DoItAll Dupré

“I like this!!” When I hear DoItAll Dupré voice his stamp of approval, I breathe a sigh of relief. We’re sitting in his Newark studio and he’s drinking the beer I gifted him as a token of my appreciation for his time. It’s not a beer I made myself, unfortunately. In the seven years that I’ve been homebrewing, I never seem to have a batch bottled and ready to drink when I’m given the chance to hand it out. Only a select few in the universe have sampled a beer made by Black Vinyl Brews because of my untimely fermentation schedule. When I realized DoItAll would not be the newest member of this elite club, I wanted to be sure I gave him a worthy alternative. I went with Interboro’s You’re All I Need, a hazy, Double India Pale Ale that pays tribute to the classic joint by Mary J. Blige and Method Man. It proved to be the perfect choice.

I met with DoItAll at the beginning of March, which seems like a lifetime ago. At the time, he was preparing for his upcoming tour with Lords Of The Underground to promote the release of their upcoming album So Legendary. A lot has changed since then. COVID-19 has taken over and forever changed our way of life. Sure, we’ll eventually be able to leave our houses without worry and regain some sense of normalcy. But this virus has already left lasting effects that we’ll be feeling for generations to come. Artists, and their livelihoods, have especially taken a hit as mandated social distancing has postponed many previously scheduled performances and events until further notice. To say this is a trying time doesn’t cover the half of it.

The one thing that’s been able to get us through this chaotic time is music. When the world is in turmoil, it always manages to save the day. It’s never truly canceled or closed but is there for us whenever we need it. From Italian neighbors singing Black Sabbath on their balconies, to D-Nice spinning on Instagram live, music continues to remind us that there’s hope. Hip-hop is no exception. It’s a culture founded on survival, created by vulnerable communities seeking positive outlets. I’m reminded of this now as we desperately search for the channels that will bring us an ounce of peace during this incredibly dark time. I think back to that Saturday in Newark and I’m extremely grateful that I was afforded the opportunity to sit with DoItAll before it all went downhill. He was a gracious host, providing so much wisdom and insight during our conversation. From the early days of Lords Of The Underground, to traveling, to his political career, to working with Onyx for the first time, we covered a lot of ground. Capturing this interview is the outlet I needed to keep my spirits afloat. I hope reading these words does the same for you.

BVB: Is it still enjoyable for you to travel and to tour?

DoItAll: That's a great question. That's seriously a great question. I don't want to sound like I don't enjoy traveling or going on the road, because going on the road, performing period, is one of the best highs you can have. There's just a euphoria about it that's just like incredible to me. You get to release all of the creative energy that you put in it to make it. This is the culmination of that. That's performing. But, to answer your question specifically, I don't want to feel like I have to [tour]. Because then, what differentiates that between having a 9-5 that you have to get up and go to every morning? I don't want to have to do it. And what I mean by having to tour is, just to be honest and frank and candid, that's our biggest source of income. So, it puts you in a position like, where do you know you can go out for 30 days and make a $100,000? Or more? So, you have to do that. I have to do that.

BVB: I think that changed for a lot of people when the music industry changed; when people stopped buying records. Your hand was sort of forced.

DoItAll: Well, I think that artists have always made their biggest purse from performing, for the most part. Even Eminem still goes out. Even Jay-Z. Even 50 Cent. So, the biggest purse comes from performing. I'm just saying I wish that I didn't have to do it and I could do it when I just want to do it. Cause sometimes there's other things that I'm involved in like making a movie or something and I'm like, okay, there's $25,000 from this movie or this money from this tour. So, it just puts you in this place. Maybe it's different for other artists. But for me, I don't want to have to do it. I love it, I just don't want to be a slave to it.

BVB: I always thought the traveling aspect of touring would be one of the most exciting things about my career if I was a rapper; being able to experience different cultures, different people, being able to go to places I might not have ever went if it wasn't for this. And I imagine learning about the world through those experiences provides you with a lot of insight. So, in that way, do you still look forward to touring or was that something that was more exciting when you were younger?

DoItAll: No, everyday, traveling is an experience you can't even explain. That education that traveling gives you is greater and beyond, if not just as much as a text book. Probably more than a text book because you're physically there. And you're touching, you're tasting. With a text book, you're imagining, traveling mentally. But by physically traveling, you're body, mind, and soul. But take advantage of it too. I remember my great grandmother, we called her Momma, she wanted to live vicariously through my experiences. So, every time I would go on the road, she was like, "After you get settled in, come back here and tell Momma all about it." I remember my first trip to France, I came back, I was excited to talk to her and I [when] I went and talked to her, she was like, "So, tell me. Did you go Champs-Élysées and did you see 'such and such'?" And I said, yeah I went, but I didn't see "such and such". And she's like, "Okay, well, tell me about the Eiffel Tower. Did you walk the stairs? Did you go to the top?" And I was like, no, we just drove past it. She's like, "Okay, well how big is the Mona Lisa? Did you go in, did you see the Mona Lisa?" And I was like, no we just drove past it too. And she was like, "Oh boy, you ain't travel, you just going places." And it gave me a different perspective. You can grow up in the hood and never be part of it. You can go somewhere and never experience the culture. So, just because you were there, doesn't mean you were there. 

BVB: When is So Legendary coming out?

DoItAll: So Legendary was supposed to be out in November, then it was supposed to be out December, then it was supposed to be out in February. Shout out to the Snowgoons out in Germany and shout out to Latfro Agency and my team, Lord Jazz and Funk Man. See, when you have people that want to support your project and they want to give their input and add to the genius, you have to kinda take into consideration every part that's making the whole move. And that's what we're doing right now. Every time that we do that, the date gets pushed back. But So Legendary will be out probably by the end of March. So, real soon.

BVB: I love the music video for “Whats Up”. Is that really the first time that Lords and Onyx collaborated on something?

DoItAll: Yeah. And those are our dudes. 

BVB: That's crazy to me.  I'm sure y'all ran in the same circles back in the day and even now.

DoItAll: I remember Fredro telling me one day, "Yo, I didn't know if I was gonna like y'all!" And I was like, why? And he said, "Cause y'all had all that energy like us!" We just hit it off anyway. Onyx, the way they approach their brand, they way that they keep it together, it should be a blueprint for some of the younger artists. It's inspirational. They just came back from Russia. We were in Russia in 2012, 2013, and because Onyx was just there and they see we're going on the road with them, now [Russia] is asking us to come back out. Onyx don't care where they go man. If you want hip-hop and you got the bread, you can get Onyx man. I salute them because they take the culture every where they go.

BVB: I want to go back to the Snowgoons. I really respect those dudes because they work their asses off and do a lot to show appreciation for the culture and the people that laid the foundation. In general, it seems in places like Europe or even Russia, that appreciation for the roots of hip-hop is so prevalent, more so than it is here. It's really lacking in America. Why do you think that is?

DoItAll: Anytime you get an oversaturation of anything, it kind of wears on you. It's almost like being with a girl or a guy. When you first try to catch them, you do certain things, you show certain things, certain ways. It's that initial attraction, whatever it is. Mentally, physically, whatever it is. You're attracted to that. Once that becomes normalized, once you become used to it in a sense, how do you keep that spark alive? How do you keep that going? I think here in America, there's so much at one time that the powers that be get to give you a false sense of choice. What I mean by that is if you have five radio stations in your city or state, right, and two of them are rocking, and the other three, they're okay. They're still on, they're doing something, but maybe they're not as popular for the culture that listens to them. So, that's why I call it a false sense of choice. You might say, Hot 97 in New York or Power 105 in New York is the best radio station in New York. But then you're forgetting about 20 other stations that don't live our culture, that probably have higher numbers. You're only tuned in to what you respect, what you like. The way you learn something is the way you apply it to your life and it's the way you teach it. 

So, I think Snowgoons, the way that they approach hip-hop, they respect the culture so much, that all they want to do is be part of it and be part of its history. By doing so, they book the things that they love. They book the things that they can relate to. And for them, America has given the Golden Era so many accolades and props for being one of the greatest eras of hip-hop, the defining moment of hip-hop. The people that love the culture look for the root; they look for what we claim is the best. So, if we claim the 90's is the best, they're going to want to get the 90's and everything that was inspired by the 90's. So, [Snowgoons] show that love and they book everything from that point. America doesn't do that. Hip-hop culture is a now movement. You got "hip". When anything is hip, it's a part of the now; the "it" thing. So, if you take that definition of hip as being in the now and take "hop", which is a form of movement, hip-hop is the now movement. That's why hip-hop is forever staying young. So, American culture of hip-hop, in general, doesn't respect the elders because they're not "now". They respect them as OGs, they respect the lesson if the OGs take the time to give the youth the lesson. Europe doesn't do that. Europe says, we respect everything that made this, everything that we love. 

BVB: Because everything’s so fast-paced, people don’t go back to the beginning. I think to really be a part of something like hip-hop, you have to understand the foundation. And people don’t take the time to do that.

DoItAll: I think with anything that you do, and this goes to anyone out there, I don’t care if you’re a plumber in your city, if you want to be the best plumber in your city, you need to find out who the top five plumbers are in this county, in this state, in this area that [you’re] in. How do they promote? Why are they number one? Why do people like them? We have to do that.

I think that Lil Wayne, when he was killing everybody with mixtape, after mixtape, after mixtape, if you listen to Wayne back then, even before then, I feel like you can tell he was around OGs. He’s talking about Good Times, Laverne and Shirley. That wasn’t his era. But it was his mentors’ era. So, that means that Lil Wayne actually listened and paid attention, or at least did the research, to the generation before him. And I think that’s why, in my mind, he’s considered a legend. And he will be considered a legend for his generation. Because he did that. When you don’t grab the foundation or when you don’t grasp hold of the foundation, how can you ever stay firm in anything that you do? If you build this big foundation on a stick, that stick can be bumped into and the whole foundation will fall. And I think a lot of rappers’ careers are built like that. They build on this pedestal instead of building on this firm foundation.

BVB: How do we stay connected to good hip-hop when everything is oversaturated? I grew up doing the Golden Age and when I was a kid, we had gatekeepers. We had Stretch and Bobbito, we had Ed Lover and Doctor Dré, we had Video Musicbox showing us the most talented MCs in the game. 

DoItAll: The Internet has disrupted that. I'm not saying it's a bad or good thing. It's just that when you build something, some things get destroyed. It's build and destroy. It's hand-in-hand almost. Not saying that one is better than the other, or if it's good or bad, it's just a reality. It's almost like balance. Gentrification is a form of that in a certain way. I just believe if you're a part of something through it's puberty, then you want to be part of its renaissance as well. I think that we have to stop complaining and demand to be part of what it is that you respected in its early stages. With that being so, the elders, the people that are in hip-hop in its finest stages as it grows, you have to really be part of it and demand to be part of it when the young people come out. Don't just disrespect the young people because you don't like, you don't understand, or you can't feel what they're doing. 

BVB: When Lords Of The Underground formed at Shaw University, did you think that hip-hop would take you this far?

Doitall: No, I wasn't thinking on that level. I would love to say, yo, I knew. In hindsight, I would love for that to be my answer because my approach would have been different. I have friends, celebrity friends, and I see their process and how they approach creating. And I see the level that they're at now. I see the accolades they receive from that approach. Now, Lords Of The Underground, we have great success. But I still feel like people underestimate us or don't give us the credit that we deserve in our era, for the things that we did. But at the same time, we didn't approach it like this was all we had; like this was do or die. And I think when you approach things like that, you get a different result. We approached it with a love and a passion, but I always had the mindset of, if this don't work, I'm gonna hustle something else out. 

BVB: Do you think that’s because you were all pursuing other interests and higher education at Shaw?

DoItAll: Yes, most definitely. When you have other options, you deal with one of those options differently. Hip-hop is our first love, but at the time, we wasn’t trying to make it our only love because it didn’t have the track record of success like it does now. Now it’s a trillion dollar industry with a few billionaires in the game. It wasn’t that then. We were doing it more for passion, more for fun, [versus] this is going to be my career.

BVB: Do you think you would have still been a rapper had you not met DJ Lord Jazz and Mr. Funke?

DoItAll: Yeah, I mean I was a rapper before then. Redman was my DJ before we went to Shaw University. So, we were killing it around Newark with a producer/rapper named Gov Mattic and Diesel Don. We were doing our thing, but like I said, it was fun. If we got a record deal, okay, we got a record deal. But it wasn’t like, we’re going to get a record deal and change the world. It wasn’t that. I thought was going to be Theo from the Huxtables, cause I had auditioned [for the role]. It was down to me and Malcolm-Jamal, so I thought I was going to be Theo. And Malcom, of course, became Theo. So, I would have never been in Lords Of The Underground if that would have happened. Well, I don’t think I would have or it wouldn’t have happened the way that it happened. I probably would have never went to Shaw to meet Lord Jazz who formulated the group, to meet Mr. Funke, even though I knew his brother. We probably would have never became a group because we’re three different types of individuals, so I don’t know how our paths would have ended up if it had not come that way. And I thought I was going to be a New York Yankee! So, I thought I was going to be a whole bunch of things other than be DoItAll from Lords Of The Underground.

BVB: So, you had your eyes set on many different things.

DoItAll: Many different things. Different options of revenue.

BVB: Do you ever think you’ll run for political office again?

DoItAll: Yeah, I am. I’m back at it. We have two more years, but elections seem like they never start. Campaigning seems like it never stops. I’m not a politician. The old me would not even run for office. When somebody runs for office, you are trying to come into a world that’s been established for over hundreds of years; a process that’s been established for over hundreds of years. [There’s] a bunch of silos and cliques of people who make legislation. And everybody knows that legislation is our laws. They’re not just letting anybody in. There’s so many gatekeepers. Yes, there’s voting. But if we don’t understand the reality of what voting really is, I mean the ins and outs, not just going to pull the lever, but the the whole process of getting you in that booth, then they will always control the narrative.

So, the reason I would run again and the reason I wouldn’t run again is because if you don’t get in, they push you away and then you get frustrated because of all the tactics that they use to push you away. “Man, I’m never doing that again!” Now, four years go by. You don’t run again. Another eight years go by. So, now the people they are putting into place are still pushing their movement and their agenda forward. The people who really claim not to be politicians and really care about community, care about people, care about the city, care about intent of the residents, they never really get in because they give up too easily. They give up that first four years or eight years. They give up. It’s not going to change overnight. But if you get in, you have to realize that you have to position. It’s about positioning. And a lot of [politicians] know that. This is their world and they do that. So, if you’re not for their agenda, they will position you not to get in.

BVB: Were you met with resistance because you don’t have a traditional political background?

DoItAll: I was met with resistance in every form and fashion because I’m just not of them. I’m new, I’m the rap cat, I’m the hip-hopper. I gotta prove if they like me, if they don’t like me. I am the pessimist? I am the optimist? Do I have money? Can I bring money to the table? How much power do I have? Who can sway me? Who can I get in bed with? All of those things play a part. I used to say politics is a chess game. I don’t know if you ever heard of a board game called Go, but [politics] is more like a Go.

BVB: What’s the biggest lesson you learned when you ran for Councilman-At-Large in 2018?

DoItAll: The biggest lesson I learned is that you can’t come into a situation that’s unfamiliar to you and make everybody believe that your way is the right way.

BVB: You could say that about hip-hop.

DoItAll: Facts.