Respecta.is - The Ultimate Hip Hop Portal

Following his collaboration with Blu on (Blu and Exile's) Give Me My Flowers While I Can Still Smell Them, Exile Teams Up with Johaz, another fresh voice from Cali under the monicker DAG SAVAGE. The album features appearances by the Dirty Science Family Blu, Aloe Blacc, Fashawn, Co$$, Choosey and more. With beats produced By Exile who has been making classics for the westcoast for a minute, from Blu & Exile's "Below the heavens" to Fashawn's "Boy meets World." Now for his next classic, the debut album "E & J" by Dag Savage.

Exile was raised into music, something that began generations ago in his family. Through rudimentary beat machines, turntables and instruments, Aleksander Manfredi found his niche and spent years honing it. His journey took him all over southern California's underground scene and it was at one of these shows in the early 2000's that he first met a young, hungry MC by the name of Johaz.

Cultured by experience, Johaz grew up both in East San Diego County and Tijuana, Mexico. Life was definitely not easy for a young Black boy living in Tijuana and crossing the border everyday to go to school in SD. He returned to the states full time as a teen but the wise and intelligent young man had developed a belligerent streak. Though he was too young to get into local clubs normally, Johaz infiltrated the scene as a dancer, hopping on the mic once he'd finished a routine. This inevitably led to an encounter with the Masters of the Universe crew and after proving his worth through battle and realizing he was kin with Sumach aka Gonjasufi, Johaz became an extended member of the collective. He didn't record much with them though, aesthetically Johaz was a bit different than everyone else at the time. Johaz's flow was a bit more deliberate, his lyrics painstakingly honest and unabashedly raw. It wasn't until his dance crew Urban Dynamics grew into the hip-hop group Deep Rooted that Johaz began to find a home for his gravely flow.

It was his Urban Dynamics brethren that brought Johaz out that fateful night when he met Exile. Johaz immediately made an impression on Ex through his ferocity on the mic and his hunger and humility as a person. He was quickly invited to the studio where he began cutting tracks with Exile and the idea of an extensive collaboration began to brew. Soon it became apparent that the chemistry was unique and the duo spent the next several years chiseling away, crafting their unique blend of hip-hop.