the new kid on the block

By Dylan Adams

Having quality
over quantity is
something I aspire
to achieve

George Evans, better known in the

Hip Hop world as Dust 17, began
to be noticed after he released
his first mixtape; Embers. It set rap
blogs afire with the new style of
Brit-Rap mixed with Grime. Since
that release at only 16 years old,
hes been performing at underground gigs giving glimpses at
new content without any new
releases. Until now.The biggest
question surrounding his career
as a rapper has been, how will
his age affect his music and his
position within the community? So
far its only helped him; setting him
apart from the rest and making his
already impressive musical talent
seem ever more interesting.
When I arrived on set at the photo
shoot, there was an excited buzz
surrounding Dust, he had his agent
and makeup artist both asking him
questions as well has him reeling
off requests and questions of his
own. I felt like an intruder; after
a few minutes he seemed lonely
enough to approach.

HOOK: Firstly, your biggest gig and end of your tour was
just a few days ago. Why did you
decide to drop your mixtape that
day? And why give the audience
free hard copies?

Dust: Considering it was
my first tour and as you mentioned
my biggest gig. I wanted it to be
special, for the people that went
to have something to set it apart
from the rest.

HOOK: Fair enough, do
you prefer more intimate gigs like
that one or having a busy tour
schedule with more focus on quantity?

Dust: Ive always preferred

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it like that; it makes it feel like

more of a separate event that
people can treasure memories of,
as opposed to just another stepping stone. Im very much the same
with all aspects of my life, having
quality over quantity is something I
aspire to achieve.

HOOK: Speaking of
quantity, you have only released
two mixtapes to date; Embers and
Kindle. Both of these names are
heavily related to fire, why is that?

Dust: One of the default
terms for good rapping is fire, if
a track was good it was straight
fire, it always sounded kinda
dumb but I liked it. I wanted to
pre-empt my music in a way, even
if it sounds cocky I wanted my
rapping to be related to fire. Plus
it always leads to some cool as
hell looking artwork ha ha.

HOOK: Youre not wrong
dude, youre living up to your
album names. Speaking of names,
why Dust? Doesnt it seem a like
the polar opposite of fire?

Dust: Thats kinda the point
to be honest; I was always told
that I was nothing but dust and Id
never get anywhere with my rapping. I used it as my alias to keep
in touch with my roots and as a
middle finger to the ones who told
me I wouldnt achieve anything.

HOOK: Well you certainly
proved them wrong, I bet youre
pretty chuffed. Anyway theres a
question that needs to be asked in
every interview and I bet youre
bored of it by now. Who are your
musical heroes?

Dust: To be honest I always
love answering this question. First
of all it would be Killer Mike, his
R.A.P. Album pretty much got me
into Hip Hop and Ive got him to

thank for it. El-P is pretty much

paired with Mike now since his
production work on the Album
as well as their collaboration on
Run The Jewels. His solo work is
great too, Cancer 4 Cure was a
big influence to me. LL Cool J has
always been a favourite of mine, I
love his style and Ive tried to emulate it in a way with some of my
new stuff. Whilst he may not be a
hero, J.Coles last release (2014
Forest Hills Drive) is one of the
best and most complete albums
Ive ever heard and he deserves
all the success he gets. Then theres
the white boy rappers, due to
Hip Hop being a predominantly
Black genre it can be tough for
White rappers to break into the
scene. Logic (His most recent album
is the best release in the past 5
years in my opinion), Asher Roth,
Watsky and of course Eminem,
have all made such an impact on
the scene and have made it much
easier for people with different
backgrounds to become breakout
artists.

HOOK: Thats quite a
list, and I agree with everything
you said, especially about Under Pressure (Logics most recent
album). You touched on you being
very different from a lot of other
rappers, what do you mean when
you say that?

Dust: As you can see Ive
got a pretty different fashion
sense to most other rappers, I
prefer beanies or snapbacks with
jeans and a white tee, as opposed
to the gold chains and leather
jackets.

HOOK: The look definitely
works for you, sets you apart and
is slick. Thanks for talking to us.

Dust: Its been a pleasure.

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