A
fter the success of his smash single “Ice Cream Paint Job” and self-titled debut album, Dorrough Music kept the momentum going with the release of his Gangsta Grillz mixtape and sophomore album Get Big. The motivated Texan talks about staying on his indie grind and avoiding the usual beefs and gimmicks.
Have you picked out the second single to be the follow-up after “Get Big”? The ladies are loving “Breakfast in Bed” featuring Ray J, and a lot of people are feeling “Get ‘Em Live” featuring Jim Jones. So it’s [a decision] between those two right now, but my personal favorite record is “MIA.”
So your new album Get Big is in stores now, right? Yep, the album is in stores. I went on 106th & Park to promote it, so, so far so good. “Get Big” was number six or seven on the countdown. I’ve been getting a lot of positive feedback from this album. We’re trying to choose the next single and everybody’s feeling certain records, so that’s a good thing even though it makes [the selection] more difficult.
DJ Khaled used to be your labelmate at E1, but he recently left. How does that affect your situation? I feel like it’s given me the chance to step up and become the priority at the label. I’ve kinda been at the forefront of the label besides Khaled, so I think between myself and Slim Thug, I think we’re really going to hold the label down. I think they’re really going to step up and make me and my projects a priority. Losing Khaled on their side is probably a big loss, but with what I’ve got in store, I feel like it’s really going to be a good look. I’m definitely going to step up to the plate.
What else do you have planned to promote the album? I’m shooting visuals for every song on the album. I did a huge album release party and I’m on the road too. I’m not “on tour” but I’m doing spot dates, and I’m gone all week, feel me? So it’s pretty much the same thing as a tour. I’m hitting the road and promoting, definitely working on these visuals, getting my street team out in the streets promoting, stepping up my online presence, and the whole nine. What can people expect from Get Big in comparison to your previous projects? I definitely stepped it up on this album. My lyrics are stronger, my production is stronger, and my concepts are stronger. I think my concepts set my album apart from any other album and even my past projects just because of the concepts. There are fifteen songs but if you buy it from Best Buy or on iTunes you get several bonus tracks. Anybody else dropping an album is only giving you nine or ten or eleven songs. So my album is just a step up. The title is Get Big and I’ve been doing it bigger and better than I’ve been doing it before, and bigger and better than a lot of other projects that are out right now. Do you see a lot of Dallas artists taking advantage of the door you’ve helped open for the city? Yeah, there’s a big support system here in Dallas. Right now a lot of people are watching me and a lot of people are rooting for me. You don’t know who’s rooting against you, but it’s not really about that to me. It’s more about the fans in Dallas. I’m trying to put on for Dallas no matter what the situation is, and I feel like I’ve been doing that since day one, so that’s a given. Right now my focus is not just on putting on for Dallas, it’s about putting on for the whole region and the whole South. A lot of [artists] in Dallas are doing their thing too, so I’m supporting the people who support me. Of course I’ve got the Primetime Click, so shout out to Lil Tony, Ace Boogie, and others who aren’t in my camp like Big T and Fat Pimp who are out here grinding. They’re doing their thing. Is Diamond still down with the Primetime Click? Yeah, Diamond is still affiliated with us. She’s doing her thing out in ATL making a name for herself, making herself bigger than she already is, and she’s growing as an artist. She’s been touring and she’s really got a great position on the female Hip Hop side. We’re working on some projects together and are going to start getting some visuals together. On my last project I really didn’t put out too many visuals, but with this project and everything else I’m working on, we’re definitely going to take advantage of that. A lot of artists lately seem to use gimmicks and beef to get their names out there, but you seem to stay away from it for the most part. Is that intentional? I only engage in what’s natural. I don’t go looking for animosity. I feel like if you’ve got so many things on your mind and so much on the agenda, how can you have time to search for beef? Even dealing with the [controversy over] the Hurricane Chris record, after that died down, I really just focused on my music. A lot of that stuff can take you out of your zone and away from what you’re supposed to be doing as far as crafting music. Sometimes it happens – if somebody is beefing with you sometimes it’s appropriate to step up and engage you, but other times it’s a waste of effort and it’s a bad look to go that route.
34 // OZONE MAG
At one point Koch was known as the graveyard for artists, but now they’ve got a new name – E1 – and it seems like the perception of the label has changed. A lot of people don’t realize that Koch is still an independent label, and that’s how I look at it. I’m an independent artist doing major things. I just look at it as a situation where I can learn and make my situation better. It’s almost like being in college. You have to use it to keep your own movement going, and you can learn how to maneuver a lot better when you’re independent because you have to do a lot of stuff on your own. But yeah, I think a lot of people go over to Koch and don’t have the mindset of working as hard as they’ve been working, or even harder. They feel like the label is supposed to do everything, but Koch ain’t that type of label. It’s not the type of label where you expect them to do everything for you, and you’re not supposed to do that with any label, but you definitely can’t do that here. You’ve got to work your ass off and whatever they’re going to do for you is just a plus. That’s my mindframe and that’s why things seem to be moving a different way. If you’ve got that mentality you’re always going to win. Is there anyone you want to collaborate with that you haven’t worked with yet? Yeah, I’ve worked with a lot of artists, but I think it will happen in time. Working with some of the bigger artists will come because my name is going to get bigger and bigger. I’m more anxious to just keep making good music because at the end of the day, who you work with doesn’t necessarily make you or break you. Sometimes you’re just drowning yourself out. I love working with different artists if they’ve got something going on, but it’s never my priority. Any luxury purchases you’ve indulged in lately aside from your jewelry? I’ve been taking care of my family for the past year. I’ve got a huge family, probably bigger than anyone would ever expect. I’ve been taking care of my daughter, my brothers and sisters, and my mama and daddy. I’ve just been taking care of the fam and I’ve been on the road a lot. Were you happy with the response you got to your Gangsta Grillz mixtape with DJ Drama? Oh yeah. The Drama mixtape actually set off the “Get Big” single. It was on Drama’s mixtape and the [feedback] was so good that we ended up making it a single, so that shows you how effective the mixtape was. The single just got to number 16 in the country and it’s a top 40 crossover, so that’s a big record, and it’s still growing. Also, the record with Yo Gotti made my album, and that was a huge record out here in Texas. The Gangsta Grillz mixtape was very effective, so shout out to DJ Drama. Is there anything else you want to plug? I’m promoting the album and I have a real big project for Super Bowl weekend coming out, so I want to give people a heads up. I’m always working. // Words by Julia Beverly