DEETRANADA

A lyrical assassin describes multi-talented rap artist, Deetranada. At just 18 years old she has already amassed a huge following and attention from multiple outlets including XXL for her captivating flow and raw pen game. I have been wanting to interview this starlet for a while now. I first caught a glimpse of her while watching the third season of the Rap Game. I learned that besides her outstanding flow, her real name was not Deetranda. "You think my mama would name me Deetranada?', she would say when people assumed. Diamond is her real name and Deetranada was inspired by a producer that inspires her named Kaytranada.

The Baltimore based artist started her journey in the 7th grade. She preformed in the school's talent show. "I always told my peers that I rapped, but nobody ever believed me like I was lying or something. I just wanted to prove myself." She began writing at 11 but didn't take the career choice serious until she was 15. She started writing more to cope with high school experiences, "Being the outcast influenced me. I didn?t ever really have friends like that, so I always faced my demons by myself. I thought ahead of time and told myself if I didn?t master channeling my emotions through something positive, I?m going to hurt somebody. I kept thinking about how when I grow up, it's not going to be high school anymore. You don?t find a healthy outlet for your problems, they don?t suspend you in the real world." When asked what advice she had for people in high school in her shows, her response was much needed, "Surround yourself with positive influences. Watch who you call friends because sometimes, people look at you as competition in their head, and you don?t want that. You want someone to lift you, not weigh you down and step over you when they need that push."

A lot of artists are talking about social anxiety these days. Do you deal with it as well and if so how do you handle it? "Every single day. I usually talk to myself and put in headphones so people think I'm singing a song or something. If I can't do that, I usually just come e of out and say "hey, I'm not really good at being touched and having a good convo, I apologize? because some people can?t catch a hint. Calming music helps with anxiety too. I'm genuinely scared of people though. I wish I could advocate for social anxiety and depression but I don't know how because I can?t talk in front of people to save my life. I don't wish that on anyone."

She eventually started to published her bars onto social media. "I just went ahead and posted my videos. I tagged every celebrity I could and then put my phone down like, If they like it, they like it. If they don't, they don't." Social media can be brutal sometimes for upcoming names, was it hard for you as a newcomer to deal with social media at first? "I still don?t like social media, truth be told. People are way too entitled with their opinions nowadays and run behind ?constructive criticism? when they get called out for being vile. The only reason I deal with it now is so I can reach out to people that actually want to talk to me, because that?s how some of my supporters react to the world. With some people, the internet is all they got when it comes to friends, and that?s how it was for me for a good while."

How did you eventually learn how to handle it?" Sometimes you just have to put your phone down. Most of the time I find myself mentally caught up in a comment, and I just log off for the day and go play Mario Kart, listen to some calm 432hz music and take a long hot shower." After wowing followers with her ability to flow so nicely and effortlessly, she caught the attention of SoSo Def founder, Jermaine Dupri who was at the time putting together the third season of 'TheRap Game'. She was chosen as one of five contestants and instantly became a fan favorite. She cites that the show did not meet her exceptions. "It's funny because sometimes I watch old clips of myself and think, man, that would not have gone like that. I was a dope ass rapper at 15, but I was too busy in making sure I did what I had to and never stopped myself like, damn, this person is pulling my card. I should probably punch them in the face.? So yes, it would have went drastically different." She hopes that in 2020 people stop talking about it, I can understand that. In 2017 Jermaine Dupri created a tour for the contestants that he favored throughout the seasons. "I wish I knew more about the business at the time and was vocal about what I wanted. I would've walked away with way more money than what I walked away with."

When asked If she had advice for new contestants, she responded, "Please don?t cry over that contract. If you don?t get it, be glad you dodged a major bullet." While on the Rap Game, she met producer Mike Kalomobo who created her first official mixtape project titled 'Adolescence Swim". It was released in 2017. "Listening back to it, I hate it. I?m being brutally honest. At the time, I was thinking that since this was my first mixtape people were going to hear from me, I wanted to make sure that it was relatable so everyone could vibe to it. That however washed away some raw emotions and truths that I could?ve dug deeper into.

Her debut album, 'DeeVsEverybody' was released this year and very long-awaited. This project feels like her, vulnerable, raw lyricism and creativity beyond her years. "Truth be told I scrapped the album like 3 times and released the throwaways on Soundcloud. The process was eye-opening for me because I had all the creative freedom I could have. At the point in time I actually got in the studio to officially start it I was at a real low point in my life. I feel like that mentality properly fueled my drive to finish it and not give up on it. I made sure I held on to that mindset to voice my mental health and my thoughts the best way I can, no matter how crazy I went. That's one thing I really love about that piece of work."

The album art tells an empowering story all by itself. It shows an abstract take on Dee's mind which she says represented how out of place her mind was at the time. This was not her first choice, though it all beautifully came together in the end. " Man, check this out. So, the original artwork was made by an artist that I paid for beforehand and when I finally reached back out to them to notify the album was coming out, they charged me so much damn money for no reason. I was so flabbergasted by the ordeal, I paid them so they could get out my face and sat there angry as hell for an hour and said ?you know what? I?m about to download picsart.? and made the cover all by myself. All the abstract things you see on the cover represents how out of place my mind was at the time of making my album, but at the end of the day you saw how beautifully it all came together, no matter how weird it may look. I laugh every time I look at the cover because of how crazy the reason I made it is.What was the

the hardest song to record and why?" The hardest song to record in my mind was 'FLAWS!'. I went through hell for that song, but I?llexplain it another time. I have never been so vulnerable with what I'm going through and me putting everything out in the open was hard, because I usually think it?s best if I keep things to myself because, at the end of the day, nobody wants to hear that. They don't care. It's usually you drop music, satisfy people and move out the way until they want something from you again. So making that record I had that in mind but on my other shoulder, I reminded myself how healthy it would be for me to just let it out. I touched on me dealing with different personalities, my recent suicide attempt and just feeling alone and resilient towards everything that wasn't for me. You can hear the pain and power in my voice, and that's what I feel distinguishes that as the song that was hard to make. I put you in the place I was in at the time and very little artists have that ability".

The first track to get a visual from the album was the heavy-hitting 'BEEP BEEP'. The video consisted of a funhouse concept with Deetranada keeping viewers at the edge of their seats with every turn. "Listening to 'BEEP BEEP!', you have the video planted in your head already. You probably thought the song was going to have a bunch of scary-looking dudes with guns with me in the trap or something, and that's what I love about my video. It wasn?t that. I wanted to make a video that made you want to watch it, tweet about it like? man what the hell was this video?? and then go back to watch it again to try to figure it out yourself. I'm glad me and the shooter and director MichaelSmigel bounced ideas off of each other and put everything together. It took 2 months." When asked how she would respond If her visual happened in real life, she responded, "If I saw 4 other me?s, I would have turned up. Me, me, me, AND me? That's a scary sight to everybody that ain't us. I don't know about the doctor stuff though, I would NOT get my teeth knocked out and get my heart replaced with a Gucci one for the clout of it."

At the end of the conversation I asked about her next tour, she responded that she may or may not be going on one next year.I'll cross my fingers. Through her ups and downs, Dee has continued to push through and inspire her fans around the world that they can too. Her pen game is extraordinary and her style? Don't get me started. From the hair changes to the outfit arrangements, she's gorgeous. With a combined following of 1.15m on Twitter, Soundcloud, Spotify, and Facebook, the Baltimore beauty is taking her rightful spot in hip hop. Brace yourselves, she's just getting starting. She is Deetranada.