Prior to SLU’s Annual Fallfest, posters printed by the Association of Campus Entertainment (ACE) covered the walls and stair railings of multiple on campus buildings. Mini Fallfest survival packs comprised up of: candy, counseling service cards, health products, and a note that said, ‘Don’t break sh**, stay safe!’ were created by hand and delivered with care. On the way to the venue, a fellow classmate lifted a fallen trash receptacle back up. While going over my questions for the interview with Flipp Dinero and Wale, I heard a distant voice singing, “Leave me alooooooone!”
At 7:30 p.m. September 20, Flipp, himself, strode around the stage with undeniable composure. He spoke into the mic and said, “I wanna hear you say it. I wanna hear you say it.” And so the crowd said it with him: “I love when that money calls. Aye, I love when that money calls.”
Later into the performance, when Flipp’s brother, Stash, was brought onto the stage, Flipp reminded us, “I do this Sh** for my family.” They performed together for two songs, and after Stash finished up, Flipp tells him, “Hey, you can’t just leave like that. You can’t just leave after that. I think you should do another one.” The crowd agreed.
To conclude the show, Flipp finished with his hit song, “Leave Me Alone.”
When his set ended, ACE President Riley Doyle ’21 and I had the chance to meet Flipp in his trailer parked behind the stage to get to know him a little better.
Maxwell Levy: “Here, should I just hop right in here?”
Flipp Dinero: “Let’s get it!”
ML: “Well, you know, now, I’ve got a few questions, but, you know, just to recap this: Here, we have sitting in front of us is world-renowned rapper, Flipp Dinero, age of 23. You have been thought highly of by other incredible artists such as DJ Khaled and Joey Bada$$. Your song, “Leave Me Alone” became a viral hit, recognized by several celebrities and many, many people. What I want to know is: What separates you from other young artists your age?”
FD: “The fact that I—I stay unique to myself. You know what I am saying. Like, I know that my soul is vibrant. I know—I know that I have a vibrant personality. So that’s what it is: tending to that—tending to my vibe and personality. Yeah, staying authentic to my vibrant personality. That’s what differentiates me from everyone else.”
Riley Doyle: “Where’d you get your start? You say you’re from Brooklyn. Was that hard?”
FD: “I started from—I grew up in Brooklyn. I was born in Flatbush, and raised in Canarsie.
My mother and father, they started in the church. So that’s how I started singing. I started singing in the church. As I got older, you know, rap music, you know what I’m saying, it took— control.
I just mixed the singing with the rapping. And at first you know I did poetry too when I was a little kid. So poetry helped and that’s how the music started.
ML: “And you’re a reader too, right. That’s what I hear?”
FD: “Yeah. Yeah. I read.”
ML:“I noticed that you refer to your music projects as ‘Bodies of Work’. And I think that’s probably the best way to describe any type of project. Why do you use this sort of terminology? Is there something about stating it this way that feels right to you?”
FD: “A body of work. The reason why I say body of work because… Everyone has like… The world is built on perception. You know what I’m saying? If you say, I have a million dollars, you automatically assume I’m a millionaire. You know what I mean? But, just because you have a million dollars doesn’t mean you’re a millionaire. I don’t know if that analogy makes sense. So its like: I don’t want to say, ‘Yo, I got—I got an album.’ And people have the expectations of: an album, and they hear it and say ‘Oh it’s not an album.’ Well, I don’t wanna say I got a mixtape and people say ‘Yo that’s not a mixtape. This should’ve been an album.’ You know what I’m trying to say? So I just label it a body of work. You take it as you take it. And the majority of the time, the response is: people say, ‘You know, when are you putting out another album?’ So, that means that my bodies of work are like a set of albums. You know what I’m saying.”
ML: “Yeah. Yeah.”
FD: “You’re flattering me. This is something that’s a joke to me. A real insider.”
ML: “I hear that you are known for calling your music ‘A safe haven’ for the audience. I just want to know: Why is this so important to you?”
FD: “Nah, cause, you know what it is: Music saved my life in many ways, man. Where I come from, the block where I grew up on. You know what I’m saying? My brother will tell you. You know what I’m saying? We ain’t have h**s with our sneakers. It wasn’t easy.
You know what I mean? It’s not easy to get a job where we’re from. Everybody doesn’t succeed in school the way they’re supposed to. Now, I was an A student, but school just wasn’t for me. I never focused in school. So music was a safe haven. So I just quit everything. You know, I was in college. I had a little bullsh** nine-to-five. I used to f***ing push a broom around lids. And that’s how everything changed. Just music.”
RD: “What’s next for you? Where are you taking this?”
FD: “What’s next for me? Psh. I don’t know.”
RD: “Anywhere?”
FD: “I don’t know. Just to keep going. I can’t tell you like, you know like, ‘In ten years where do you see yourself?’ You know what I am saying?”
ML: “You know, I noticed a lot of people ask you that. And I think what’s an important question is: where do you see yourself now?”
FD: “Where do I see myself now? I see myself— I think of myself as someone who’s putting in the full work, to be considered legendary in due time.That’s how I see myself. You know what I’m saying. I’m not big yet. You know, people show me love because they know me. But I don’t let it get to my head. I still stay humble. I still stay down to earth. I still pass the blunt, smoke it up the homies. Still, you know what I’m saying. That’s what it is.”
ML: “I’ve been watching some of your interviews, and on your interview on Fuse, you mentioned that you nearly lost your life four times in one month. How do you think this has changed your overall outlook on life?”
FD: “It shows you that life could disappear at any given moment. You know what I’m saying. I’ve been through some shit in my life, man. So—so, me going through the experiences that I went through, in such a short amount of time, yeah, it molded my brain, it helped sculpt my brain to conduct myself different. Like to really take every situation serious. To look at the situation and say, “Alright, this is the best I could make it.” You know what I’m saying. Pretty much just: live fearlessly. That’s the best way to describe it: Live. Fearlessly. Those situations transpired and they just pushed me to live fearlessly. You know, go all out. Go in.”
ML: “I got kind of a different question here.”
FD: “Hollar. Hollar at me.”
ML: “If you were in the audience watching yourself perform, how do you think you would feel?”
FD: “I never thought about seeing myself perform. But if I did, I’d say, ‘Sh**, he’s turnt!’ Cause, you know, I’ve seen the footage. My DJ—that’s my DJ Killer Kam—you know what I am saying—and that’s my brother. My mean Bambito. They all tell me like, ‘Yo bro, your energy is different.’ You know what I am saying. So I don’t know what it is.”
RD: “Where’s your creative process? Where do you find your music?”
FD: “Psh. Bro it comes from my soul, my heart bro. I wanna say, you know, the daily things I go through inspire me to mother-f***ing make the songs I make. But, honestly, it’s really my thoughts. It’s really the things I dream of. You know what I’m saying. Like the things I sit and ponder on. Like something that happened in my life like: a mother-f***ing shoot out. And I grapple by that sh**. God forbid. Sh** like that has happened, you know what I’m saying. But I tend not to rap about that. I don’t like to rap about that sh** like that. I rap about the things I dream about, you know what I’m saying Seeing the crowd lit. Seeing everyone turnt up. Positive sh**. The sh** that I hope you win.”
ML: “Here, this can be the last one because I know you gotta—”
FD: “Hollar at me. Hollar.”
ML: “If your younger self was able to watch yourself perform now, how do you think that younger self would perceive your music?
FD: “You’re doing exactly what you wanted to do. Yeah. Yeah, I’m a tell you— and I never told this story before, but I’ll tell you this story. I mean. My aunt, you know what I’m saying. She’s an opera singer, you know what I’m saying. You know, singing runs in my family. I’m, gonna share this with you because I f*** with you. You know we shared a lot together, we cool… Right, my aunt. She had this little opera thing. And I had a segment—I wish I had a segment, but I had an opportunity to sing before she sang. So I sang in front of— I think it was about 200-300 people, but it was just the fact that I did that as a little kid. Seeing the lights. I was like: “Yo this is me.”
ML: “And is that, you know, like the pivotal moment—”
FD: “It sparked. It’s something. It’s like you know that first high you get and you chase it every time. It never gets old, man. It never gets old. I still get butterflies even till this day. Every time.”
ML: “It’s like a rush.”
FD: “Yeah it’s the rush, man.”
And then, we left them alone.
Unfortunately, Wale didn’t have enough time to be interviewed, but the Hill News would like to wish him a happy 35th birthday!