Recently, HipHopDX attended the 2009 New Jersey Music Conference. Representing the site, I sat on a panel of industry folks that gave constructive criticism on various talent traveling from places as far as Memphis and North Carolina and snow-struck Newark loft. The 10-hour event had lots of talent, expressing many styles of emceeing and Rap production.

Dave Vegas, a veteran musician from Pottstown, Pennsylvania was one of the absolute show-stoppers. With a singing-meets-rapping style, Vegas brought a musical warmth and smiles in a crowd that had heard punch-line raps and Trap beats for a majority of the day. With a style that could be described as Cee-Lo Green-meets-Elvis Costello, Vegas lives up to his entertainment name, incorporating props and anecdotes to his show in a way that pulls him past the typical unsigned talent.

With his first album Lady Luck out now, Dave Vegas and his manager JT met up with DX just on the Philadelphia city limits at a crowded Tex-Mex restaurant. There, Dave talks about why geography played such an interesting part in his music, winning over hardcore Hip Hop heads again and again, and representing the class of Eastern Pennsylvania emcees that all felt proud when ?uestlove and Black Thought blew up like popcorn.

Why Dave Was Mentioned On The Roots’ 1995 single “Distortion To Static”: “When I was younger, in the Hip Hop scene in Philadelphia, the underground scene, there was a magazine called The Buzz. Our group [at the time], Secret Invasion and The Roots, we were like going head-to-head with each other. We doing shows at Club Dancers, First District Plaza, we were doing in-stores, so we’d see The Roots a lot. This was maybe ’92, ’93. Timing is funny. I was younger, but I was like the Vin Rock of the group. The guy that I was rappin’ with, he was a rapper. I started as a dancer, and he was like, ‘Yo, I want you to write something.’ So I wrote something [and it impressed him enough to put me in the group].

As [The Roots] got on, and they got signed [to Geffen Records], and that record came out, the one that got them signed, “Distortion To Static,” they credited all the groups that were in that scene. All the groups that were [coming up with them].”

Outside Looking In: “I’m from the suburbs of [Philadelphia]. I’m from Pottstown. It’s 30 minutes away. Being in Pottstown, which is near Lancaster, but near the city, I know I have a different story than what the country is going to say and than what the city is gonna say. Just being in the middle for me, and crayfishing and picking peaches off of trees [illegally], just growing up in that way sculpted someone different. I love the city. I’ve [since] lived in California, I lived in Atlanta, I love them all. I love all those experiences, but when I got back to Pottstown, it was a rebirth for me. Oh, I like being here! I got the ball started [as far as my career is concerned], being in Pottstown. I didn’t need to be anywhere else, or with this person in the studio. I went home, and was around no one.”

Winning Over The Unlikely Crowd: “I feel really received when I’m performing. That’s why I named the album Lady Luck; I don’t feel [like the guy] who rolls the dice and he’s a winner. [But I do] feel like that when I’m writing and when I’m competiting, people love me. They like the sincerity of what I say and the theatrics of it. Everywhere I perform, it’s never ‘Ehhh,’ it’s ‘I like that!’ I performed [recently] at Club Ice in King of Prussia, and I used to work there also. There was 500 or 600 people there to see a show. So I went in and I performed three songs. Girls like it, but even [the least likely] guys in the crowd were coming up and [really strongly supporting the music]. It’s cool. It’s a blessing that people feel that way.”

Personal, Never Business: “There’s new sounds and new ways of doing things. I think people are really receptive to people being personal. People say, ‘Don’t get too personal with what you’re doing,’ man, I can’t help but be personal! So when people hear it, they only have to hear a lil’ bit to say, ‘I’ve been through that,’ or ‘I know someone who’s been through that,’ or ‘The way you’re saying it is catchy.’ It catches your ear. I like being personal, to some extent. I just have to be creative and bring the listener in, but still be me.

Influences: Dave’s father, another musician. Run-DMC, Jeru Da Damaja, Michael Jackson, YZ, Leaders Of The New School. “The whole Hip Hop era influenced me. Adidas with fat laces; I used to break-dance at 12 years old, with cats that were like 15 years old.”

The Single “Paparazzi”: “I lived in L.A. The whole sound and the lyrics [is evident of that]. I had a friend who I was cool with. We used to go out to a spot in Hollywood called Los Palmas. It was cool. I left L.A., and a few years later I went back to visit and record some stuff, and wanted to go out. I called my buddy; he said, ‘Meet me at Los Palmas.’ I was there and I met him, and he had a camera on. I was like, ‘What’s up?’ He said, ‘I’m pap-a-razzi, bro. This shit pays well out here!’ In my head, I was like, ‘So what you gonna do when I get on? Are you gonna be my boy chasin’ me to get paid?’ [The songwriting] began. My head started clicking. The lyrics just came from me, looking at people that want to be famous [and the thought that goes along with it].”

The Theme Of Dave’s Debut Album Lady Luck: “Lady Luck has a bunch of different hopes and experiences from me. I feel like it’s me just being expressive, about my life. This is how I feel at this moment, right now. This is what I imagined my life being like, [as seen in] ‘Paparazzi.’ It’s just me being expressive. My next record will be [the same].”

Purchase Lady Luck by Dave Vegas here and visit here for more information on booking Dave.