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Deniro Farrar's making moves
The Charlotte rapper's meteoric rise in the mixtape world is anything but typical
By Mike McCray
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Farrar explains: "It's always been shit I wanted to do and say on beats, I just didn't know how to do it. So, I discovered that these beats really bring out that pain" — he cranks up a few ominous beats to illustrate — "because of the samples that are being used — this real, dark, 'I pour my life out' shit.
"It's so powerful," he continues, "because the message I put in this music is real." The music he's playing for me vibrates against the walls of his Wesley Heights home. "I ain't glorifying no street life. I ain't glorifying growing up in the ghetto. I'm just shedding some light on it."
In "Prayer Before Suicide," the track that introduces Destiny, Farrar spits, "I know I'm living wrong, shit, I'm trying to make it right. Hoping that my mama don't relapse and go back to that white." A couple of lines later, he raps about his little brother making moves, but admits he's worried about him half of the time.
Starting out, Farrar went by his first name only while releasing singles online. However, the similarities to other Deniro-like names became a liability. His music got buried in Google searches under actor Robert Deniro, DJ Deniro and misspelled Spanish currency. So, Black Flag owner Luddy started adding Farrar's last name to the tracks. At first, the rapper didn't like it. "I said to myself, 'I wish he'd stop doing that shit.' People used to always pick on my name in school like, 'Oh, what's up Ferrari?'"
When Farrar searched for his full name soon thereafter, the results changed his tune. Instead of having to scroll through pages of results to find any mentions of himself, Farrar has found that references to his work now take up the first 60 pages.
Farrar says coming to see the world as bigger than just Charlotte has helped change his sound. Feel This had the sound of an album you'd sell out of the trunk of a car while Farrar focused on local recognition and trying to get his music on WorldStarHipHop.com. Destiny was a complete shift. As he sidelined the "money, hoes and clothes" raps in favor of getting more personal with his words, Farrar became more content with work.
Our discussion veers to YouTube, where Farrar unknowingly offers the best glimpse into who he is and what influences his music. After watching some Charles Manson interview clips, Farrar says, "Let me show you something real." He slides up to his keyboard, and we watch a few interviews with Texas rapper Pimp C shortly before his death. The rapper is talking about how to shake up the music industry, suggesting unions.
Farrar admires the intelligence behind Pimp C's Southern drawl — intelligence born out of street knowledge. Farrar also seems to admire Manson's demeanor and self-control as the notorious mass murderer weathers Geraldo Rivera's face-to-face questions. Farrar points out that Rivera's tough talk in the interview was only because the TV reporter had a roomful of cops and security with him.
Being smart is a double-edged sword, Farrar says. People who are too smart, the rapper says, attempt to rise above their circumstances and get taken out by a society unwilling to change.
These days, some might see Farrar as one of the smart ones. In just two projects, he's managed to find his voice while many of his peers and influences needed a decade's worth of material to scratch the surface of an identity. It all comes back to his childhood aspirations.
"I always knew I wanted to be a somebody," Farrar says. "I figured out rap is for me and this is going to be my ticket out of the situation."
He is laser-focused on blowing up, excited by the idea of getting airplay in different countries and eventually doing shows abroad. But what point is Deniro Farrar trying to prove?
He suggests the point is to grow and change without giving up one's identity. "This [new] music I'm making, I don't feel like I'm on a local level at all," Farrar says. "A lot of people I grew up with, I cut loose because they're still doing the same shit. But people that progressed in life and wanted to do something different, I still fuck with. Change is hard work. They worked hard to change just like I did, but they ain't forget where they came from. They know they came from a certain situation and they rose above it, and that's what I'm doing. You gotta be yourself. That's what makes the legend in music."
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