In this attention deficit disorder age of rap where a month or two of internet hype can facilitate a multi-million dollar record deal; Dallas’ experience has some parallels with the trend. This is not to discredit his ability or work ethic in the slightest, simply the buzz he developed online lent some substance to a chance pitch from his management to New York label Duck Down Records, home to Sean Price, Pharoahe Monch and 9th Wonder amongst others. Dallas describes how the deal came about: “That happened through my boy Andy, from Dawn Raid and P-Money because they are part of a bigger media group called Frequency. They were over in New York on other business and had a meeting with Duck Down. They struck upon the idea of showing them my stuff, thinking they would be into it. Fortunately they actually were so Andy partnered it up from there.”
The upshot of this pairing was that Dallas relocated to Harlem and digitally released a free album, The Rose Tint. Obviously such a title has very optimistic connotations but when quizzed as to whether this is typical of him as a person or not, Dallas explains the dynamic. “No, not at all. I would say I’m a very cynical, pessimistic person in general. I think a lot of the time I write music to motivate myself. I guess that rubs off in other people as well. It hypes me up that, more than anything, the commentary I get on my music is that it really inspires other people.”
Dallas returned to Auckland last week to participate in a ‘pop-up store’ to celebrate the release of The Rose Tint Deluxe version. He details how the motivation for this second instalment of the album was pure gratitude. “Back home, there were 70,000 plus downloads, a lot of people just wanted a physical copy. I figured I may as well make it happen, as a gift for the support. I also didn’t want to just put it onto a CD and release the same thing so I wanted it to be more of a collector’s item. I did four new songs for it, did up the packaging, included the instrumentals on a two disc set and revamped the artwork.
“Initially, there was never going to be a physical copy or anything like that. The whole intention of The Rose Tint originally was to just release something for free so I could get the music out to as many people as possible, especially going into a new territory such as America. I think the majority of artists I listen to right now, people like a J. Cole or a Drake or a Wiz Khalifa, I discovered them all off free releases. I thought it would be stupid of me to get a deal in America then come out and try to sell a record when no-one knows who I am.”
A significant impediment to local hip hop acts gaining traction in America has been the Australian accent and obviously the Kiwi twang is the more peculiar of the pair so how has Dallas gauged the reception for his vocal qualities overseas? Has it been a blessing or a curse? “I’m not sure to be honest. What trips me out about over there is that not many people actually notice my accent. I’ve noticed that is the reaction in New York but southern dudes will hit me up and say I’ve got a weird-ass accent.”
Dallas has had no shortage of surreal moments since migrating to New York. He quickly came to realise the prevalence of famous types in the Big Apple. The frequency of ‘pinch yourself’ instances and the presence of rap royalty in particular is something Dallas is revelling in. “My release party on Monday was a really good example. Just Blaze was DJing for the party. Just Blaze is like [one of the] top five producers of all time for me. The prime Just Blaze era, when he was doing the stuff for Roc-A-Fella and Jay-Z, that was just when I was starting to rap so he was hugely influential to me. To have Blaze come up to me and thank me, it just blows my mind.”
BE CERTIFIED SCRIBE
