro, and I caught the fucking European plague out there, bro. I came back, I was sick as fuck. Yo, I've never missed a show in my life. And I missed the fucking Toronto show. I didn't have a full set on that show, I was only supposed to like pop out, do like a couple of tracks with Raz in his set. But bro, I couldn't even fucking move. I was dead. So I missed the Toronto show. But those guys they killed that shit in Toronto. And then they went to Montreal but I wasn't on the Montreal show. But we was like kicking it in the lab recording 'n shit. We had a great time and we watch the Superbowl together and ahit.
1000WORD$: I saw ya guys went out to dinner during the Superbowl, right?
Daniel Son: Yeah, yeah, we had this little hood spot across the street from my building and they normally closed early on Sundays, but I'm cool with the people there so they stayed open just for us. And we went and bought a big ass TV just for the game and shit. They held it down, man.
1000WORD$: Was that your first time going overseas?
Daniel Son: First time. Yes sir.Â
1000WORD$: How was that, bro? How really was that? Like, paint that. From where you from, how was that experience?
Daniel Son: Yo, bro. Honestly, it's funny because when I was on tour with Rome, I was like, Yo, this is the best time of my life. Europe was for real the best time of my life, man. We did a sold out show in Lyon. So, yo, had this project with this guy, DJ Duke and DJ Low Cut, right? DJ Duke is from Lyon. DJ Low Cut is from Paris, France. So, Low Cut(Might mean Duke) ended up passing away a year ago. He died from cancer. R.I.P. my man DJ Duke and so my project season seven was his last project while he was alive, right? So, they threw a tribute show for DJ Duke in Lyon and they flew me out and and everything for that. And bro that shit was sold out. It was like 550 tickets, but there was like 600 people in there. That shit was fuckin packed, bro. Yo, the European fans, and their energy is... it was remarkable, bro. I've never witnessed anything like that before. I can speak a little bit of French and shit, right? So I'm up there talking to them in French and I'd be like "Yo, faire du bruit, faire du bruit!" that means, make some noise, make some noise. And yo the place sounded like a bomb went off, bro, the people were so loud. People were buying merch, people coming up to me. Yo, I had so much fucking fun Bro. I can't even put it into words how much fun I had out there, bro.
1000WORD$: That's amazing, man, that your fans got to see you. You know I'm saying?
Daniel Son: Yeah, man. Yo, there was some lifetime fans that I got to meet out there. This one girl, Laura [LaTiot] who's been rocking with me since day one. She came out with her husband and her son. When I was backstage, the photographer comes to me, and he's like, Yo, there's this girl wants to take a picture with you. And I'm thinking like, yo, there's only one person I know that would send somebody back to take a picture. I'm like yo, is it Laura? [They said] Yeah, yeah. So boom take the flick, I'm chopping it up with them, and shit. And I'm like yo, you want to come backstage and kick it with us, and shit? Boom, tell security, "Oh these three are good. Brought them backstage and they just became part of the team, man. We was just back they're kicking it. All the artists I got to meet, this guy Napoleon the Legend for the first time, been seeing his name around from jump, [a] couple big French artists out there and yo, bro, it was amazing man. The vibes was crazy bro, full catered, like, lasagna trays and shit bro, right? Neva experienced no shit like that. It was amazing, man.
1000WORD$: That's what your talents take you bro.
Daniel Son: Yo it's such a blessing, man. I'm so blessed.
1000WORD$: How was that like? First time being in [DJ Muggs] studio? Has anything build up after that?
Daniel Son: Nothing [was] built after that. You know, and I didn't have any expectations going in because I know where I'm at. I know I got a lot of work to do. Muggs is a super fucking legend. I know that guy's got multiple full plates. But, it was just a great opportunity for me to just go and make an impression. It was crazy. I got to meet a lot of good people in there. [TF], I've been a fan of TF's music for a long time. He was cool as fuck. I mean, yo DJ Brown was in there, bro. You know, I walked in and I'm meeting all these people for the first time. I mean, yo bro, mad fucking gangsters in there 'n shit, ya know what I mean? Some gangsta ass shit in there. But then I see DJ Brown at the back of the room yo, and I just smiled and it was so good to see a familiar face. So I walk in and there's all these fucking bottles of Moet on the table, right? But I don't want to be that dude who just walks in the room and just be like, "Yo, yo, there's Moet? Yo, let me get a glass." You feel me? I just sat down and played the background. This is Rome's session, you know? Like I said, I'm just happy to be there. So Brown comes up to me and he's like, "Yo, you thirsty?" I'm like, "Yo, hell yeah." he's like, Yo, I got some Fun Gus." You know about Fun Gus, right?
1000WORD$: Yeah, of course!
Daniel Son: Yo, come on, now. Bro slides me a little bottle of the Gus. I take that shit down. He's like, "Yo, if you're thirsty or you wants some more come to the back, come outside." This guy had like a gallon water jug with the little fucking the little cap on it right? So bro, me, Rome, TF, Coach. Bro, me and Rome especially, we took that whole gallon down, bro. I was tripping the fuck out. It was good. It was a good ass trip though, ya know? Shit was amazing. And so Mugs is playing like a hundred of the illest beats I've ever heard in my life. Like the beats were amazing. He's got this crazy sound system in there where when the bass hits you, you can't breathe. The bass is like a Kamehameha to the chest. you know? You can't even fluckin breathe. So finally Rome decides on a beat. Rome goes up there, handles his business, kills his verse. I'm the cut right and I go to Coach, who's managing me and I'm like, "Yo, I got some heat for this!" He was like, "Yo, go tell Muggs."Â
So, I go walk up to Muggs. And yo, Muggs is an intimidating dude. Muggs is a big dude. And he's a super legend. And he's serious, ya know? So he's like locked in, in the studio chair. And yo bro, I fucking gave him like a little tap on the shoulder. Yo the man looks at me with the face that's like, "Yo, who the fuck are you and why the fuck are you touching me right now?" Like that's what his face was saying to me right? So I tap him, he looks at me and looks through my soul, bro. And I'm like, "Yo, Mugs. I got some heat for this." He's like "What?" And then thankfully Coach comes over and he's like, "Yo, let Daniel Son rock. He's nice. He's from Toronto and shit." So Mugs lines up the shit. And yo bro, I don't blame him at all, bro. Because, Yo, who the fuck am I coming up and trying to get on a Mug's joint? I don't fault him at all, bro. So he let me rock.Â
I stepped to the mic and right before I got on, right before I was about to drop my verse, all the shrooms hit me at once. I started getting mad nervous and shit. [I] start sweating and shit, feeling like I can't breathe. But yo, I one take that shit right, one take that shit, everybody in the studio's like, "ohhh!" And then there's a picture, yo, thank you to DJ Brown for taking this picture, it's on my IG. There's a picture of me taking off the headphones after I one take my shit and Muggs is looking at me and Muggs is like, "Yo, I fuck with that!" and I was like, "Yo, for real?" And he's like, "Yeah, fuck with that." And then after every time that Rome would go up, knock his shit, Muggs would spin around, "Yo Daniel Son you got something for this?" I was like, "oooooooh shit!" Thank you to Muggs for the opportunity man, cause that shit was amazing.
1000WORD$: That's fucking fire as fuck, man.
Daniel Son: Haha, that shit was so dope, bro.
1000WORD$: Keep doing legendary shit.Â
Daniel Son: We doing legendary shit. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, brother.Â
1000WORD$: Thank you for your contributions.Â
Daniel Son: Yo June. I'm going back to Copenhagen to play this festival called Distortion bro. 7,000 people. When I was out there in Copenhagen I was working with this producer called Ghost Notes. Super fucking dope, super cool, dude. I flew from Lyon to Copenhagen. I stayed at his crib on like an air mattress on the floor and shit, in like the little guest room. And, bro we was in studio like 15 hours a day for four days in a row. And there's this dude out there named Mass who has [a] Studio, he used to tour with Ill Bill and shit back in the days. This dude is like the big brother I never had, you know, he basically gave us a key to studio and so I've been working with him. They really want to push the album. They been fucking with the album heavy. So yeah, we got a little tour lining up and then, yeah, that Distortion festival is part of it. Like 4,000 to 7,000 people.
1000WORD$: Damn, *whistle*. Congratulations on that, bro.
Daniel Son: Thank you, my brother. Thank you.
1000WORD$: Daniel Son I appreciate this, man. Thank you so much. This conversation was so dope, bro. Thank you.
Daniel Son: Hey, man, thank you, my brother.
1000WORD$: Appreciate you.