DICAP

Ask DICAP what his first love is and he’ll tell you it’s performing live on stage. “Every artist eventually has to showcase their art; therefore the stage is my art gallery.” According to DICAP there is just something about performing a song that has had him hooked ever since he first stepped on stage during his sophomore year in high school. The foundation is laid when he writes the song; the rest is built when the studio session has ended, but once the song reaches the stage that is when it truly takes on a life of its own. “Instead of worrying about how something might sound, I worry about how it is going to be said on stage.” DICAP says this as if it is his motto. His experience is evident once you ask him who he has opened up for. He listed off about 20 or so different times he has opened up for different acts. Instead of name dropping all 20 I’ll share a few with you. DICAP has opened up for artists such as Common, EPMD, The Clipse, Little Brother, Camp Lo, Talib Kweli, Busta Rhymes, among others. Not only has he opened up for a many of artist but he has also performed in many different cities within the U.S. Cities such as Santa Monica, Atlanta, Cleveland, Brooklyn, D.C., Philadelphia, and Richmond are just to name a few. On July 30th 2010 DICAP performed on the same bill as Canibus in Norfolk, VA. Even though he is from Virginia Beach these two cities share the same market so DICAP still considers this his home field. The crowd that he brings out is an eclectic bunch of coolness that can’t be defined as Hip Hop, Rock, Hipster, Indie, or even as normal. DICAP simply refers to them as his peoples. They’re all just lovers of good live music and have found one of their favorites in DICAP. They realize he won’t be around the local scene forever so they’re enjoying it until he eventually ventures out and their forced to reluctantly share him with the world. DICAP is currently putting the finishing touches on his forthcoming album called The Great New Wonderful. As much as he talks about his live show, he kind of pushes the subject of his record to the back of the “what to talk about line.” He laughs when I remind him of that fact. He describes his album simply like this. “Some artists paint portraits and some just splash paint on a canvas. I am splashing paint on this record and it is up to the listener to decide what it is.” The album is not an abstract piece that some might be confused by, but rather it carries a feeling of something new meets the difference that we all miss even if we never knew it. After shopping this album around to some indie labels and receiving positive feedback, DICAP is gearing up to market the project properly, whether he has a labels backing or he decides it would be better to keep it truly independent. With the constant talk and evidence for the lack of record sales in this industry DICAP pushes forward knowing this isn’t necessarily a bad thing at least for what he has in mind. DICAP will tell anybody who asks, he doesn’t want to be number one on the billboard chart or have a top 10 radio single. DICAP is on a mission to get 10,000 fans and expand from there. I asked him how close he is to his goal, “about halfway.” He informed me that to get to a million you have to first get to 10,000. DICAP is gaining a loyal fan base that will not only follow him and buy his music, but spread the word and catch his shows as often as possible. “After you see the live show you’ll want a CD.” DICAP says this with the type of confidence that only those who are successful seem to share.