Dat Dude Words by Ms Rivercity
Dat Dude started rapping 2 years ago and gained local support QUICKLY. His first song, “Claim Your City,” received radio play on 102 Jamz via DJ Chino and launched Dat Dude’s music VENTURES. Since beginning his rap career, Dat Dude has opened for artists like Three 6 Mafia, Yung Joc, AND Lil Wayne. He’s now campaigning for his new single and preparing for his upcoming college tour with DJ Smallz. What songs are you pushing right now? The single I have right now is “AO” with Poetic from TREAL. The reason I came up with that song is because everybody be sayin’ “aye” in the club and here they say “ohh” being in Orlando. I feel like we’re talented and have our own movement just like them cats in the A. So it’s kinda like a reverse psychology thing. I also got a strip club anthem called “Camel Toe.” Of course that’s self-explanatory. Me and DJ Baby Lac came up with that. What are you known for mostly in Orlando? To be honest with ya, I’ve been in the streets pretty heavy doin’ my thang. I’m in a new era though. I went to school for Criminal Law. That’s how pretty much everybody knows me. They know me from sports too. I played high school and college ball. My cousin and the streets started callin’ me Dat Dude. I just kept the name. At what point did you become interested in rapping? I started throwing my own shows. I had my own artist and it didn’t work out with him. I had all these beats and stuff that I had bought so I just said, “Let me start rappin’.” I wrote my first song called “Claim Your City” and it hit 102 Jamz in like three months. DJ Chino used to always play it when he was on air. He broke it on the radio here, and that really motivated me. It was my first time writing a song and it really wasn’t too hard for me. So far, is the rap game what you expected? What I learned about the music is you got
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deal with these cats tryin’ to run all over ya, ‘cause it’s all about money at the end of the day. Everybody tryin’ to make a dollar off ya and givin’ you broken promises. I learned the business of it first before I jumped in the game. I was on the road with Skull Duggery in seven different states back in ‘05. My homeboy was his main promoter so I saw it firsthand. No grind no shine. Have you put out any mixtapes yet? Yeah, I’m the first artist to do this – I got four DJs on one mixtape. I broke it down into four quarters like a football game. I got DJ Rell, DJ Headbussa, DJ Baby Lac, and Disco Jr. all on the same mixtape. I put that out a year ago. Where will you be during Florida Classic? I’ll be at Dawgman’s Ridin Big Car Show on Sunday, and at The Classic Fest at Firestone on Saturday night. Friday I’m doing the Teen Jam at Club 360. What do you want people to know about you and your music? My concepts are totally different. I have a different sound. Our problem in Orlando is we don’t have a definition of a sound. Miami and all these other areas have their own sound. So when they listen to my music they will hear a real Orange County representa. And everythang in my music is facts. It’s not made up, talkin’ ‘bout ridin’ on 30s, I got all these bricks, and all that. It’s all reality. If you ask anybody about me, they gon’ vouch for me. When it comes to keepin’ it real, that’s what I do. Everybody has respect for me.