The Frederick, Maryland MC aims to make more of an impact with his music this year.
For years, the DMV (DC-Maryland-Virginia) area has produced some of the underground’s most promising lyricists. Still, there are more steps to take if the artists from these individual regions want to elevate further, and to stand out in a more consistently dominant way.
Demetrius is an independent artist whose dedication to the craft of lyricism is highly evident in his abilities to flow over any instrumental placed in front of him. Also, he’s a poet at heart. His discography so far has consisted of high quality loosies and the occasional 2-pack of tracks. Even dropping a 4-pack of songs called “Before We Lose The Summer” in August of last year. With each release being of a higher quality than the last, listeners can only sense the potential of a full-length project somewhere in the near future.
Until then, it looks like this year will include some more new singles. Today, Demetrius releases “Ridaz”, a song that acts as a message to those grinding on their own and getting it out the mud. On the hook, he raps “Lone nights through the storm tryna chase a dollar. Turmoil on that road, gotta keep it solid. State to state, coast to coast, running up that mileage. Where the fuck my ridaz?” Throughout the song, he addresses the isolation and uncertainty one may feel while on the road to reaching their goals.
One of the most compelling attributes about Demetrius is that his style is so unique, considering the influential overflow of whatever is popular in rap at the time, especially regionally. He never strays away from what he knows he does the best – blocking the noise out and perfecting his craft. Through it all, Demetrius aims to use his artistry to bring hope and happiness to his family and friends first.
In this short but insightful interview, Demetrius opens up about the inspiration behind this new song, how he turned a writing blog into bars over beats, his current views on the landscape in Frederick, Maryland, and more.
1. What inspired this new record?
D: “I heard a lot of music that makes grinding it out seem either fun or tough, and sometimes having to get it by yourself is scary, lonely, and depressing. Everyone ain’t for it like they may think. So this was just to all my people hustling on their own, no backing, and on the verge of failing and holding it together. Like “Keep going, we ain’t them other folks there. They’re the quitters!”
2. Who are some names that you grew up listening to heavily? Who or what inspired you to start making music?
D: “Honestly, [during my] early childhood I heard a lot of songs without the names. My brother is 8 years older than me, so for a long time I just listened to whatever he played in the car…whatever was in his CD…whatever was on his iPod, etc. He listened to a lot of Kiss, 50, and Wayne, but also a lot of R&B. So really anything gangsta and anything smooth. // [The] first rapper that I started paying attention to on my own was Wale. ‘More About Nothing’ is what made me start writing poetry in the 6th grade, before rap was even cool to me. [Back] then, every now and then a new rapper would influence how I saw my own writing style, like Chance [The Rapper] and [Isaiah] Rashad. I listened to a lot of artists throughout the years. I’ve only become closed off to certain styles as I started rapping because I hear music differently. // I started rapping because 2 of my mans were going to the same studio, and I would tag along. It was my guy Zay that kinda suggested I should start, since we used to freestyle at lunch in high school. I had to stop playing basketball in college cause I won’t going to class…so why not? I was still writing poetry on WordPress about similar things, and people liked it, so all I had to do was to learn to rhyme it, and stay on beat. I just never thought I would have to take it seriously, at all. That was about 2017-2018. I would do a song for weeks then trash it because it wasn’t quite polished yet. I would do that same cycle again and again until “Trigger” which I put out in 2020 during COVID. My studio is in WV (West Virginia) so their lockdown was loose enough for me to record.“
3. What drives you the most on your journey?
D: “My family. Whether it’s my daughter that I want to be an example of what a [good] man is. My fiancé, that I want to keep spoiling and eventually want to retire at an early age. My extended family that always deals with hardships, just giving them some hope and something to smile about. If all I have to do is talk over a song and stay out of trouble, it’s the very least I can do.”
4. What are some of your goals for this year?
D: “Making it hard to ignore me. This is my 4th year being active but I haven’t shown any consistency yet to be able to make demands from the audience or to really drive some growth. I know that needs to change in order for me to create change and branch out of my city. This year, y’all getting a lot more releases from me – quality releases.”
5. Can listeners expect to hear this new track anywhere live soon (any upcoming performances)?
D: “Frederick is a bad market for rap shows, so they come and go for me. That’s where the branching out comes in. It’s going to all come together though. I plan to hit Baltimore, D.C., Richmond, Philly and maybe even go down to Virginia Beach before the year is up.”
Stream Demetrius‘ new single, here. You can also hear more about the artist on this episode of the “Could Be Better Podcast.”