With his viral sensation “What U Mean,” Dae Dae is the latest rapper to come out of Atlanta with a hit song. But he’s already moved on.
You may have to forgive Dae Dae if he strikes you as too focused to buy into the hype surrounding him right now. Unlike many of his rap peers, Dae Dae has already lived the life of a grown man and knows that nothing is promised.
His father inspired him to get into rap from buying him Lil Romeo and Bow Wow CDs when he was younger. But right when he thought he wanted to go down that path, the in-house studio they had was taken away in a police raid when his father was busted for drugs. Almost immediately Dae Dae became the man of the house and had to pay the bills. Adding to that, Dae Dae became a father for the first time himself at age 14. So he really means it when he raps about having mouths to feed on his hit song “What U Mean.”
Who: Dae Dae
Credentials: Signed to Nitti Beats/300
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Fun Fact: Dae Dae just dropped a remix to “What U Mean” featuring Lil Yachty
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-9Wi6hbgZ4
HipHopWired.com: We don’t hear about a lot of rappers coming out of Atlanta’s Old Fourth Ward area, but everybody knows how it is over there. What was your experience like?
Dae Dae: I learned everything from there. My dad lived in that area for a long time. It’s an area where everybody sticks together. When it comes to reunions, family, everybody puts something together and shows love. It was hard too though. I was was in a bad space, breaking in houses, got shot at too. It’s ups and downs over there. But I learned everything I needed to be streetwise.
HHW: How did you get into rap music?
Dae Dae: My daddy never made into rap, but he was always rapping. But back then I wanted to be like my daddy when I was young. When I turned 16, I received my income tax [refund check] and I told him I wanted to buy a dirt bike. But he told me “no, buy a studio.” When I did that, I started taking music serious.
HHW: We’re hearing about rappers doing that a lot now. How was the transition into running your own studio?
Dae Dae: I knew how to rap, I just didn’t know how to work the program. I had to spend a lot of time learning how to work the program. I got to a point where I was staying in the studio to learn. Now, I mix all of my own tracks.
HHW: Why don’t you send your music out to get mixed?
Dae Dae: I’m the only one who knows what I want to hear, versus doing a song and sending your session to somebody else to mix it. It’s not gonna sound how you want it to sound. You might want an ad lib with an echo and when you send it off, it don’t have an echo when they finish with it. Or, you may want to drop the beat on one part, but they may not have the same type of sound or equipment, so every sound ain’t the same. I spent a lot of time working on the program and mixing it myself. I feel like I know what the streets want from me. So I do it myself.
HHW: At what point did you go from making music in the studio to actually letting people hear it?
Dae Dae: I started off just letting my friends hear it. I had four or five friends listen to it and tell me if they liked it. I started doing open mics at Club Lacura. This girl named Antionette convinced me to do it. I felt like I was too good for that, but I tried it one night and I did very good and got a good response.
HHW: Atlanta’s open mic crowd can be vicious. Sometimes they won’t even cheer if you are good, because most of the people in the crowd rap too.
Dae Dae: That’s what comes with being an artist. I was nervous at first, but the further you go the more comfortable you get and the better responses you get. I started feeling myself after a while. I didn’t used to dance to “What U Mean” on stage, but when I got comfortable I started doing the dance.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BGcMM6nHyxy/?taken-by=daedae_lovelife
HHW: Is it true that you were still working a regular job as “What U Mean” was blowing up?
Dae Dae: The whole time I was still working a 9 to 5. I used to leave the club at 3 a.m. and have to be up at 6 a.m. to get to work at 7. That was almost everyday. Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, those were the days I went out. I was getting my record played those nights. Then the word started getting out.
HHW: What else can people expect from you in the future?
Dae Dae: I just dropped the
4 Reasons mixtape. I knew I had to come hard on my next single. Even if I didn’t rap as good as I did on what you mean, I knew i had to come catchy. So I made my song “
Spend It” when income tax came out. I knew people wanted to go out and spend money and have fun. I wasn’t supposed to drop that record but my DJ started playing it at the club and then they started requesting it.
HHW: What is the meaning behind the title 4 Reasons?
