MADEMUSIC
mentioned has definitely increased . How strategic are you with the moves that you make to attain some of the success that you ’ ve had ?
Dee1 : My team really follows suit with what I put out there , but I ’ ve always been the visionary . So , this is definitely no one else ’ s vision but mine and I consult with my team because I trust their opinions . That being said , the strategic part that I have to just know what music to release . Because I might do ten songs , but then I have to decide Do I put out all 10 of these out ? Which ones should I shoot videos for ? When do I put it out ? When I do put it out , how long do I push it for before I put something else out ?
MADE : You mentioned before that you kept wondering at a certain point why you were in a good place in your career vs . a great one . How does your career feel to you now as opposed to then ? What advice would you give to those who feel the same way you did professionally back then ?
Dee1 : So , I definitely feel like I ’ m in a better place than I was at that time because that was a difficult time for me . Mentally , I was struggling . I wasn ’ t feeling at peace with where I was . I was comparing myself to other people too much and I was unfulfilled on a certain level . Now at this point , I do feel more peace and more confidence about how things are going and even where things are going . I feel a sense of peace about it .
I think since then , I have made a transition as a man to where I ’ m a bolder leader now . I ’ m more confident in why I ’ m on this earth and why I ’ m in this rap game ,¬ so it makes all of my moves feel a lot swifter , a lot more fluid instead of me having to overthink . I remember overthinking stuff a lot and always second ¬ guessing intuition . And that ’ s when you ’ re not really following God ’ s
will is when you ’ re having to overthink and second or third guess all the small , minor details .
To get over that hump , we gotta first make sure that we defeat the inner enemies that we have and the inner demons that might be holding us back . For me , what that was , was just knowing that God is the one I ’ m praying to for these blessings . God is the one who gave me the talent , so why am I ignoring God when it comes to how I need to go about making music or what I need to do in certain situations .
MADE : So , it sounds like spirituality is what helped you evolve over the years ?
Dee1 : For me that was the thing , it ’ s just not trying to micro ¬ manage God and putting God in the little box . Where I feel like people were trying to put me in a little box , that ’ s what I feel like I was trying to do with God for a long time . I just realized that I can say God ’ s name a hundred times in an interview , but people know and they can tell because of my energy and authenticity and they can still tell . Like man ... “ This dude is not a pastor or a gospel rapper or anything , this dude is really a real dude who just has his priorities in line . He knows where his blessings come from and he knows why he ’ s in this game but still be relatable .”
MADE : What has being on that music intersection of rap meets spirituality taught you about perceptions in your career ?
Dee1 : That was something I struggled for a while , because I was like “ Dang , I ’ m the dude that don ’ t curse , college graduate , former teacher and now I ’ m talking about God all the time .” I think that interview started to show me that I can be transparent about my struggles and everything and people are going to be able to respond to it in a positive way , because they know I ’ m relatable .
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