Get to Know Me: D. Holliday
/D. Holliday is making the transition from rock to hip hop, and he's totally made for it.
Up until now the Los Angeles-based musician and session drummer had spent most of his career playing in rock bands but recently made the leap to becoming a full-fledged solo rapper with the release of his new single "This Life," a celestially rhythmic track about self-motivation and doing what you love.
D. Holliday talked all about the song, where he finds his inspiration, and more in his questionnaire-style interview with Musical Notes Global. Check it out below.
For those of you who don't know me, I am D. Holliday, a musician and rapper from southern California. I live in West LA now and just make as much music as possible.
Here's the scoop on my debut single "This Life": "This Life" is the first track I released as part of a hip hop/rap project. I think I wrote this maybe a year ago. It's part melody, part straight t rapping. I wouldn't really call myself a singer so it was a little scary trying to be melodic but it came out okay, at least I think so! It's got a mix of emotions and intensity in it, which I think is a pretty decent reflection of how I feel in the music world. One day I'm enjoying the view, the next I'm not satisfied. I think it's a fun song to debut myself with. It's pretty simple, something most people can connect with I think. Not everything I make has this vibe though so I'm excited to keep putting out different sounds. Anyway, if you like it, great! If you don't, make sure to show it to everyone so they know who not to listen to. Definitely don't listen to D. Holliday on Spotify.
Listen to "This Life" via Spotify here.
To me, this track is a feel good song. I always think people should figure out what a song means to them, and I know what it meant to me while I was writing the lyrics. I've been playing and making music since I was in middle school. There have been a lot of ups and downs doing this, and it hasn't made me rich, but I've loved it all for the most part. For me, "This Life" is a reminder to enjoy the process and the people in my life even though I'm not a big time career musician yet. At the same time it's a reminder to myself that it takes work every single day for it to ever get to that point, and I'm hungry to see my childhood dreams become real regardless of how people feel about my choice to make music. Whether that's a rapper, songwriter, or drummer, because I truly am in love with the life I'm making for myself.
I hope listeners always take from any of my music whatever they want. I can tell you all day what my songs mean to me, but if that doesn't resonate with someone who hears it then fair enough. I'm not trying to be the hardest most lyrically complex rapper alive. I'm just making songs for me. I'm sure most people can relate to the feeling of being optimistically hungry to see their dreams come true, though.
I find my greatest inspiration in my struggle with depression, and finding the things that keep me happy. A lot of what I write about feels very introspective, figuring out who I am or how I see myself in the world around me. I've got happy songs and sad songs, but they usually still stem from either being way in the deep end, or pulling myself out of it.
An artist who has influenced my work is ... oh that's tough, I've pulled influence from so many artists and genres. My unreleased stuff is such a mix of styles haha, I pull from somewhere different every time I sit down to work on a song. I do really dig Mac Miller and how varied he is, and I'd love to do that too. Boom-bap beats, to really beautiful melody focused tracks. So if we're talking hip hop influence, that'd be my answer.
Something you may be surprised to know about me is I've been rapping and writing verse since I was a freshman in high school, but I kept it pretty much a secret because I was embarrassed. Only one of my friends was also in to hip hop and he was the only one who really knew I was playing around with writing my own.
This year I hope to get on as many stages as I can and link up with as many musicians and rappers as I can. That's what the bottom line idea of "This Life" is about!
For all of D. Holliday's latest news and updates, follow him on social media:
Instagram: @hollidayraps
Twitter: @Hollidayraps
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