On Friday April 29th, at the BlackMarketWares HQ in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, I had the pleasure of speaking with two talented up and coming artists: rapper, Riz Allah and producer/rapper, Dre Dollasz. They represent the talented Brooklyn collective, Mogul Club. Riz, Dre and I engaged in an in-depth conversation where we spoke about their current sound, what they see for themselves in the future and how they plan to positively affect their community.
Riz Allah is a 20-year-old Bedford-Stuyvesant native. He was around the Mogul club as just a family member of the team until he started taking music seriously around 2013. He feels like this year, he’s really showing his peers and fans what he’s capable of musically. The name Riz Allah derives from his first name Tyriz and he calls himself Allah because of his own sense of spirituality. He doesn’t practice any specific faith but he does believe in the laws of attraction and speaking things into existence. In his words, “Whatever you name yourself is what you become. I wanted my name to be something godly because that’s what I want to be in this culture.” He also pointed out that 5 % ideology is embedded in hip-hop culture and that influenced him as well.
The standout track of Riz’s catalog is titled “The God Bounce,” an up-tempo street single that speaks on the new way of hustling for underprivileged young adults in New York City. “Scamming” is the new crack trade and in “The God Bounce” Riz gives us a tutorial of this new street business. Riz stated that the reason he begins the song saying, “This is for the trap queens purses full of percocets/All them divas that be slamming/And they know to work a check,” is because he’s saying this track is for the few that understand the lingo of this underworld trade. For example, in one line he states, “B**** you ain’t that bad if you can’t go and line a Chevy.“ Riz explained this line by stating, “A Chevy is slang for chase the bank, so when you say lining up a Chevy, it means persuading somebody to give up their bank card.” He went on to say, “So it’s like me telling a girl who’s trying to stunt on me, you’re not that bad if you can’t convince a guy to give up their card.”
There was another noteworthy line in “The God Bounce,” of which Riz was happy to explain more in-depth. In the second verse Riz rapped, “Ain’t a f***in hipster, I don’t rock no vans.” Riz stated that on this record he spoke from the street/hustler perspective, where the accepted form of dress is classic timberlands and all white air force ones. Vans and skinny jeans are considered weirdo attire if you ask the majority of the individuals that live that lifestyle. He made sure to clarify that he had nothing against people who purchase vans and even joked about the fact that he does like a few pairs but could never wear them now after that line.
Riz’s sound will be boxed into the trap music lane. With Riz being a New York native, it was necessary that I asked how he feels about others that will criticize the fact that he lacks a traditional New York sound? Riz’s response was, “That s*** is corny, and that’s what holding New York back because they’re trying to make us sound like something that doesn’t really exist. I don’t know what it is and we haven’t known for at least ten years.” He also said that with him being born in 1995, his biggest influences have not been from New York. Despite that harsh criticism, Riz still stated that he is big on lyricism and new rappers need to step their bars up.
Riz is currently in college set to graduate in May with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration. He calls it the “hood n***a” major. He stated that Jay-z and other rappers from humble beginnings making major business moves inspired the hood. In regards to business ventures he wants to pursue in the future, he has several ideas. He would love to get into the fashion industry as perhaps a consultant. He also wants to make his own cartoon and wants to be more involved with community organization, BlackMarketWares. Overall, Riz has plans to give back to the hood. He stated “We definitely need more art programs. We definitely need more sports tournaments and teams.”
The question regarding gentrification in Brooklyn elicited a very passionate response from both Dre and Riz. Dre, himself, has been affected by gentrification. He stated that he lived in Crown Heights for most of his life but was forced to move elsewhere due to the changes in his area, as well as because of the decimation of the section 8 program. In regards to the changes that occurred he stated, “The most prominent thing is that the jewish community wanted control of that whole block, because besides my building it was nothing but town homes on the block owned by jewish people.” He stated that after section 8 was decimated and his mother had to pay an increase that they didn’t have, it just wasn’t financially possible for them to continue living there. Dre said he hasn’t felt at home since. That’s why his goal is to one day help to consolidate black funds and buy back our neighborhoods. He stated, “If we owned these places, this wouldn’t happen.” Riz on the other hand stated that when us as black people were in those spaces, such as Bedford-Stuyvesant and Crown Heights, we weren’t appreciative of it. Brooklyn is full of culture and everyone is starting to see the beauty in it but we as a people never did.
Riz Allah is continuously growing as an artist. What makes him stand out is his natural confidence, his lyrical ability to report on his surroundings, and his seemingly innate musicality. Riz and Dre are young, humble, and creative: a dangerous trifecta.
Riz Allah is not working on any specific project currently but is always dropping new music. Be on the lookout.
http://https://soundcloud.com/riz-allah
Instagram: Riz.allah
http://https://soundcloud.com/dre-dollasz
Instagram: dredollasz
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