How did you get started in Go-Go? Who inspired you?

I got started in Go-Go back in elementary school. I had heard it before around my neighborhood at community days, but when I was playing basketball for the Boys and Girls club a lot of my teammates listened to it and they got me hooked. Later on around middle school there were a lot of little bands that I knew of and I really started getting into the go-go scene with backyard and NEG especially. In high school around 2000 is when I really started messing with Go-Go’s tough, and when I went to my first show with UCB at the Hot Shoppes in 02-03. My first band was a little garage band back in about 02 the beginning of my junior year we were called the Dangerous Youngins band lol. Since then I was in about 4 other bands before I&I. While I was coming up I was a diehard UCB and Backyard fan.

How did you get the idea to start the I&I Band?

Actually I didn’t start the band, the band has been here for 3 and a half years. It was started by 2 former members and 3 current members, Dice, Biko, Manager Jeff, Potsie and Mikey. I was brought into the band by our old rapper Dice. We both were in bands and we both went to the same school, so when my old band Choices eventually broke up, I&I was also rebuilding, so he brought me in to try and rebuild, and that’s what we did. I been in the band for about 2 and a half years now. The whole backline has remained the same except for our congo player left and our backup percussionist (Kwame) is now our main percussionist.

I&I has a little different sound than the other bands, who decides the direction of the music?

Everyone has an influence. It’s been a rack of times where we change shit around and mess with it just to make it sound unique compared to other bands and have our own style. We constantly think of new material and I can honestly say every person in the band brings there own material, and everyone listens, that’s why we work so well. We got about 40 songs we can put in rotation at any point and time. Everyone has an influence. It’s been a rack of times where we change shit around and mess with it just to make it sound unique compared to other bands and have our own style. We constantly think of new material and I can honestly say every person in the band brings there own material, and everyone listens, that’s why we work so well. We got about 40 songs we can put in rotation at any point and time.

I recognize the Rasta symbolism with the I&I logo. Is there a religous concept behind the music or is it just a name?

When the band originally started they came up with the name to describe the direction the band was gonna go in due to their beliefs in Rastafarianism. Since I came in the band, I agreed with a lot of the same concepts and we try and keep in mind the meaning of our name when we create our music, and be respectful to the meaning. The name I&I is a Rastafarian principle basically meaning "unity". Instead of you and me, we are I and I, oneness. Meaning we are unified. Even now we run our band like a family.

What projects are the I&I band working on now?

Currently we are trying to move forward in expanding our popularity throughout the whole DC, Maryland and VA by gaining a crowd and giving the people what they want. Then on the side, we have an all original songs album dropping soon that is a little more on the jazzy side of Go-Go, trying to appeal to a national audience. We been working hard on that album, and it should be completed sometime early 09… it’s a full album in a real studio. Besides that we’re just movin forward trying to be as humble as possible.

And before I go shout out to my whole band man Manager Jeff, Paulie, Mikey, Potsie, Rockin Ray, Sef, Moe, Kap, and Miss Jo, together we rise to the top of the sky, forever and always we gon be I&I.