The King of Rage Rap
It's d0perman's world, we are just living in it!
Hyperpop or Rage Rap?
d0perman educates us
Hyperpop is a loosely defined electronic music movement which predominantly originated in the UK in the early 2010s. Today we'll talk about the rap subgenre which is called "rage rap" Why the confusion? Because back in early 2021 when the subgenre was on the rise the producers of Lil Uzi Vert, who was really on top of this genre, really made raps on EDM type beats with synths. The producers were Mally Raw and there was this group called hyper pop which has Gab3, Losoe, Starboy outtatown. This started the confusion. Then Miss the Rage by Trippie Redd and Carti came out and it blew up all over social media. It made rage rap the subgenre blow up and become mainstream. People thought this was hyperpop but it was rage rap. hyper pop in the traditional sense is more of an EDM genre with Charli XCX, 100 Gecs, and it is ok to call it an EDM subgenre today we will not talk about it, instead we will talk about rage rap which Yeat does, Carti does, Ken Carson does and d0perman does.
"People thought this was hyperpop but it was rage rap. hyper pop in the traditional sense is more of an EDM genre with Charli XCX, 100 Gecs, and it is ok to call it an EDM subgenre today we'll not talk about it we'll talk about rage rap which Yeat does, Carti does, Ken Carson does and d0perman does."
d0perman on the beginning of Rage Rap in India
I do not know how it emerged in India. I think I'm the guy who started it. No one did it before me. Even my trap album "Isodope" came out 5 years ago. they think that trap is new and rage rap is even newer but I've been doing it for 2 years. The genre is going mainstream and only growing. it has its subgenres now but most people here don't even know about it. No one is doing it here except me.
How did I start?
Well, I had it in me for a long time. When I made Isodope I had it in me. My favourite artist at that time Lil Uzi used catchy EDM dance beats and I had grown up listening to a lot of EDM. A lot of Skrillex, dubstep and David Guetta but no producers around me were doing it. I'm no producer, I'm more of an artist and sound engineer. No one was doing it before and not many people are doing it here right now. I'm still waiting to see a good rage rap project come out but yes a lot of producers are coming out who put out beats and got placements but when I started 3-4 years back nobody even knew about it. Miss the Rage by Trippie Redd and Playboi Carti made the genre blow up and everybody started talking about it.
How did D0perman get into music?
As cliched as it sounds, I got into music through Eminem and pop and RnB hits by Usher, Britney Spears etc. I would sing Usher tracks when I was alone. I always knew that I was going to do music. I've loved music my whole life. I started making music on Audacity on my PC. Those tracks weren't any good but I kept going. I remixed tracks, putting my remixes on popular instrumentals. I remember rapping over a Skrillex beat, it was horrible but I started recording, mixing and mastering. It was horrendous but it was an exercise. I was then exposed to FL studio and gradually got better at it, as I made music I knew what my sound was going to be. I was listening to a lot of Bryson Tiller a lot of Tory Lanez and all The Weeknd tracks. I knew I was going to do the R&B trap thing. I started searching for studios, mixing mastering engineers and I was shocked to find out there weren't too many and most of them were horrendous. They would take the money and make an extremely horrible mix.
I learnt mixing on my own through YouTube. I made "Isodope", and went doing the trap road and overall, the internet was my best friend for making music.
Nobody was doing it here or around me, the internet was the only connection I had to the music. This was my evolution in my music. I must say the music I heard helped me evolve.
How was d0perman influenced to get into the genre and his process for collaborations?
I knew I wanted to be obnoxiously loud, an outcast, and stand out. I knew what my lyrics would sound like that’s when I started going on YouTube and searching for Lil Uzi-type beats. I found a Grammy-nominated producer like Synthetic. He produced a whole lotta music for my "Virtual Genesis" tape. This tape influenced a lot of people in the Indian scene and some of them even messaged me saying the tape helped them a lot. People were putting up beats and I started rapping on beats which matched my choice. I didn't work with a lotta people in India but mostly within the US. These days there are loads of people doing it in the Netherlands, I am working with a group from the Netherlands called Silverlights (shout out). I've made a lotta tracks with them. For collaborations, I usually collab with my friends, some are of course paid, however, most of them are with people I fuck with. Like my recent collaboration with Gauntlet.
How I collaborated with Gauntlet
Gauntlet is a friend first and a rapper second. One day I was listening to him and I was like damn he's good. I don't bump Hindi rap much but I loved his music. No two tracks by him sounded the same. He referenced a lot of memes and his music was funny as hell. I texted him straight away that we gotta make a collaboration tape. I also got to rap in Hindi which I rarely do.
The tape had 20 tracks and I love the tape because no two tracks are the same. That is how I choose my collabs.
My Creative Process
My creative process is simple but very dedicated. I start by collecting information 24/7, I keep collecting collecting collecting. When I sit down to record I get high as shit and my mind starts racing. I start bumping beats from this folder I have. I load beats into Studio One and start recording whatever is on my mind, I speak. it out, that is what I like to do. When the first demo is done I sit on it listen to it and see where the track is going. Accordingly, I add lyrics. In 3-4 hours the track is done, the lyrics are punched, the hook is made and boom. I arrange it, sequence it and master it after that.
I believe in making a song a day at least. choose the tracks that can go on a tape from there. I don't believe in sitting down, thinking and writing lyrics because I think all the time. when I'm recording, I'm mindless, in the zone.
I have been writing for a long time, the lyrics just come to me. Figures of speech, personification all the technical stuff I've learnt over the years. I believe in mileage. the first day you make a track, it's gonna be weak the second day you make one, it's gonna be weak, the third day you make one, it's gonna be weak but the fourth consecutive day you make a track it's gonna come out great and then it goes from there, the mileage develops. That's why I believe in making music every day. if not a track even then I'm in the studio making beats.
Besides me, other people doing this, shoutout to Sm0xin, Kid Web$ter, MoneyEz, V-Lone, YUNOXX, Drux, $ohunnid. I collaborated with 2 producers prominently, I've known them since 2016-2017, Fregit and Kush Onion they do their own thing. There's another guy named ProdV who's doing great and all my artworks are done by Fl0kat (shoutout GasGang).
d0perman on his fans
My fans are hardcore. They love to see me beef, see me say anything I want and call everyone out, of course, they also love my music. many of them come for the memes and stay for the music and vice versa.
My food reviews popped up and 5-6 people would use the same catchphrases on their own stories. Then the Gauntlet tape came out and then the Mamta interlude was released and a cultural shift occurred, I feel. I also beefed with people fearlessly. Mc Kode when it was going on everyone said d0perman was not wrong kode would drink whole bottles of beer and that guy needed help.
I played around with him and it got so heated, he threw a chair at his friend and broke his phone. Everyone was like d0per made Kode break his phone. Kode got so triggered that happened. Then the Karun beef happened, messages came up saying he made great music but he's an asshole. Everyone was like there's this one guy called d0perman who's finally called Karun out. I say what my fans wanna say in front of 1k-2k people. That's why they fuck with me and love me they know I'm always real and I guess that’s why they love me.
d0perman on the importance of fashion and his style
Anime Influence
Fashion and visuals are a big part of my art. I believe artists should express themselves in every way possible. if you see my forehead, you see the sukuna tattoo. Sukuna is a character from the anime Jujutsu Kaisen. I went to a tattoo parlour and told them to tat me up. People think it's a big deal but it's not. I love anime. I believe it’s a great creative expression.
My coloured hair is not some kinda Soundcloud rapper thing, it also comes from Japanese culture. I see myself as the protagonist of my anime and I see myself like this in the mirror. with a tattoo, coloured hair, Harajuku fashion and just my distinct aesthetic. I like expressing myself through every medium possible. my stories, life, clothing, YouTube or whatever. I got a lot of shit to say from different angles.
I don't always come from the music angle the fashion angle or the anime angle. I live delving into different stuff on the internet. That's why lyrics are layered with meme references and just things I see on the internet.
d0perman on the future of Rage Rap in India
The future I see in India for rage rap is in Hindi. I got to start rapping in Hindi. I reckon there is a language barrier to getting into rage rap right now and I believe there's a need for rage rap in local languages. Currently, there are listeners but most of the lyrics just fly over their heads, they start calling all of that mumbling even when you rapping seriously. That's why I'm thinking of doing Hindi.
I hope a new set of artists can start doing what I do in Hindi. they listen to Indian rappers who imitate Carti beats and the fans don’t know much beyond one or two artists - MC Stan and Carti.
And that's why I gotta do this in Hindi and lift the language barrier. I have to start rapping in Hindi if we want this genre to become mainstream. I'm not that comfortable in Hindi but I have to if I want to push the genre. If local rage rap started more people would get involved and more people would talk about it. I don’t see people talk about it enough here, there's an influx of people who post anything on the internet and kids are getting brainwashed on the internet.
There are no positive role models on the internet, Idiots run their waves. I have grown up privileged and I want other people to know that the world can be walked through with peace. I wanna tell my stuff to everybody not only people who understand English and of course, I also wanna do Hindi because I have a hardcore dedicated but limited audience right now. That is what my mission is right now, I want to do a lot of Hindi songs. I'll always stick with English but I will start Hindi soon.
Thank you
offthedome x d0perman
Edited by: Tanay Bhardwaj
Designed by: Nilesh Deshmukh
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