DUSTY LOCANE wasn’t born with a deep ass voice. However, the Canarsie rep was born to win. DUSTY’s rise to the ranks of mainstream notoriety has been quick in comparison to his rap contemporaries. While much of his success as an artist is credited to a viral TikTok moment, the drill rapper has never allowed what’s happening around him to influence his decision-making. For the most part, he hasn’t struggled with adjusting to the limelight beyond battling the constant Pop Smoke comparisons. And yet, DUSTY remains unmoved by the opinions of others because he has nothing to prove: he’s rolling and in control. 

Growing up, DUSTY was raised in a good home. He wasn’t subjected to the harsh realities of living in the hood, but he was exposed to the elements. The days of his youth were filled with “trench work” after basketball didn’t go as planned, subsequently resulting in a series of wrong turns that would lead to his incarceration. “Things took a turn for the worst and went back to take a turn for the best,” he shares. 

Through music, DUSTY has flourished during Brooklyn’s reign over drill. His didactic flow can be cited as a point of reference for how to survive amongst vultures. His words, marked by technical precision, are warning signs at best, offering insight on hood politics to anyone that cares to listen. “You can’t allow yourself to be vulnerable because you have something called vultures and they always lurking,” says the 21-year-old rapper. A blunt, but necessary truth. 

With UNTAMED, DUSTY LOCANE has arrived. His debut project spans 20 songs in total and covers a myriad of topics that include lifestyle, gang culture, and unruly emotions. A knack for rhyming safeguards his ability to process trauma, relinquishing the idea of being controlled. And through it all, DUSTY finds relief in real support – the genuine kind. 

How important is personality in today’s rap landscape?

I would say it’s 75%. Music is one thing, don’t get me wrong. It don’t really matter who you are, if the music is sturdy, it’s sturdy. But when it comes to being an actual person, it brings a whole dynamic to it where it’s like now you gon’ know what they talking about and get to see who they really are. That has always been the thing: is what he talking about true, does he live up to this, has he been in this environment, does he know the things that he’s talking about. I think a lot of people get caught up in trying to prove themselves. Me, I’ve never allowed that to sway me because I don’t have anything to prove. I already knew what life had in store for me and how everything can switch and do a whole 360. Now, I’m looking at some shit that I didn’t even know was possible (laughs). For the most part, personality is almost everything. If you don’t have any personality in this shit you ain’t gon’ last. 

What’s the best advice you have for someone who struggles with being their true self? 

I use certain tactics that help me. I can’t say I’ve experienced that firsthand, but there’s times where I’ve been nervous. I always overcome it with my passion and drive for this music shit. It’s just about trying not to allow what everybody around you thinks influence you. You can’t get everybody on this fucking earth to like you. I’ma be real with you, bro, when you really sit back and look at it, you gotta realize that somebody likes you for what you’re doing. As long as I’m myself in these moments, whoever does like me, hats off to you. If you don’t (like me), fuck you, and that’s it. I’m not gon’ sugarcoat it. We can shake hands, but if you don’t like me then it’s high and bye. Don’t kiss ass to try and make yourself seem more valuable to have around. Show your work and allow it to speak for itself. People will gravitate towards you naturally because it’s not forced. That’s how I’ve always looked at it. Being yourself is the biggest key. No matter if who you are doesn’t appeal to everybody, you still have to be that person. I’ll tell you this, a nigga can tell you he don’t fuck with someone, but if he’s being himself, you gotta respect it. If you’re being honest with who you are, they have to respect it.

You have a distinct cadence with your music. Have you always carried this gruff undertone? 

I don’t think anybody was a little kid with a deep ass voice (laughs). It was a progression. I’ve always realized that I have the capability to project my voice because I’ve always wanted to be heard. I didn’t want to be left out. Not having the ability to not only speak what I feel, but to express myself, too. Majority of the time, when you’re in the hood, you can’t show no feelings. You can’t allow yourself to be vulnerable because you have something called vultures and they always lurking. They ready to pray on whatever they can, any scraps or whatever. How I look at it is, right now, for me, I’m in a position where it’s easy for people to think they’re gonna get something outta this. I gotta make sure that what I’m doing is not confused with allowing people to walk over me. I already knew I had something big to do and that my voice would play a role in it.

Take me to the moment when you discovered that you couldn’t be tamed.

It stems from how you were raised. I grew up in a good household to the point where I didn’t have to fend for myself like how a bunch of younger kids growing up in the hood had to. I was exposed to the elements. Going to public school, I’m right in the hood. After school, we smoking, doing dumb shit. Basketball is what kept me away but once that went down, it was back to the drawing board: trenches, trench work. Once my people started disagreeing with each other, that’s where it started in the sense that I wanted to  do something, they wanted me to do something else and I couldn’t figure it out but I knew I had to make a choice for me. When I did, I took a wrong turn and started getting incarcerated. Things took a turn for the worst and went back to take a turn for the best. Through it all, I’m untamed because even when I felt as if I had lost control, I was still in control. Every choice I had made up and until the time of being incarcerated and coming back home, it was my choice. Nobody else put anything in my brain to make me not think for myself. I made it to where I’m self-made and really mean it. I’m always open to what makes sense, but if I have a vision I’ma make sure I follow through with it. 

Your music is a healthy balance of gang culture, lifestyle, and Brooklyn drill. How do you make such menacing mentions without disclosing too much information?

For one, it’s experiences, so that’s just me speaking on what I’ve been through and what’s happened around me. Art is a form of expression, and this is me tryna express myself because the other way I was expressing myself put me in sticky situations. This was a turn in the right direction. My mother will say it, too. This is something more productive. It’s about how to use the music. I’m not telling you to go outside and do these things, I’m telling you to be aware of these things. It’s not something where you can just wake up one morning and say, “Yeah, I wanna gangbang,” and not understand the repercussions. You go outside with that pole, it’s not only the opps looking for you, the boys looking for you. It’s so many different things that play into it but you can’t sugarcoat it. You play disrespect, get put on your neck. You do anything that’s not less than correct, you get hit with the tech. That’s the train of thought that we had but I grew out of it. Now, I’m about motivating and uplifting my niggas. You gon’ see a change in the music. We still gon’ keep it treacherous, but with more of a meaning. 

The debut album is typically an artist’s most important undertaking. How does it feel to finally reach this milestone in your career? 

I’ma always say this, it’s humbling for me. I sit back and think to myself, how many people thought that I’d be doing this two years ago. How many people thought that I’d make it this far. It makes me realize that I gotta keep pushing. When I wanna sit here and think about this album, the time I’m sitting here thinking about it, the feedback and everything, I’m more so putting my energy into what I feel like is being greedy. I made it past 21 where a lot of niggas from my hood can’t say because they incarcerated or six feet. My dogs will be the first ones to tell me I’ve shown people a different way to go about it. I changed the game. Especially with the distribution approach as opposed to a 360, and I’m doing it at such a quick pace. Now, I’ve reached the point where I have a full body of work. We got way more work to be done, though. Don’t let this shit fool you. As soon as you can get it is as quick as you can lose it. Don’t get caught up in the idea of forever. UNTAMED, you gon’ do numbers, we know this, but how can I take it a step further. I appreciate this milestone. I appreciate EMPIRE for sticking by me. I appreciate the gang, family, friends, everybody. That’s what it’s about for me, appreciate those that stuck around through the tough times. 

Do you feel like you’ve already won? 

Shit, yeah. I’d say born winners. In my opinion, certain things in life are predetermined, whether you like it or not. You make the final decision, but really, it’s predetermined to the point where I was meant to do this I just didn’t know. Coming from where I come from, it’s a win, but there’s a lot more to do because I don’t want it to be just me. It’s a win but a lot of niggas are still losing in the hood. I want to help them (the ones that want the help) as much as I can. A lot of people fail to realize that you can’t take everybody with you. Whether it be envy, or someone caught in their ways (you can’t teach an old dog new tricks), but it’s like that. When you think about the trenches, you think about older niggas tryna impose their will on the younger ones. Nowadays, niggas ain’t having that. I try to encourage the younger ones from my hood to keep pushing, keep hitting milestones and setting goals for themselves, short and long term, so that you know where you’re heading to. You gotta have a little sense of direction. We born winners, but I still got a lot of niggas taking L’s in the hood so we still working. 

Do you care for your music to outlive the Pop Smoke comparisons? You’re clearly forging your own path in the industry but that reference is lingering on your career. 

I wouldn’t say that I care. The only part that irritates me is that I’m heavy on letting the dead rest in peace. If it’s not something positive, then leave it alone. This generation is so stuck on the internet and sharing their opinion that may or may not matter. I had to learn. I adapted to the point where I don’t pay it no mind. I know who I am, so it shouldn’t have any affect on me. It never will. All I can really say about it is that I’m grateful for him doing what he did.

And you’re an inspiration to someone that you don’t even know. 

It’s crazy that you said that. I just had a photographer hit me up, he had maybe 200 followers or so. He said something like, “I just wanna hit you up and let you know that I’ve been doing photography for a while now and I was ready to give up but you inspired me to keep going. Whether you see this message or not, I just want you to know that I’ll never stop supporting.” I’ma definitely hit him back because he said he wanna take some photos, I’ma post ‘em up and all that. It’s just another humbling situation, letting me know I mean more than I can ever imagine to people that I’ve never met before. I can’t take that for granted. 

What is the criteria for being a DUSTY LOCANE fan? Your core listeners are consistent for what’s considered a growing fan base.

Just show love. With my fans, the ones that really fuck with me, it’s genuine support. I’m talking about people that I’ve never reposted, responded to their message, I may have never done any of that, but regardless of those things they still support me. Consistently defending me, without me saying a word. I rarely respond to anything on social media, so when I see them do it for me, I know it’s real. Being a fan is real support, the genuine kind.