ALABAMA’SDIRK LP HAS been in the game for quite awhile now. He dropped his first album, Dirk – Valley of Da Lost Hope, in 2002, after which he traveled all over the US and Canada, performing, writing, producing, recording, collaborating, listening and soaking up the sounds of everybody else’s hoods. He eventually brought all that back, put it in a pot and cooked up his 2007 release, Dirk LP – It’s Da Kid (vol 1). A year later, he hit us up with DJ Chong Wizard Presents: Dirk LP is Mr. Nobody. Now he’s working on his newest album, Dirk LP – Go Green which will be released later this summer.
AWLH and Dirk LP recently slipped away when no one was looking and had a little Q&A Quickie.
And we know you wanna know what happened, so come on, move a little bit closer, and we’ll tell you all about it…
My real name is Derrick. And it kinda went from Derrick to Dirk. And then I added the LP about two or three records later.
How long have you been rapping?
Man, for awhile. Maybe since I was like 12. And I was kinda’ like producing and doing other things before I was actually rapping...
How did you get in the game?
Before the rapping and producing I actually was like moving my guy’s demos. Trying to mold artists or whatever…Went from that to...doing beats. From the beats, I just started writing a little bit of this and that. You have what you have I guess.
Tell me a little bit about Dirk Down Records.
It’s a small company…I ended up getting a deal in New York years back with Official Jointz. It really didn’t work out the way I planned. I kinda’ knew how I wanted everything to go - every outfit and how I wanted everything to work. And I didn’t wanna…be molded into something that somebody else [wanted]…every new opportunity I had…it was always something that had to change or always something that somebody else wanted that I didn’t think fit into the equation. So I figured if I had my own record company, if I could put my own records out, then I could put artists out the way I thought they should be marketed.
Are there any other artists on the label besides you?
Yes…They're called DaVille, from Alabama. They got caught up in some other stuff right now, so their project they were working on and everything they had going, it’s on hold right now because they’re in…some legal trouble, I’ll say.
What artists have you worked with?
Ah man! Phoenix Jones and Donny Arcade from Ohio; of course Da Ville, Struggling Hustlers; B. Kush, T Mill, Anthony Thomas all from Alabama...I know I'm forgetting some cats...
Producers as well? 'Cause I got my man, DJ Chong Wizard, he’s from Canada. I got Grim Reefah from Canada. I got my dude Kay Be. The whole Kay Be Beats [is] cool. He's outta New York, originally from Bulgaria…I got Raige & Tantrim from Iowa. Young 6 from Alabama. It’s crazy. It’s a lotta cats.
Who would you like to work with that you have not already worked with?
Let me see. That’s a good one. It’s so many cats. I’d like to work with, of course, OutKast. Nas. I’d like to rock with Jay on a track. I’d get Erykah Badu on a track. It’s so many. I mean, it’s still some people that I’m leaving out... I don’t know man. I’m kinda like...beyond just the hip-hop genre right now, so I mean, R&B, a couple of Rock cats that I’d like to work with too.
Tell me a little bit about your three previous albums.
The first album that I should get into is the Dirk LP - It’s the Kid (vol 1)….Everything was me. Even down to designing the artwork. I did the majority…90% of the beats. I’d say it was [a few] tracks that I didn’t do. But it was an all-me project. So I pushed that joint through CD Baby. So it was different to go from national distribution to having to do everything myself, market myself put it out there myself. It was crazy.
Then you had DJ Chong Wizard Presents: Dirk LP is Mr. Nobody. That was like a major mixtape and it was crazy. Everybody had their hands in. It was my first time rocking with my dude Grim Reefah... Me and Chong Wizard had done a lotta other mixtapes, but it was more of just me having a couple of songs on there. [This] was my first whole mixtape that he hosted.
I guess this current project, Dirk LP - Go Green. I’m just getting back to the music right now…It’s great.
Who are you working with on that album.
I had to bring my man Kay Be. It actually started off as a Dirk LP / Kay Be Beats project, and we weren’t sure whether we were gon’ go with it, but right now it’s just me, Kay Be and my dude Grim Reefah. It’s more me [and] Kay Be than anything. Grim got like two tracks on there, the first two singles, but everything else is me and my man, Kay Be from New York.
According to your MySpace, that’ll be released in August right?
Yep.
Describe your style or your sound.
Aw man, it’s definitely Southern. But then, I mean, I kinda fell outta the game for a minute…(This is kinda like…just going into …how I feel my style developed.) I’m just now getting back to the music, but I took a long time off and just did some time traveling around the United States and Canada and stuff for Reebok. Still making music, but I kinda like fell back and saw what everybody else was rocking to and listening to and what was tight. Checked out different hoods to see what made them move. And from listening to everything that’s out right now, I’m really not feeling much. And from that,…just listening to music that I like. [My style is] definitely Southern. It’s kinda hard to say because I can’t be like, I sound like this person or that person.
What influences you?
Money of course. That’s a huge influence on what I do. I’d have to say more of like fashion. I’m a real big fashion dude. That’s a big influence…I travel a lot, so just seeing a couple places and getting out there really helped influence the music.
What is the best thing about being an artist from Alabama?
I would have to say, it’s challenging. Because everybody else got their artists that’s rocking. We haven’t established ourselves as a hard-hitting area, and I don’t know why 'cause we as Alabamians, we’re pretty diverse. I speak about this often. We get a lotta different influences. We get a few different people from other places too. I don’t know if it’s because of the HBCU’s - you got Alabama A&M and Alabama State that’s down here. A lotta people just come to Alabama for different reasons. And everybody from Alabama really isn’t known for just Southern hip-hop. You got cats that’s on some different shit down here. It’s always cats from Alabama pushing the envelope as far as different music or trying to switch it up.
I’ve noticed it’s very diverse. You’re not gonna get the same thing from everybody.
Very diverse…It’ll just blow your mind. Everybody has their own sound, and I don’t think we’ve developed…We don’t have a Bama sound yet.
What’s the worst thing about being an artist from Alabama?
Wow. The worst thing is everybody expects you to have this Soulja Boy sound…and then people view Alabama as to be so slow and out of touch with the game when in actuality, we’re really not. That’s the worst thing - being stereotyped out the gate. When they say "Alabama", people think that you don’t know how to speak properly…they expect you to be off the game or not really on your business.
What is your ultimate goal in the industry?
That’s a real good question man. I’d have to say, I just wanna be on top. I wanna be in a position to start this movement and keep things rocking. I wanna be able to put out at least 3 records. Of course album sales [are important]. I just wanna be able to go worldwide with it. I guess that’s the advantage of the internet. I’m connected with people that are outside the United States. That’s kinda like a big thing, but I wanna be able to do it on a major level. And still be able to have my hand on my career and take the route that I wanna take. I wanna have the freedom of being an artist…and still being able to rock a show.
What do you think about today’s hip-hop industry?
Today’s industry or the game, we’re at a good state, but I mean, I don’t know. It is what it is. The game's always changing. It’s just these...It’s the young guys. It’s a whole new game right now. You know what I mean? But it’s still good 'cause you got some strong cats that’s still rocking. I just believe that we have to get back focused on making good records as opposed to making good singles or making somebody dance. We gotta get back to making solid records. That’s what I’m focusing on on this Dirk LP - Go Green. This next one. The whole record from beginning to end. It’s just classic. But I think it’s gon’ take more than just one record. We as artists have to be consistent with it, but continue to put out hot music.
Especially Alabama artists cause right now, we get no recognition in the game. I think we gotta rely on each other…and also, something else I noticed about Alabama, I noticed we getting [away from] everybody wanting to rap. We got cats that wanna focus on shooting videos; we got cats that’s trying to focusing on producing, which is real big. I think we need that. I mean, whatever you’re doing in the game, you gotta perfect that artistry. If we do that and start networking with each other...we have to support each other and we have to start going out to these shows. We got to start calling up and requesting our own artists on the radio. We have to just start buying more records - buying more of our own records.
What’s your favorite thing to do outside of the music?
Aw man. I mean, it’s kinda’ hard to say. Because I been in the music for so long. And I been focusing on this record like forever and a day, so I have no life right now. But I mean, I game a little bit. Of course, I burn…I'd never been away from the music, and when I was, I was traveling, trying to see what other people were rocking to. I mean, it wasn’t like,...'I’m getting away. I’m going to the beach or I’m just going to New York...for a minute.' It was never that. I was traveling to these different places working, but I was still seeing what everybody else was rocking to. Still pushing whatever I was working on to see if they were rocking to it. So it really wasn’t a downtime thing. It kinda like, stopped for a minute, but my head was still there. You know what I mean?' Everybody has things that they do for…a stress reliever, but it's been about the music for some years now.
AND WE'RE SURE THAT it’ll continue to be about the music for years to come. As a matter of fact, if you want to, you can hear some of that music right now at Dirk LP’s MySpace Page. You can also pick up his 2007 album, Dirk LP – It’s Da Kid (Vol 1) at CD Baby or at Amazon .
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