Need Help? Contact the Espiya Helpdesk. CLICK HERE


Author Topic: D-Pryde claims his turf in new world of Asian rappers  (Read 1184 times)

pspyrock

  • Active - Top Level
  • ***
  • Posts: 1546
  • Karma 47
  • Gender: Male
D-Pryde claims his turf in new world of Asian rappers
« on: August 18, 2013, 04:12:37 pm »
Lifted...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heUAwMj3SK8[/youtube]



Everything about rapper D-Pryde falls between worlds.

He’s from Canada, but now lives in New York. He loves to rap, but also to sing. And he has as deep a dedication to pop as to hip hop.

Even his genes straddle poles: he’s of Filipino-Spanish descent.

“It’s a huge state of confusion in my life,” the rapper, born Russell Llantino, admits. “Do I go this way or that?”

Small wonder he titled his buzzed-about new EP “Canal & Richvale.” The first word refers to the Chinatown street that houses the studio where he records; the second to the area where he grew up, near Toronto.

D-Pryde feels the mix of contradictions he embraces has slowed the process of being accepted. When he started his rap career, both Asians and non-Asians came down hard on him.

“Asian kids were very hostile,” he says. “They said, ‘You’re making us look not hard-core,’ because of my pop side. For non-Asians, I don’t fit the stereotype. You’re supposed to be a doctor and be good at math.”

Given such attitudes, it’s small wonder that while there has been no shortage of respected Asian MCs, from Jin to the Mountain Brothers, no Asian rapper has become a major star. Unless you count Psy, which you shouldn’t.

Even so, D-Pryde has been making inroads of late. The 19-year-old wracked up 65 million views of his videos on YouTube, has been dubbed “An Artist to Watch” on MTV, and made the “2013 Freshman Class” list of predicted breakthroughs by respected hip-hop mag XXL.

Earlier this month, he played Lollapalooza for the first time. Tomorrow he headlines Highline Ballroom.

D-Pryde used a hard early life to fuel his ambition. Born in the poor town of Brampton, Canada, he was just 6 years old when his father ditched the family. “It emotionally damaged me,” the rapper says. “I had a stepdad, but it was really awkward. I didn’t have a real male role model in my life.”

Rappers filled the void. When his family moved to the middle-class Toronto suburb of Richvale, D-Pryde started listening to Emimen. Some of that star’s cadence shows in D-Pryde’s flow.

At 15, he recorded his own version of Em’s “Without Me,” as well as Drake’s “Still Fly,” which was uploaded to YouTube. The latter led to a recording contract with Mars Music Group.
Pryde admits some of his inclination toward pop came about because “hip hop is such a hostile industry in terms of credibility. The pop side is a little more fun, and I get to sing.”
The resulting sound won’t win much respect among hard-core rap fans. It’s light and sunny stuff, though D-Pryde does add verses about his absent father and the skepticism he faced from other Asians. One line — “I’ll be as big as Gaga when these Asians catch on” — comes from a face-to-face encounter with 50 Cent.

D-Pryde got to meet the star through a friend who works for Fiddy at G Unit’s office in Manhattan. “He came into the office and asked me to rap for him,” D-Pryde reports. “I was totally shaken. Afterward he said, ‘If you ever go to Asia, you could be as big as Gaga.’ That was a ground-breaking moment in my life.”

It’s interesting to note that within the Asian hip-hop world, those of Filipino descent, like D-Pryde, have led the way. The first Pacific country to pioneer the style was indeed the Philippines, and the top Asian turntablists are Filipinos from San Francisco.

While Asians like Lyric Born and the Visionaries have become strong cult figures, and though stars as big as Nas and Foxy Brown boast Asian strains in their gene pool, D-Pryde takes more inspiration from a recent wave of white rap superstars.

“It’s a new age in hip hop when white stars like Mac Miller and Macklemore can be at the top of the charts,” he says. “With social media, a hit can come from anyone now. Asian culture is like the turtle’s neck. We’re just poking up our heads now. Jin didn’t go as far as he wanted to, but I want to take that place now, to finally go all the way.”

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music-arts/d-pryde-straight-outta-filipino-spanish-roots-article-1.1427957

flatline____

  • Hokage
  • 2006 Vanguards
  • Active - Three Stars
  • *
  • Posts: 452
  • Karma 13
  • //\/ // //\/ _// //\
Re: D-Pryde claims his turf in new world of Asian rappers
« Reply #1 on: August 19, 2013, 01:22:03 am »
good for him.. medyo hawig ni balakid haha
"Has anyone really been far even as decided to use even go want to do look more like?"