Dizzy Wright – Top 10 To Watch For 2014 [Interview]

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As part of Da-What’s Top 10 to Watch For series, I caught up with Dizzy Wright earlier this year to discuss his relationship with his daughter and mother, the difference between The Golden Age and his next project as well as what hip hop means to Las Vegas! S/o to Shookone Music aka Grant for doing all of the editing!

Da-What: Can you run me through, what does a typical day look like for you? Where are you spending your time? What city or where within the city? What’s a day in the life of Dizzy Wright?

Dizzy Wright: I still live in Vegas. Got a penthouse with a studio in the penthouse. I usually wake up first, before my girl or my daughter, come in the studio, smoke a blunt, listen to some beats, my daughter come and knock on the door, I go out and give her breakfast. I mean, when I’m home, I try to spend as much time with my daughter as possible because I spend so much time on the road and little girls need their daddy. Discipline is real. You know, me and my girl, we young parents and we trying to do the right thing. I just be focused on my daughter all day. When she take a nap, I’m listening to beats, writing to beats, playing [NBA]2K or something. That’s pretty much what I’m doing everyday. I’m being an artist in between time but I’m being a full-time daddy. Just trying to be in my daughter’s face, you know, trying to give her a better understanding of life. You gotta teach your kids life you know what I’m saying?

Da-What: That’s great to hear. Especially when you hear such conflicting messages from all over the place. It’s nice to hear that someone is family first and about your being there for your kid. I’ve read a lot about your mom, that she was a manager for Bone-Thugs-N-Harmony, a concert promoter and I was going to ask about your relationship with her. But I’m actually curious how your mom and your relationship has impacted your daughter and your relationship now?

Dizzy Wright: My mom always had good intentions but it was a struggle for my mom. She had a dream and she had a place that she wanted to be in; she started having kids and she started trying to install that in us. You to know to make her dreams pop off as well as give us something to dream about, she installed something major in me. But it just makes me want to be, I mean I seen what my mom didn’t have, if my mom had just a little help. You know, if my father wasn’t incarcerated, you know, if he coulda just been around to pick her up when she was down, she woulda been a much stronger woman. So it makes me want to be there for my Baby-Mama, like really be in her corner and help her out when she needs me and be a better father for my daughter.

Da-What: What kind of relationship do you still have with your mom?

Dizzy Wright: She’s actually on the road. She was at Arsenio Hall with Bone, taking pics with Arsenio Hall and shit. Mom’s is still on her grind. She’s bout to go on tour with Layzie Bone. She’s in the music industry still full threat.

Da-What: Was she doing Rock the Bells with Bone Thugz for the anniversary?

Dizzy Wright: No, she actually just got back with Bone. My mom’s younger brother just moved out the house so my mother’s a free woman now. She’s back to living her life.

Da-What: I think it is fair to say that The Golden Age is very well received, I saw it on a lot of end of the year lists and it was on my personal end of the year list [for 2013], and so, I was wondering what you thought was different about the The Golden Age vs. your previous projects that made it blow up so big. What was different about this one that made it so well received?

Dizzy Wright: I think I got my point across on a lot of the songs really well. Each song has its own individual story. And I think I just, I don’t know, I think it was well put together. I don’t know, just more people catching on, it’s growing. It’s just a sign that you will grow if you keep working. If you stay consistent, even if it doesn’t look like it might do anything, you push for it a little more and it’ll happen. So, it was s just a product of that. I didn’t know if I would be on XXL because I didn’t know if they would pick me. I didn’t know if I was too far from the East Coast for them to really see what the fuck I was doing. I felt like I had put in a lot of work but did anybody know about it? I’m touring the world but the press ain’t talking about it. So it’s kinda like, who else can make it happen for me? The FANS. And they made it happen, they want to see it grow. It’s gonna grow if they wanna see it grow. I just have to do my part as an artist and put out dope music.

Da-What: So does this change how you will be making music, moving forward? Your growing status and everything, is that going to change up the process at all?

Dizzy Wright: Naw man. It’s still just a lot of weed and good production. That’s all it’ll ever be. Imma speak my mind on that shit, you know, whatever I’m thinking about, whatever I’m educating myself on, whatever is just in my brain that I feel like I want the world to know about. Imma lay that shit down. I just want the production to get better and better ever year. I don’t ever want to settle for the year before’s production. That’s cool but I need better. I always need better

Da-What: Where do you look for better production?

Dizzy Wright: That’s where I use social media cause a lot of producers reach out. But you know Funk Volume, we have Funk Volume producers and they lace me with a bunch of shit but I keep them on their toes cause I’m not just rapping over their shit cause their on Funk Volume. I’m making everyone step their game up. All around the table, the whole cylinder, I want the best of the best in 2014. I gotta hear it and think that it is some 2014 shit. I think The Golden Age is my first project where I really had an understanding of what the fuck I was doing. Now it just makes me feel even more confident in what I can do next because the project won’t be as big next time but I’ll get my point across even better.

Da-What: Last question, I got a series on my site called Da What is Hip Hop? And each week I have an artist from around the country, from around the world, talk about what hip hop means to them personally and to their region.

Dizzy Wright: Out here in Vegas, we have a hip hop scene but we don’t have a big like “throw shows, and you can open up for artists” scene. Most artists that perform here, perform on the Strip and they have openers already. It’s like you really have to work your way up. So everything IS underground. It’s really bringing this city together, it’s given them something to believe in, inspiring these kids to believe in something other than just… gambling. You know what I’m saying? Fucking gambling, or fucking pimping, or hoeing, or whatever it is. Hip-hop is the outlet to get them to want to do something else through this shit. You know? It really works.

Da-What: Thanks for everything man.

Dizzy Wright: Fo sho fo sho man, thanks for the interview.