While most rappers brag and boast of guns and the street life, Naledge and Double O, a.k.a Kidz In The Hall can brag of attending Ivy League colleges, competing in the Olympics, and most recently, about releasing a debut album, School Was My Hustle, which is considered classic by many.

Praised by critics and fans from everything from their old school format of using one MC and one producer, to their original content, to their ability to relate to the “common man”, one thing is for sure, they are one of the best groups in hip-hop. Now with a new label and a new album about to drop, the duo is looking to strengthen their position in hip-hop. With Naledge dropping verses and Double O on the beats I wouldn’t bet against them.

Sixshot.com caught up with Kidz in the Hall to discuss their label switch to Duck Down records, their upcoming album The In Crowd, and how they’ve changed since their first album.

You guys stepped into the game and immediately got a warm reception from the hip-hop fans, did you guys think it was gonna be like that?

Naledge: Yeah, actually we did. I feel like if you do something and you don’t love what you do and you feel there’s no market for it, then you should be quitting it, it don’t matter if you’re a lawyer, do ctor, whatever. We make music for a living and we mapped it out a long time ago that if people opened their hearts and their ears to our music then they would feel us. We didn’t know if it was gonna come quick or come slow but we knew it was gonna come because it’s just so pure. We learned from the best so we added our spin to it and people felt as if we were a breath of fresh air. We made the album and we were just ourselves so that’s why it worked.

Double O: I think you know there’s going to be a fan base out there fro you but I also think these things are always unexpected. Like Naledge was saying, you really never know when it’s going to happen. You have the mindset that what you’re making is great and that eventually it’ll get out there but I can say personally that I didn’t expect it to come as fast as it did with the first album. I expected it to be a slow process but things happen. It was the right time, it was the right year for us to come out and it made sense for hip-hop.

You constantly get compared to artists, legendary artists, from Gangstarr to Kanye and the list goes on, how does that feel for you?

Double O: It’s great, for me it feels like we’re on the right track. What we’ve been doing makes sense. What that does is give us a certain sense of validation, but really the press just compares you to whoever they know. I think it’s been more crucial for us to have people like Pete Rock and Alchemist come up to us and tell us what we’re doing is dope. That a stronger part of that whole equation with the comparisons. When your piers are fans of your music that’s a big part of that whole equation.

What’s the process like for a Kidz In The Hall Track, what is it like when you get in the studio?

Double O: Well we wait for a volcano to explode somewhere in the world. We see where the ashes deposit themselves then we go over there and roll around in them for about 15 or 20 minutes and that’s it the CD is done. (Laughs)

Naledge: I don’t even know how to answer that. There really is no process. I guess when we were in the same city it was a little different but now we’re in two different cities. I live in Chicago and Double O is in New York. I just do what I do and he does what he does and we just kinda try and bring it together. He might have an idea for a song and I might have an idea for a beat and they usually match up together.

We’ve been doin’ it for so long, we’ve been working together since 2000. It’s easy; it’s telepathic at this point. When we make a song it’s almost like divine intervention or an act of God. There’s no real communication about it, it just happens. Once it’s laid we might add things or take things away.

Double O: It’s a very organic relationship; we’ve been working together since 2000 now. We know what buttons to push to make each other go forward and we know what works well. We go back and forth between those two things to get to the next level musically.

Now I know every label must have been knocking on your door, why did you choose Duck Down?

Naledge: Really, it happened naturally too, we reached out to Sean Price to do a song and then we ended up taking meeting with Dru Ha about him being interested and he just threw it out there that if we wanted to put a record out we always had a home at Duck Down. The more we thought about it, the more it made sense, from the way he approached us, to the game plan, to the family environment they got over there. The way they presented themselves and we knew we would be a priority, it was just dope.

Double O: The way everything happens with us is just, it’s kinda like that volcano thing I was joking around with before. That’s how things work for us, everything has really happened so organically. From how we met our management, just everything that happened with us happened how it was naturally supposed to happen. When we look back we look at it like it all happened the way it was supposed to go.

Did you guys ever consider taking the major label route?

Naledge: That’s probably the next step. This album is probably going to cement us as the best hip-hop group that’s out right now, in my opinion, by far the best new group that’s out right now. We really wanted to achieve success on our own without the help of a major. I could really give a damn about a label, I care about longevity and that come from having a fan base and doing shows, and touring. As long as we keep doing that, we’re good, the fame comes later. That’s all the major labels are good for, it’s not really a money thing because there’s not a big difference in what indie artists and major artists are making. We’re good right now but I could definitely see that in our future.

You guys both went to good colleges, do people in the industry look at you different because you’re educated?

Double O: Yeah we went to school but the main thing is, is that we stay true. You see it in the interviews and everything, we know where we came from and we know who we are. What I’ve realized is that people respect what’s real, no matter what business or industry you’re in. So long as you’re comfortable with who you are and you operate that way, they have to respect you. They can’t say you’re fake.

It’s one thing if we say we went to Ivy League schools but never did. It’s one thing if you said you sold drugs but you actually didn’t. The platform you speak on is as true as the face you have on everyday.

People are bound to respect you as long as you’re comfortable with yourself and you have that confidence and it come off with everybody else.

How has it been being thrust into the limelight?

Double O: There’s a lot of people in the game and I don’t know any specifics but they weren’t necessarily the cool kids in high school. They get a little bit of the limelight and they freak out. We’ve been dealing with attention or a long time. We did a lot of thing in college and in high school, Naledge was valedictorian, I was class president. I ran in the Olympics so we’ve been dealing with fame just maybe on a smaller level.

We’re adjusted so it doesn’t really affect us much. We’ve always though we were the shit. We’ve been this way in our mind for along time.

What can we expect to hear on this upcoming album?

Naledge: This album is pretty much all things to all people. If School Was My Hustle was our introduction then this is the main show. This is what you need to hear, this is the bread and butter, and this is the meat and potatoes. We have music on a bigger level now, whether it’s production wise or lyrically, it’s just bigger. It’s still emotional and soulful hip-hop but we covered the spectrum of a lot of different sounds and themes.

It’s still extraordinary hip-hop for ordinary hip-hop but it’s definitely a little more futuristic, a little more new wave. We’ve been more places and seen more things; it’s from an industry perspective. Last album it was more the perspective to the working man, the common man. We’ve been it the limelight and traveled the world. This album is the struggle of those two worlds coming together. It’s the arrogance, the opulence mixed with the drug addiction, that alcoholism, the sex. It’s everything balled up into one, it’s our lives.

Double O: We’re not so outta here that we’re not connecting with the world, I ride the train everyday. I see what’s going on and life has always been our inspiration. It’s a snapshot of where we are now.

Aight fellas, is there anything you’d like to say to the fans out there who are waiting on the album?

Double O: It’s comin’, 5/13, May 13th. It’s gonna be like a combination of some magic and some dirty sex, The In Crowd. Hit up the myspace at www.Kidzinthehall.Com and see what’s going on. We’re going on tour with Gym Class Heroes in a couple of weeks. Peep the blog.

Naledge: Yeah, and friends don’t let friends get pregnant so we’re putting free condoms in every copy of our CD so when you listen to our music and get hot and bothered, you’ll still be protected. We’re not trying to promote pregnancy with the wrong people and we’re also not trying to promote the passing along of STD’s. And end all Bitchassness.

Double O: End all bitchassness.