Q&A with Dyson Knight of the Baha Men

The smash hit of 2000, "Who Let the Dogs Out," is celebrating its 15th anniversary in July. With over 9 million plays on Spotify, a Grammy for Best Dance Recording and international fame, the song is what the Baha Men are known for — but not all that they are made of. Ten years after their last album, the Baha Men are ready to release their latest album this summer. 

Arts & Culture Editor Sarah Vassello talked to lead singer Dyson Knight about the future and the legacy of the Baha Men. 

Daily Tar Heel: “Who Let the Dogs Out” is celebrating its 15th anniversary this July. When you think of that song, what’s your immediate reaction?

Dyson Knight: Fifteen years later, you’re kind of numb, right? There’s no real reaction, and for me, I guess it’s different because I wasn’t a part of the band in 2000 when they released that song — I joined, actually, in 2006. For me, it’s always surprising to see the type of reaction that we get from the performance of the song. And then, every now and then, it pops up on an advertisement or a talk show or a movie. It’s just a wonder that it’s still such a relevant song.

DTH: How do you feel coming into a band that’s already so well known?

DK: I knew a lot of the members because we’re all from the Bahamas and the island is very small and the music industry is very, very small, so I knew a few members beforehand, and I would see them at different events that I would be performing with other bands at. I had the opportunity to speak with them on a number of occasions. They’re like neighbors, you know, who you just sit on the porch and chit chat with before and after the Grammys. It wasn’t a weird experience joining the band until we started performing for an international audience. It’s pretty much been like a home — accept it as family and respect it for what we’ve brought to the table. It’s all pretty much natural — cool vibes.

DTH: What’s been the craziest thing that’s happened to you in the Baha Men?

DK: The craziest thing is just having people who you know have never seen before in your life walk up to you and call you by name and know a good deal about you through research or just by following your career. Being able to tell you and remind you things you’ve forgotten, that’s always a crazy experience. One a bit more flamboyant — at shows, people tend to get a bit crazy, especially at Bahaman concerts where we perform familiar music. People do all sorts of wild things; they get real crazy — they want to jump up on the stage and then jump down off the stage. Pretty much, you just have to take a step back and allow the vibes to happen and allow people to have fun because the band is all about having fun.

DTH: Everyone at the paper wanted me to ask — who let the dogs out? Do you get tired of that question?

DK: Yeah, we get that question all the time. You never know how to answer it. I always feel that it deserves an answer. It’s a question, you know? The question, I guess, will remain as long as the song remains: who let the dogs out? But I like the statement behind the question, and the statement is that the dogs are out, so you have to be aware — some action is about to happen. That’s pretty much what I like, personally, about the song and the question. Who let the dogs out — I acknowledge that you acknowledge that the dogs are out, so we’re still doing something.

DTH: Your newest album, Ride with Me, already has the “Night and Day” single that premiered in January. When’s your release date for the album?

DK: We do — however, I am very reluctant to share it at this point because the album was really supposed to be released three times already since summer of last year. What’s been happening is after we shot the video for “Night and Day,” which was featured on the FIFA World Cup album, things just started to catch on. The attention for the band and about the recordings that we have recorded from our A&R team, from our label, from the producers that have heard it, from the musicians, from the radio stations that have gotten an opportunity to listen to it and gave it a chance, were really excited about it and like, ‘Wow, is this the same ‘Who Let the Dogs Out’ band, back again performing really good music?’ That’s what we were getting. It’s difficult to get real heavy support for the song, not based on the merit of the song, just based on the fact that the U.S. market had already labeled the Baha Men as a one-hit wonder band, which kind of makes it difficult to present someone with a song that isn’t “Who Let the Dogs Out.”

DTH: What’s the reaction been like so far?

DK: People have gotten excited, and it’s opened a lot of doors. The single is “Night and Day,” and more people wanted to write with us, produce for us, so we went from releasing an EP to recording a whole album because of the demand for more. People wanted to hear more of what we are doing, and it grew into a full blown album. We now think we’re ready to move ahead. The last song was only recorded about seven weeks ago, and that’s really the one that I’m most excited about so far. The album might have a title change within the next probably month and a half, which is the expected release — about a month and a half — but that’s not set in stone because they’re doing a lot of revamping to push the promotion behind this new single. It’s an exciting time, a lot of activity.

DTH: What are you most excited about for the new album?

DK: My daughter likes this song called, “Carry On,” and you know when a kid likes your songs, they can’t get enough of it — and kids are very tough critics. If they’re feeling your vibe, you can start to celebrate, you can throw a party. I’m most excited about that — I’m most excited that kids are really latched onto it and this is after listening to what all the adults have to say about the music, professional industry adults, that is. So we kind of hit the young and the old. It’s promising, but I want until the album comes out to see how we reconnect with the fans after 10 years.

DTH: What do you want people to know about the Baha Men that you wish they did know?

DK: We’re all musicians, like real musicians — they’re all seasoned musicians, they’re all one with their instruments. No one’s up there with an instrument they’re not thoroughly familiar with. Our bass player, our guitar player — I’m talking Jimi Hendrix-type level skills. Our drummer, our new drummer now, has toured with Beyonce. They’re real, hardcore, solid musicians who don’t need tracks. We can do acoustic shows, and people don’t hear much difference between track and accompaniment. A lot of times we perform and we have technical difficulties with tracks falling out and no one knows except us because of the level of musicianship is just that high. We rehearse profusely — we rehearse way too much if you ask me. I go crazy with how much we rehearse. It’s because the leader of the band and a lot of the members — they just can’t get enough. These guys love to hear themselves play, they love to create, they love to be on stage, and that is pretty much what I want everyone to remember and know about the band — but we’ll settle for people just saying, “Who let the dogs out?” until we can convert them on the next song.

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