3 minute read
Dox Black
Wading into the Waters of the Unknown
Even as he embraces his place as a hip-hop veteran, rapper, and producer, Dox Black remains focused on pushing himself to new creative planes in the studio and onstage. Rapper Dox Black shared about the night his 2020 completely unraveled, when the touring crew sat together in a meeting about what they were going to do moving forward. “Every hour on the hour, we would be getting these notifications,” he recalled. He remembers the slow roll of new capacity restrictions at venues, dropping from 1,000 to 500, then to 250, then to 100, then to 50.
“We were getting calls from the promoters basically canceling different spots along the tour route. It didn’t make sense for us to continue with such gaps. We had to cancel the tour after our first successful date,” he explained. It was a startling low after an incredible high. The first date of the tour, which featured Twista, was a sell out in San Diego. It was a complete 180 from the elation from the night before.
Like many others, 2020 was supposed to be a year of growth and success for Dox. He was going to continue to focus on touring and honing the skills he gained on the Vans Warped Tour while presenting the Bring It Back Tour, a hip-hop component that toured alongside the nationwide festival for several years. Starting in 2016, he earned recognition as an official act at South by Southwest, which places a global spotlight on emerging talent. He had planned for another summer on the road, building fans in new markets. But when COVID restrictions hampered his efforts to perform, he returned to San Jose.
Despite these setbacks, Dox had something working in his favor. As a tireless workhorse with 20 years in the game, he utilized the extra time to focus on his album, Enigma. He managed to deliver the new work to listeners on New Year’s Day—a tradition he’s maintained for eight years running.
“I’ve been producing and rapping about the same amount of time. I think that was a blessing in disguise, because sometimes with artists, you get stuck in one action of your artistry,” he said. “I didn’t have to rely on anybody for my music to be developed,” he explained.
Written by Brandon Roos Photography by Stan Olszewski
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