Runaway, Ruthless, Heartbreak...Never Working. Casino pens his pain.
It is rare to hear male rappers express what they deal with emotionally. T-Pain showed us something new. Drake came and showed us what its like when men open their heart and let us in. Lil Uzi Vert carried the trend. However, today we have Casino who shares with us a candid look at his life through the lens of his music. The up coming rapper is quite candid about his experiences and how he copes.
Fe: Tell us about yourself and where you are from?
Casino: My name is Dylan and I’m originally from New Orleans, Louisiana. When I was 4, I moved to Columbus, Ohio which is where I am right now. I started making music about 2 years ago. At first, I was not consistent with it. I would just make a song and put it out. Recently, I started to take my music more seriously and I dropped my first project about a month ago.
Fe: What is the name of that project?
Casino: “Don’t Look Back”
Fe: "Don’t Look Back", which features the songs 'Heartbreak’ and ‘Ruthless’. Tell us about the project.
Casino: The project, for me, is about how I cope with pain. Taking drugs to try to cope with the pain that I deal with in real life. I wrote that in a song and hope people can relate to it a little bit.
Fe: Absolutely, you want the songs to connect with the listeners. Talk to us about those songs“ Heartbreak “ and “ Ruthless“.
Casino: “Heartbreak” is a song I made about a girl that I used to date and I told the story within the song, you know how love goes. Then “Ruthless” is a collaboration that I did with one of my guys. We went to the studio and went over our verses. We talk about how hard life gets at times and how even your closest friends can see you with envy, with jealousy when they see you winning.
Fe: Mhm That's a fact! People go through a lot without people knowing but based on what they see it brings out the worst in people at times.
Casino: Yeah
Fe: You just mentioned you and your boy hitting the studio. Tell us a little bit about your creative process and what your music means to you.
Casino: Music means a lot to me. what motivates me is first my family. My mother motivates me to do music. But when I am in the studio, it’s all freestyle. I will sit down and I’ll think about a hook or a verse that I can put into a song. They are mostly freestyles.
Fe: Do you feel that you write what you’re thinking at that moment or just recording in the studio and kind of going with the flow?
Casino: It’s easier for me to just get in the booth and go with the flow.
Fe: Okay cool. Interestingly, you said that because I find that most freestyle rappers are not that good at sticking to certain concepts in terms of taking it and making it into an actual song. They talk about a bunch of different stuff, which is cool, but at the same time listening to your song “Heartbreak”. It seems to be precise and tells a story regarding your love life. So it's cool to hear you say that you just get in the booth and freestyle and come up with a dope concept for the song, of stick to the topic, not mumble and stay on beat! Is it easy for you to stay on topic or do you kind of like go with the flow and then edit it down so it goes with that cohesive story?
Casino: Yes. I don’t know about other people but for me, it’s very easy to think about a topic and go to the booth. Hear the beat and just stay on track.
Fe: Kudos to you! A few artist that have told me don't ask them to freestyle before an interview. So I respect it, you on a different level. what is your favorite track on the project?
Casino: Out of all the songs I've done, “Heartbreak” is one of my favorite songs. I released that song last year and added it to the project but my favorite song on the project would be the track “Runaway”.
Fe: Why is that your favorite song?
Casino: In that song specifically, I am talking about all different things. Different things help me cope with pain and I know that a lot of different people can relate to that.
Fe: You mentioned drug usage and coping with pain. Speak about that like how challenging it is...
Casino: It can be very challenging because a lot of people nowadays are overdosing and taking drugs. Obviously, if you take too many drugs you can eventually OD. That just the way it is. I try many times and try my best to stay away from it but it's not easy at all, things just happen.
Fe: Do you find that it helps you or it hurts you?
Casino: At times, I would say that it can be both. At times it can help me while other times I'm like, why am I doing this? You know.
Fe: DMX recently passed away and we know of the struggle he had with drug use. Have you taken anything from his life and legacy to motivate you?
Casino: First off I wanna say R.I.P. to DMX. He was a huge influence on me in my younger days. But I feel like this should tell you that drugs aren’t something to play with.
Fe: Do you have any other self-care practices Or are you solely dependent on that?
Casino: I try and meditate but when meditation doesn’t work, I turn to drugs.
Fe: I understand. I meditate too. Self-care very important. There are lots of different outlets that people can use to cope. When it comes to my self-care journey I try to remain grounded and stay true to myself, you know my principles, my morals, and values the things I believe to be important in life. Right now especially with COVID-19, We are forced to take into account our self-care methods and truly think about if we have been truly taking care of ourselves.
Casino: Yeah, I agree with that
Fe: Casino, You rap and sing, I will say this... I like your music!! You are very expressive and I think it's dope for men to express themselves. T-pain and Drake are 2 artists I believe came in and changed the game with that approach. Which artist if any, would you say influences your style?
Casino: A lot of people say that I sound like juice wrld (rip juice) and I like that compliment from them but I feel like I have my flow and my sound on my songs. But juice wrld and lil tjay are some artists that I would say influence my style.
Fe: I can see that but I have to agree with you. You have your lane unique to you! Anything else that we can look forward to and expect from you as an artist.
Casino: I am working on dropping a music video for “Heartbreak” and I dropping more singles.
DROPPED THIS WEEK
Fe: How can we follow you and support your music?
Casino: I’m on Apple Music, Spotify, Youtube, and just everywhere. Just look up Casino and you will find me.
Artist Connect
Instagram: @CASINOOOL.O.R
Indie Flex Music Contributor
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Fe Nelson
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Musician, Producer & Songwriter.
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