“Excuse me, do y’all know where can we find some bud?”
Living up to his hippy persona, it’s the first thing Dizzy Wright politely asks as he trots into Toronto’s The Hoxton for sound check, an entourage following his every step. After all, the show is a few hours away and he likely needs the right motivational transcendence.
The Las Vegas raised emcee has a concrete collection of mixtapes and EPs under his belt, but joining Hopsin’s independent label Funk Volume in 2011 helped etch the path for the release of his first album SmokeOut Conversations in 2012, and with a solid body of work and a loyal following Dizzy graced XXL’s Freshman Class List in 2013.
On his sophomore release, The Growing Process, aside from featuring artists off the Funk Volume label, Dizzy recruits a few more special guests including Mod Sun, Tech 9ine, Big K.R.I.T and members of Bone Thugs-n-Harmony Krayzie Bone and Layzie Bone, the latter of which is Dizzy’s uncle.
Because of his family ties, Dizzy was bound to be subject to comparison as he began to gain momentum, but before he could even become a candidate for comparison, he had to make it out of Las Vegas.
“The good thing is I made it out, the bad thing is it wasn’t easy,” says Dizzy over the telephone, a few weeks after his Toronto show. “We just did a lot of shows around the city and created a nice buzz for what I had going on. It created a lot of tension in the city so it was time to expand. From there I met Funk Volume and we just made it happen.”
Funk Volume is where Dizzy is at home; he says that working with his camp is always a good time. “We just kind of mesh pretty well.”
If I present a beat and he’s feeling it he’s going to be writing to it in seconds. Within 25 minutes he’s ready to hit the booth. – DJ Hoppa
Prime examples of this is on The Growing Process include “Explain Myself” where Wright invites his Funk fam Hopsin, SwizZz and Jarren Benton to share their afflictions and “No Time is Better”, where label mate DJ Hoppa produces a soulful beat for Dizzy to spit about one of his key life philosophies.
Hoppa, who joined Dizzy on his North American tour, is a frequent contributor to the rapper’s sound. Studio sessions pass like playtime as their two vibes blend harmoniously on track after track.
“Oh my God it’s a great time,” DJ Hoppa shares. “Dizzy and I work fast so within an hour we could already have a hook down on a beat that got made within that hour … If I present a beat and he’s feeling it he’s going to be writing to it in seconds. Within 25 minutes he’s ready to hit the booth.”
Under the spell of inspiration Dizzy rolled out 16 joints for The Growing Process that oscillate between turn up and smoking anthems to conscious limericks that have fans rolling in by the dozen to see his concert during the first Canadian stop on the tour.
Dizzy pounces on stage in front of a fanatical crowd garbed in The Growing Process gear, bubbling beers in hand.
Tracks like “Good Vibes”, “Smoke You Out”, “Floyd Money Mayweather” and “No Time is Better” ignite waves of jumping fans and, more often than not, Dizzy can be seen sailing across raised palms – crowd surfing in full effect.
“God Bless America”, “Train Your Mind”, “False Reality” and “Higher Learning” are just a handful of the tunes that get a little deeper, having the mob bobbing their heads and digesting each track.
I think education is the beginning to the structure in life. I think that we have to go back to the roots of just making sure our kids are knowledgeable. – Dizzy Wright
“Higher Learning”, for example, intros and sets the tone for the entire album, speaking to the importance of education.
“I think kids nowadays are just easily misguided … because of that kids just want to get out of high school and start a clothing line or become a professional skater or a rapper. I think education is the beginning to the structure in life. I think that we have to go back to the roots of just making sure our kids are knowledgeable.”
The Growing Process conveys themes like exuding confidence (“Floyd Money Mayweather”), living in the moment (“No Time is Better”) and the importance of family (“Daddy Daughter Relationship”). One theme that remains constant is maturity, thus the album’s title.
“It’s good to put those outlooks and energies into the world and [see] the response,” says Dizzy. “I love to sit back and kind of watch it all happen because it shows you that I’m actually up on the game with what I got going on.”
All Photos Courtesy Of. Funk Volume
Comments are closed.