A Day With Regal
Since the birth of Hip Hop, it has taken on a variety of landscapes ranging from coast to coast. While it’s lived and grown in a variety of homes such as New York’s lyrical boom bap to Los Angeles’s hard-hitting gangsta rap. Currently, Miami and Atlanta have taken the spotlight, with Dallas on the rise.
Dallas has found its way onto the scene with its speaker knockin' style drawing from other southern hip hop meccas such as Houston and Atlanta . Having one of the world’s most prominent stars, Post Malone, rep Dallas has also caused heads to turn towards the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. Artists stepped up and took advantage of the spotlight. Representing the hotbed of talent 4 Dallas artists were signed to the Def Jam label, one having created a viral dance: the woah, just this last year showing that the torch hip hop has lit is in good hands.
The Woah being done by it's founder 10k Cash and Lil Uzi Vert
Having been thrown into the mix of Dallas’s underground hip hop scene, I had the chance to follow around an up and coming rapper: Regal.
Our day included hanging at his friend's house where they spend time plotting, taking photos at a Bentley dealership and shopping at one of Dallas’s best kept secrets.
What I Learned
The influence of skateboarding is overlooked. From fashion to music, skateboarders constantly find themselves defining trends.
On a personal level, skateboarding becomes a creative outlet for skaters. Not only are they pushing themselves to land the most challenging tricks, but they are creating skate videos, spitting over beats and even creating their own clothes and styles
Although there is a sense of pride for artists claiming their cities, there’s an underlying tension between artists caused by lack of a supportive network. This causes most artists to hang tight to their own friends who help produce music, visuals and manage for them.
You don’t need to attract everyone. Going along with the consistent idea of having consistent support, all it takes is a dedicated underground for an artist to rise.
Barrier for entry to become an artist has lowered thanks to platforms like Soundcloud, but that just makes it more important for aspiring musicians to have a supporting cast that will help them from fading
Photos from the Day
Regal starts the day off at one of his friends house where he usually visits. As he takes music more seriously, almost any move he makes goes toward his budding career as a rapper
“I like doing subtle flex shit. That’s what it’s called. Being yourself but letting other people know about it. Feel like not everyone feels like they’re king of their world but I do.” - Regal
Smoke break with some of Regal's friends that included a budding videographer who's creating his own brand of clothing, another young rapper named Benzo and his manager who has produced a number of Regal's tracks. It was obvious the circle's kept tight when Benzo explicitly said "We don't mess with anyone that's not in our circle"
Human Dior, a clothing store selling vintage and rare street wear, has built up its success by building up a loyal clientele of street savvy locals. Starting from his bedroom at his mom's house, the founder now has a growing warehouse full of coveted stock in an isolated house in downtown Dallas.
Here is Regal's music