Deniro Farrar: Phone Interview
09.18.14

Seattle Music News caught up with Cult Rap leader Deniro Farrar, who is currently plowing through dates on his Bow Down Tour before making his way to Seattle on October 3rd. With several albums under his belt and a recent record deal with Warner Bros., Farrar seems to be grabbing the knife for his slice of the pie. Did he ever envision his future otherwise? His persistence, confidence, and optimism will put those questions to rest.   

SMN: How young were you when you realized you had a knack for music?
DF: I was in elementary school, I got a Kris Kross tape in elementary school, and I learned it front to back. Then I knew, I was like, “God, I love rap music.” I fell in love with rap music in elementary school. But I knew it was something I wanted to do in 2010 when I wrote my first rhyme, and I wrote my first song in the ghetto. I was like, “Goddamn, this is so good.” I know a lot of rappers who suck when they start off, like they sound like a beginner. Seriously, it was really good. I was like, “Damn, this is dope.”

SMN: You mentioned Kris Kross. Do you have any other earlier standout influences?
DF: Tupac. Biggie. Kinda’ like everybody.

SMN: Do you feel that your music is built on experience? A lot of writers say that you can’t write about things that you don’t know about. Do you feel like it’s the same way for music?
DF: Of course. Yeah, of course. I’ve definitely experienced it, and wrote about it. You have to adapt to learning to write any type of music, whether it exists or not. I feel like I did it early on. I wrote a song about having children, I didn’t even have kids. Now I have kids… I would’ve spoke that shit to the universe.

SMN: How would you describe your writing process? How do you come up with your lyrics?
DF: My writing process is different, you know, I always beat myself up about not writing as much as I know other rappers do, but it’s like, when I force myself to write music, it doesn’t come like that. I have to organically sit and let the music flow. Anytime I get in the studio and try to force myself to write, it doesn’t come like that. The music has to legit come, like flow. That’s the whole process behind it.

SMN: Do you find that you have a particular muse? Is there anything that instigates a flow?
DF: No, not really. It’s research, and I’ll feel it. I’ll feel it in my brain.

SMN: How much credit do you give your past for your success now? Is it a love-hate relationship? Do you hold onto anger, or do you find it cathartic to let it go and get it out?
DF: Once I write it, I let it go. But it still remains, a little bit. It doesn’t absolutely go away. But it’s like a release – writing a rhyme. I owe all the credit to my past, because it’s my past that I write about in all of these songs, they got me where I am today. I owe all the credit to the things that I’ve been through.

SMN: Has your family played a role in any of this?
DF: The things that I’ve been through with my family that I wrote about. They’re definitely supportive of what I have going on, because it’s positive, and they actually believe in me that I’m gonna make it. That makes it all the better. My family supports me.

SMN: You mentioned in Patriarch II, which I would say is a bit darker and more reflective, that at times you feel pulled towards death. Where do you find beauty? In your darkest times, what pulls you through?
DF: My children. And knowing that I’m gonna make it.

SMN: What is the story behind the cover art for your Rebirth EP?
DF: Well I saw a painting, and I was like, “God, this is really dope.” But it didn’t have a face or anything like that, it was just blurry. I was like, “It would be really cool if this was a person.” It didn’t have the form of anything. I was like, “Damn, this would be dope if this was a person. It would be really dope if it was me.” Some of my facial features, a crown. I told them to see what it would look like with gold teeth and a crown. Really gold teeth, make them stand out, and make the crown gold, too. I was like, “Damn, that shit looks crazy!”

SMN: A couple years ago you worked with Nacho Picasso, who’s a local Seattle artist. How was the process working with him on Cliff of Death?
DF: I just hit that fool up on Twitter, too, to see if he wanted to come out on my tour! I was gonna bring him out in Seattle. That’s my boy. I worked with him also on my Destiny.altered EP, which is like my second release ever. I dealt with him, and he blessed me with a verse and it was dope. So it was really no different for Cliff of Death. Once we connected again for the second go-round, it was already organic. I had met him at SXSW… we kicked it… [they] shot it back to me a couple days later and then we just killed it.

SMN: Who would you like to personally collaborate with in the near future? Do you have a bucket list?
DF: 40. PARTYNEXTDOOR. James Blake would be dope.

SMN: Do you have any inclination to produce other artists in the future?
DF: Well I’m actually starting a movement now called “New Charlotte.” My boy has a production going, he sent me the beat, and I was like, “Damn, this beat’s dope.” And I hand-selected artists that I felt would sound good over the track. It was actually like, a viral song in my city. It was a trending topic nationally on Twitter. I wrote the hook for the song. I just have a knack for music in general.

SMN: What do you miss most when you’re away from Charlotte?
DF: My children. I don’t really care about anything else, to be honest. My children.

SMN: Do you plan to stay in Charlotte?
DF: Yeah, I’ll always have a place there. I plan on getting my mom a house in Charlotte. And that would be cool.

SMN: Take care of your folks, for sure.
DF: That’s what I do it for.

SMN: As the leader of Cult Rap, how do you envision it under your wing over time?
DF: Basically, staying closer to the profession of the music side. Everything is gonna be done organically, but the music is where it adds the fan base. So as long as I protect the craft, the music is gonna grow bigger and bigger. As long as I continue to perform like I do live, it’s gonna continue to grow. As long as I continue to put my music out on a big platform like I’m doing, it’s gonna continue to grow. My main focus is the music. I don’t wanna lose sight of the craft trying to change for admiration. Everything else is gonna come together.

SMN: This is the million dollar question: if you were stranded on an island and could only have one book, one movie, and one album to entertain you, what would they be?
DF: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. Movies? Probably Goodfellas. It’s just so entertaining to me, I like violent shit. Album? Me Against the World.

Interview by T. Monte