Hip-hop, lo-fi, video games and friendship. These are the four tenets of this local trio’s music currently spreading throughout the Treasure Valley.
This is Dedicated Servers, consisting of the rappers David “Dave the Fave” Boutdy, Matt “MCMD” Dixon and their DJ producer, Xander “Spin Master Mugen” Rodriguez.
Formed in 2004, Boutdy and Dixon could not have imagined that their small hobby making diss tracks would have spiraled into a nearly 20-year endeavor.
“There’s no way we ever thought we would be doing it this long – we were just laughing, telling jokes, being like ‘Let’s do another one!’ It’s cool that we’re still able to keep it going,” Dixon said.
Boutdy and Dixon put out three albums under the Dedicated Servers name before joining forces with their now DJ, Spin Master Mugen, creating their fourth and most recent album “Freshman 15,” released in January 2020.
“Freshman 15” is a culmination of all of the band’s eras in one extremely well-produced album that you could listen to endlessly. From what they would begrudgingly call their nerdcore era to lo-fi chill-hop, this album covers it all.
“Freshman 15” contains both new songs and older songs that have been remixed, such as track nine “Leaf Tag.”
“Mugen came in and breathed life into some of these old songs and made them better. He really killed it on all the tracks,” Dixon said.
The group references the legendary hip-hop producer Jun “Nujabes” Seba as a large inspiration for a lot of their music on “Freshman 15,” whose seminal works essentially created the lo-fi genre. However, the band expressed that being compared to Seba makes some of the members feel pressured.
“I don’t even want to be compared to him. It’s too big of a burden. To me our music is just us,” Boutdy said.
Rodriguez feels more positive about the comparisons.
“I don’t take it for granted at all. If it wasn’t for him (Seba) I wouldn’t be producing music today,” Rodriguez said. “It’s flattering being in the same conversation.”
Despite the comparisons, “Freshman 15” stands as an album that is wholly unique, tackling themes such as nostalgia, family, love and home, subjects often considered “too soft” for hip-hop.
Photo courtesy of Dedicated Servers
“You know, there are some rappers from here talking about getting shot and we’re like, ‘Where?’ That kind of thing isn’t true to us,” Boutdy said. “We always try to think about how we can be authentic.”
This commitment to authenticity is consistent throughout all of Dedicated Servers’ albums and singles.
The trio seeks to spread positivity through their hip-hop music. Whether that be a cheeky video game reference or a chill beat to spirit you away, there’s always something to bring a smile to the listener.
“It’s important to me that we give people something that’s fun, that’s safe and energetic,” Dixon said.
Dedicated Servers’ producer also wished for a positive impact from their music.
“With our music I’d like to leave behind an escape, when they’re hurting or sad or anything and have them get lost in it,” Rodriguez said.
Now in 2023, the band is looking ahead on how to expand their horizons, with three potential projects in the works.
The first project, “Hibernation,” is an album in collaboration with the host of radio show “The Wreck,” Jason “Djjason” Duncan, which Boudty described as having an “East Coast boom bap” type of feeling to it.
The other projects are Rodriguez produced albums titled “Colors” and “Hues.” “Colors” is aimed to be a future funk album, and “Hues” will return to the slower Nujabes-inspired beats like those on “Freshman 15.”
These albums are in addition to their own soon-to-be-released solo projects such as Boutdy’s “Rollercoaster” due out near the end of spring, along with numerous singles from Rodriguez.
There will surely be no shortage of content from Dedicated Servers. Fans can even catch the group performing at Treefort Music Fest this year. Rodriguez and Boutdy will perform back-to-back solo sets on Friday, March 24, while a performance from the whole trio is scheduled for the following Sunday, March 26.
With all these projects in the works, it’s safe to say that Dedicated Servers’ career is far from over, and that they’ll stay dedicated to propping up the Boise music community.
“Look into the Boise hip-hop scene. There’s a lot of cool rappers that are way better than us,” Dixon said. “Go support your local artist.”
If you would like to keep up with their future projects, you can support them on their Bandcamp, Twitch or with merch from their shop.
