MUSIC
The Crossover Artist
D2x’s coming-of-age futurist hip-hop on The Color Blue. BY RYAN ROSENBERGER
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PHOTO BY TIMMY RISDEN
“It’s really about understanding our past, understanding the things that we went through, not forgetting it and going back to that place.”
14 SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY
¬ JUNE 10, 2021
n the opening scene of a short film released a few days after his debut studio album, The Color Blue, dropped, Chicago hip-hop artist D2x refers to himself as a “futurist.” Growing up on the South Side, he had dreams of becoming a pro basketball player, but altered course after realizing basketball might not work out. “I remember one time in class, I was like, ‘if basketball don't work out, I’m gonna just be a rapper,” X said. “Once I got into music, I knew exactly what I wanted to do.” Basketball dominated X’s life growing up. During the summers, he played Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) travel basketball. In high school, he played at St. Rita of Cascia at 79th & Western, where he garnered Division 1 interest, was nominated to play in the McDonald’s High School All American game, and was named to the Catholic League all-conference team during his senior year. In 2016, when it came time to make a decision about playing in college, he said he didn’t have too many options. After briefly attending Western Illinois University as a walk-on, he decided to come back to Chicago to pursue music full time. Nearly five years later, the Windy City wordsmith has made his mark. Released on March 26, The Color Blue is a thirteen-track, thirty-eight-minute coming-of-age story that sheds light on how the twenty-three-year old found purpose through his music. “I changed dreams, as far as I’ma take it/No matter where I’m grindin’, on my
way to be the greatest,” he raps on the first verse of “Time,” where he explores where his head was at when he decided to stop pursuing his basketball dream. Lyrically, The Color Blue sees X assuming an everyman persona—he is that one character in the cast that everyone is rooting for. His brightest lyrical highlights are his most human of moments, such as the track, “Day Job,” where he explores the hardships of working a menial job while chasing his dream. While X waxes poetic throughout the album about the determination he has to make it in music, he always stops short of giving himself too much credit. He is quick to shout out his faith in God, his family, and his biggest supporters, without all of whom he insists this album would not exist. “They’re the backbone of my art,” he said. Executive produced by GLOhan Beats and Ro Marsalis, the sounds on The Color Blue are steeped in soul, jazz, and blog-era hip-hop worship. The intro track, “Hues,” features a dusty big band horn section and some grumbling legato bass hits, while “Hoop Dreams” features a sunny chipmunk soul vocal sample. There is some live instrumentation too, with tracks such as “Blue Light Nights” and the album’s closer, “Picasso Blue/Thoughts From A Basquiat,” featuring some pretty soprano saxophone passages courtesy of Canadian producer and instrumentalist Zander Miller, also known as Millwood. D2x recently talked with the Weekly about his life and work. An edited transcript follows (a longer version of this interview is at southsideweekly.com).
