Workforce & Fairfield County Weekly

By Nick Keppler:

So it's been established that Danbury isn't the next Seattle, right? Anyone still waiting on that? Anyone? Good, that means the following bands can be judged on their own merits, not the unreasonable expectation that they'll blow up like Soundgarden. Recent shows at Cousin Larry's and the Monkey Bar have been pretty sweet, even if no one's coming in from New York, the fools, to see these Danbury-based bands and musicians.

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Workforce

"I get down with the grit 'n grime/ so until I get mine I'm gonna stay on the grind/and use the rhyme as a tool to build/cause there's empty space that needs to get filled," raps Workforce's Hawl Digg (pictured) on "Set It Straight." Digg's lyrics are positive without being corny, confident without being boastful and old-school without being outdated. DJ and producer the Dirty Dutchman serves him well with samples from the Curtis Mayfield era of soul, one that's spiritually akin to Workforce's gangsta-free urban sound. Danbury natives and childhood friends, Digg and the Dutchman became addicted to hip-hop when "Rapper's Delight" swelled beyond New York City. "[W]e've seen all the good and bad that hip-hop has to offer," says the Dutchman. "We formed Workforce in 2004 to promote more of the good and less of the bad." www.myspace.com/workforce.