October 9, 2025 • 32 mins
Honey sits down with Dariel Amant, the Dominican artist from Jersey who doesn’t just sing about love, he is LOVE. His name, meaning “lover” in French, feels like destiny fulfilled with every note. From the soulful vibes of “Flores” to the genre-blending magic of his Cuatro Rosas EP, Dariel is redefining what it means to be a bilingual romantic in today’s music scene. He’s taken Afro-beats, R&B, and Latin rhythms and made them his own, building bridges between cultures while capturing hearts across the globe.
In this candid conversation, Dariel opens up about growing up in a Dominican household, the tragic work accident that became the turning point in his life, and how it inspired him to chase music full-time. He also shares what’s next from upcoming releases to how he plans to keep pushing his sound and his story forward.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Come Again, a podcast by Honey German. Welcome back to
another episode of Glaciers Come Again. Today. I am sitting
down with Dariel Almont. I love how you did that.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Talk to me, Talk to me, talk to me. Welcome.
How are you feeling today?
Speaker 2 (00:21):
I'm feeling good. I'm really excited. Thank you for having.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Me, Thank you for joining us. Dominicano, New Jersey.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
New Jersey. I was born in sa, New Jersey, raising Clifton,
moved to New York chasing a dream, and here we are, here,
we are.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
The dream is unfolding. Right. How do you feel about
everything that's happening right now?
Speaker 2 (00:39):
It's a lot to process. Man, It's a lot of
things are coming my way. And it's all the things
that I asked for, all the things that I hope for.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Did you pray for them?
Speaker 2 (00:47):
I pray for them.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Okay, you know you gotta be a man of God
to be sitting here with me. I'm just playing with you.
Mommy and Pappy Dominicans.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Yes as well. They are born in La Vega. Okay,
I came here, Yeah, yeah, I came here at a
young age. I want to say my dad was around
twenty five. Is came here, had my sister didn't have me.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
And here we are.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Here, we are.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Man, How connected do you still do you feel to
your Dominican side, being that you were born in America.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
It's conflicting, It really is conflicting. You know, you spend
a lot of me. I've spent a lot of time
away from the island. Okay, most of my family that
I'm cool with is here, and they're my connection to
me being you know, yeah, exactly, when I visit, it's nice.
But when you when you spend so much time away
(01:46):
from it, you know, it can kind of, you know,
you kind of lose the balance sometimes you don't want
to be. When you work in the corporate America, you
kind of lose that feel. You know, none of these
jobs feel like home. A lot of these cities don't
feel like home.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
You feel like you get a little whitewashed because you
have to do the code switching a little bit because
you mentioned corporate American. And I understand, because I have
all my voices. I have my white voice, I have
my crazy Dominiicana voice, I have my urban voices. I
understand where you come from.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
It is hard. Well, I won't say white wash, because
at the end of the day, you know, I'm me,
but the whole pretending and cold, you know, it takes
a toll on you.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
I'm oh, it definitely does. You gotta wait when I
call my insurance company. It's like I have to like
decide I'm a whole different person right now. Geico. You
know what I'm saying. It is It's hard, but it's
something that we do have to do, you know, as
Latinos and as second generation Latinos. Just like at home,
I'm sure your house is wild Dominican with two parents
that came here as adults, I can only imagine you
(02:53):
still exist in a very Dominican environment. But once we
step out of our homes, we kind of have to
switch around.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Yeah, but it's the things that I grew up with
that really pulled me in, you know. Like my dad
was a DJ. Yeah, Yeah, I listened to a lot
a lot of music growing up.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
DJ was here.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
He was a DJ back there, and he would DJ here.
It was more of like a it was like a
hobby passion. He did a lot of things.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
He would DJ at home. He would jail drive you
crazy with the music.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
No, I loved it.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
You did.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
I loved it.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
I feel like a lot of kids when they're little,
they don't want the music that their parents play, and
later on then we grow to love it.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Iron like you would think it was that. Like I
have a lot of friends that like for some reason,
like they don't like to listen to like my child
or whatever, because they're like always one of my parents
that turns off. And like, like I used to love this,
Like when I go I'll go home, and my dad
had some CDs. He left them behind, so like he
left from behind when he moved. When I go back
(03:50):
to my mom's house, I grab some CDs and playing
and I just feel like I'm in, you know, I'm
in my dad's likesus from back in the day. Like
I feel like a kid again, you know what I mean.
And those songs really resonate with me now as an adult.
Back then, I ain't know, like I just like Disham.
It's like the sounds like the lyrics back then. We're
really hard hitting and really meaningful, I think, and.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
You always understood them maybe maybe you know, because music
is it's a frequency, you know, Like I cried the
songs when I was like ten, I look back on it.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
I didn't go through I didn't gone through anything yet.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
What heartbreak had you gone through?
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Right? That's what I'm saying. So it's like I guess maybe,
like inside I understood him. And then when I got older,
some of the words really started.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
To resonate with you. You know, they start to connect high school,
all done college? What did you do?
Speaker 2 (04:42):
High school? I finished?
Speaker 1 (04:45):
I don't know, hold you are because like maybe it's no.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
No, thank you, twenty eight. I'm twenty eight. High school?
I finished college. I did one year and went in
like a semester and coming my dad. You know, hm,
the Caribbean parents immigrants story, they want They wanted me
(05:09):
to be like a doctor engineering, Like yeah, I'm gonna
go for civil engineering on my yeah because like music artists,
you know, we didn't bring here for that, Like they
didn't even finish high school. So then they brought me
here and they're like, oh, yeah, we definitely we're gonna.
I'm gonna have my kids finished school college. But I wasn't.
(05:29):
I wasn't feeling it, man, like I did. I did
a year of engineering, and I was like I hate this.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
You hated going or you hated the classes, what aspect
of it just too.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Because I was going to nothing wrong with community college.
I was going to community college and Patterson grade school,
grade school, grade school. But you're not even getting the
college experience. You know, the college experience, and you go
to little parties and you got your little friends. Community
college as far as like in Patterson, I'm not shorts
(06:02):
what it would be if I went to like I
don't know, like Montclair or like some like big school.
So there, you know, I didn't really have motivation to
go because of that. It's one two. I hated the classes.
Like everything I was learning, I was like and I
was really immature too, So like I'm like.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
Because you're like, what like eighteen years old, I'm.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
Looking back when I was really immature about it. I'm like,
I don't want to do this, Like I want to
go home and make music.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
And that's listen. I don't think it was in school.
I don't think it was a class. I think it's
just you wanted to go home and make music.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
It's your passion.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
You already know what you're built for. So of course
you're like, why am I here? When did you discover music?
Like when did you like I'm gonna be an artist
because you're we're talking college and you already had it
in the back of your mind.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
Hmmm. I think eighth grade around that time.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
That's a that's a baby, like.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Maybe twelve thirteen. I was like, yeah, I want to
do music you recorded. But that's why I decided I
wanted to be an artist. Before that, I was doing
like little webcam rapping videos on the family computer. I
loved it. I remember my dad found that. I was
like embarrassed, and but yeah, I think around eighth grade
in middle school. Right after middle school, I joined like
this little rap group called Legacy in Jersey. In Jersey
(07:20):
shout out to them, and then that faded away. We
did we went our own ways. I started recording at
home and how did you get equipment?
Speaker 1 (07:31):
How did you record? I always liked that because some people,
like my parents bought me all my equid like Doja
cash she had a studio at home, like her parents
bought her everything. But then some people are like, listen,
I use my phone.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Back then. The phone thing was like now, I feel
like that phone thing is crazy because I'm like, wow,
I could have used that back then, but at the
time I what was that twenty the home computer dropped
out of No, we didn't have one at the time,
so I bought a new computer for like two fifty
I don't remember how I got the money. I'm not
going to ask. And I got a mic cheapest things
(08:05):
I could buy, and I just started going at it,
like I would spend hours in my bedroom. Like there
was one day I skipped school college and I stayed
home and I was mixing a song for like twelve hours.
At the end it still sounded terrible. But that's how
I got good, you know what I mean, Like days
like that, like when I spent my time.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
That way, That's how I got So you were rapping, produce,
I mean you're rapping, producing, writing, doing everything on your
I was.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Doing everything I was producing. I was producing more back then.
I don't produce as much anymore. I engineer record and
uh write all self self to it. The engineering. I
had a friend that was in that rap group that
would engineer. I learned a lot from there, but the
rest of it was all like trialing there with that
(08:54):
type of stuff, it's only so much someone can show.
You kind of got to like building.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
Air for Yeah, you gotta definitely when you get on
those Like let's say, when I started doing radio, they
were like, can you do the boards? And I was like, yeah, sure,
I can't. Took me a while before I could do
those boys. But again it was trial and errors, like
oh I didn't do this this time, I gotta do this.
So I understand where you're coming from now. Musical influence influences.
You said you started rapping. Who were your rap artists
that you grew up?
Speaker 2 (09:18):
My favorite? Give me your top one, first, top five?
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Come on, come on, no particular order your top five.
I'm not talking top five that are alive.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Okay, all right, Loopie Fiasco up with there Ja Cole.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Nice Jake Cole is a beast. That's one of my
This is.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
So problematic, but Kanye is like.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
Kanye, Kanye before the.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
Three, you know what I mean, Like Kanye when I
was growing up on Kanye. You know, after as I
became an adult, things started kind of shifting, but like
my teenage years, he was very important.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
We can't take it away from Kanye. He's problematic, but
he is a great artist.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
I agree.
Speaker 4 (09:59):
I agree.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Where that was three?
Speaker 1 (10:15):
That was three? Drake.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
If we're going out for doing English America. I think
jay Z there you go.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
I like that you threw jay Z and then one
of those you know.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
Yeah, he's like the father.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
It's like, because everybody always goes NAS, jay Z.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
Biggie up there, I'm playing jay Z Overna.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
That's what I feel.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
You.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
I feel more connected to jay Z as a New
Yorker than I do with NAS. Respect to NAS, but
jay Z album after album, hit after hit, hit after hit,
there's just.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
A lot of game in those jay Z songs. Man.
You go back and it's.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
Like, oh my knowledge, right, there's a million captions in
those jay Z albums. Now your Latino influences, because that's
how I discovered you. Let's talk Latin influences well, Romeo
in general, h J in my insta, Uh five, you
(11:12):
don't gotta give me five with those two. You just
gave me you know, a lot, and you still Dominican
with it.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
Yeah. I really like Omega like like his like peak Omega.
That was crazy in peace my mom. You know he's
family was actually in really yeah, I need to give
you one more. I want to think it through. Do
(11:40):
you think my dad was a big like fern.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
Day one nuts nuts that thing.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
Yeah, it's just just too many.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
There is too many. And you know what, you know what,
I love that you kind of like just to Dominican
with it, which tells me that your household really shaped
you music.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
Oh yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
Mom still plays the music when she cleans the house.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
She sings. She's for some reason, she doesn't like playing
the radio. She would always sing. She's more of like
her own voice. Yeah, her own voice.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
Is it good?
Speaker 2 (12:13):
It's good. It's not it's not fundamentally, you know, it's
not like classically trained. She's good though.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
He's like, she's no Maria, But that's mom. You're an
only child.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
I have an older sister, younger brother. My older sister
is she's really like my mom number two?
Speaker 1 (12:34):
Yeah, No, that's always older sisters. Like let's say when
my mom they put her in charge, they'd be three
years apart from you, and they're like, that's your second Yeah,
first of all, you're only three years older than me.
How does your family feel about you as an artist?
Who gave you pushback? It was dad and who encouraged you.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
He get He definitely gave me push back at first.
I think that everybody gave me push back at first,
but they're like, you know, honestly, everybody gave me push back.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
It's just me and you were here.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
I'll be honest. I had to like build this delusion
in my head. I had to explain myself to them.
I'm like, what if rub Ben has never had it
to Like what if what if you guys told him like,
oh nah, you can't do this, Like what if you
told like, you know, he can't be a singer, Like
I'm trying to be like that, you know. And then
when once I once I came out of my mouth,
they're like, oh this guy serious.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
Like they were like, there's no stopping just you know.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
You know what I mean. So I had to like
I got pushed back from them, but me pushing them
back kind of made them kind of like, okay.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
They do them in. They were like, listen, if he
believes in this this heavily, we got to back them up.
And you know, that's family. At the end of the day,
we're nothing without family. I'm glad you know they're backing you,
they're on your side, and they're supportive because it's all happening.
Like I couldn't look at my timeline without seeing your video.
That's how I discovered you. I'm like, who is this kid?
And why do I keep seeing this video on this
(13:55):
kid and this stoop? And I was like, and that's
when I started like. I was like, oh, he's nice.
I was like, I like him, I like his voice
and I love what the direction you took it in?
How did you decide to do you know, spanglish R
and B afrobeats, Like it's totally like different. What prompted
you to say I'm going to be completely to the left.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
I hadn't. I had the idea like like years ago,
like three years ago. But when I first started doing
I'm like, I'm not liking it. And when I came
back to it, I was like, Okay, now I'm better
now I kind of get it. Like It's what really
I think influenced me to do it was when I
was working them for Amazon, like.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
Six years ago, driving or delivering.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
Yeah, deliberate delivering. I met this West African dude all say,
and he had put me on to this afrobeats playlist
that he used to that he used to listen to,
and it had all these and I was already kind
of in it, but not all I wasn't like like
deep in it, and like during those Amazon rides, I
was just kind of just you know, it's an eight
(14:57):
hour shift. I was just let him, let him play,
let him play, let him play. I'm like, wow, it's
like it really resonated with me. But even then I
wasn't thinking, I'm like, I'm not going to make like
a It had n't popped in my my head yet.
Like I made a couple of English ones, like they're cool.
I kept making music, and one day I'm like, what
about Spanish afrobeats. It's a huge thing right now, But
(15:21):
at that time, I'm not sure if it was the
biggest thing.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
Not six years ago. I could tell you, and I've
been I've been in radio and in music for a
long time. Six years ago, there was not Spanish afrobeats
like mainstream.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
I think in these recent years, yeah, it's been a
big thing.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
During the pandemic. You started putting out.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Singles during the pandemic.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
During the pandemic, let's say twenty twenty, take me back
five years, where were you at.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
I think five years yeah, Oh, I was probably recovering
from this accident. I had an amazon An auto accident.
It was a truck accident. We used to do Amazon Excel,
like if you order a fridge or like a generated
it comes in a box truck. Okay, in the morning,
we were taking pictures of the box trucks doing expections
(16:06):
and stuff. Where at the gas station, the guy behind me,
he's in his box truck. He gets out, leaves it
in drive, and I'm like there and it's like it's
slowly coming to me, but you know, it's a truck.
So I try to like hit one of these and
I get my right leg caught, and I think I
(16:27):
was out for like I was in bed for like
a month, like a month straight. No, No, it fractured,
like every bone in.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
My ankle shattered your ankle.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
Yeah, it was crazy. That changed the trajectory of my life.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
I think every why do you say that.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
I changed my artist name? Okay, I decided I was
going to start doing Spanish music at.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
Some point, but being laid up gave you time to
think or yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
I took it as a sign from God. I'm like,
I must not be doing what I'm supposed to be
doing right now if I something like this is happening
a I'm just hanging out working. I had heard it
was a wild some years back when I was a kid.
I remember hearing like when you're forced to take time
off or to slow down, it's for a reason. So
I'm like, you know, like I think this is for
(17:14):
a reason. Like let me think of what I'm doing
and let me just you know, reconsider things, and yeah,
here we are.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
How did you land on? Daddiel a month?
Speaker 2 (17:26):
That's my middle name. My mom wanted that to be
my first name. I told years ago. I said, I'm
a junior. My dad's name is Angel Marte as well,
so a mont. I thought it was clever because it
just means lover in French, you out of e it
means lover and Spanish, it's a word that kind of
just reads well, you.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
Know, no, it definitely does. It's pretty, it's nice, and
we love saying French words, don't we makes us feel
boot at and I like la monte. Yeah, it just
gives you kind of like, you know, a different name
that we can call you by. We always like that.
Have you been to France?
Speaker 2 (18:04):
Have not been to France?
Speaker 1 (18:05):
Got to make your way over it.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
I've even been to Europe.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
I'm not once where we traveled to talk to.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
Me California a bunch of times. I wonder what, like three.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
Times, like for work, for pleasure, family and work, okay.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
And then one time I went to San Francisco for
my birthday. Cool place. I'm not sure I go back,
but the weather was really nice. Not my type of
crowd over there, though.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
You're an East Coast guy, Yeah, I think so.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
I think. So.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
Do you go back to Dominican Republic.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
Or it's been a few years. I gotta go, gotta go.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
Visit you both both both. Do you feel like you're
home when you're there?
Speaker 2 (18:48):
Mm hmm not necessarily. Not necessarily. I feel I feel
at home. I feel at home. I don't feel like
it's my home, you know what I mean. My home
is like when I go back to my mom's house.
I'm like, ah, you know what I mean, Like it
surmonds you my childhood because that's where I was when
(19:09):
I go through Pa Sake and I'm like, okay, like
I remember walking through here as a kid. The your
for me is more like I would go on vacation
and obviously, like my roots are there, so it feels
like a home, but it doesn't feel like my home. Necessarily,
you know.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
Like the reason I asked is, you know, I've had
a lot of you know, Dominican guests, and we always
get into the fact that Dominicans always want to go
back to Dominican Republic. It's like that's the goal. Do
your parents want to retire there eventually?
Speaker 2 (19:37):
My dad does. He's been talking about it for years.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
And what's going on is he planning, is the house
being built?
Speaker 2 (19:43):
The house been built, house, the house has been built
for years. I don't know what. You know, he had
another kid, and like, I think they're going to end
up moving at some.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
Point sooner or later. Mom and Dad and I feel
like it's good for our folks. You know, winters are
very treacherous here on the East Coast, and you know,
when you're said eight to be tracking through that, it's
just not good.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
That's the only thing that kind of kills me about
about living out here, Like I want to stay out here,
but I'm like, the winters.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
The season is impression, right, Yeah, it's a little like
you can make your best music though during the winter.
Once that season was depressing, you alreadyt be tapping into
a whole other section.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
That's that's what they say, man, but I'm trying to.
I'm trying to go to the other oute. Man, I'm
trying to I'm trying to bring light, you know. I'm
trying to bring some light into the world because I
feel like I've made enough sad music in my younger
years where I'm like, I want to bring some some
more light into my music. I feel like everybody, for
every single person, for as much darkness or sadness having him,
they have the same, if not more of the opposite.
(20:42):
They have it just as much light happiness in them.
You've got to tap into it. Like, so that's my goal.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
Like I like that, you know, because it is true
with music, It's like we tend to really lean in on,
like you know, sad songs, break up songs, depression songs,
like you know, like look at xxxtentas you don't like
he had such a movement and such a following and
it was all based on like emo rap and you know,
going through things.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
And I was listening you listen to him, I was,
I was at that time, but you see.
Speaker 1 (21:10):
What an impact he made and his music was sad.
But when we're going through things, music is something that
I feel like we really lean into. We don't want
to talk to people, we don't want to express what
we're going through, we don't want to put it on
social media and music.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
Yeah yeah, I don't know how you are, but I
like to listen to when I'm in that mood and
like that certain song grabs me, Like I could listen
(21:45):
to that same song like twenty times.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
Oh my god, there's a J Cole album for your Eyes,
the whole album from beginning to end. I can play
it when I'm in that mood and I want to
talk to nobody. Yeah, and I'll play it two or
three times. I don't care. It just puts me in
that zone and it touches on everything. You know what
I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
He's good at that.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
He's really He's one of my top five. It's just
the level of lyricism and like, you know, the way
he really connects and not using you know, profanity or
you know what I'm saying, Like, it's just it connects us.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
Who else you got of J Coles one?
Speaker 1 (22:18):
J Coles One. I love Big Sean. I feel like
Big Sewan is definitely super underrated.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
Middle school man. Big Sean was my guy. He was
really my guy. Like I don't know if you remember
the Lemonade remix from way back, like they Lemonade that
was that was you.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
Yeah, Now, Big Sean is definitely up there. He's he's
definitely underrated. Jadakiss Top five listen. And I'm speaking, you know,
as a New Yorker, but I really hold the rappers
to a certain level. Bars, delivery, punchlines, wittiness, it's it's
it's a you know, it's a whole sound culture of
ingredients that I require.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
I think up there.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
Oh, he's definitely up there.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
I'm not sure. I feel like he doesn't get that
country wide respect, but like we like we give him here,
but he's out there. He's out there.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
Definitely. DMX, the laate DMX. That man was a genius.
But you know what I love the most about DMX
he didn't buy by any rules. He was who he
was till the day he died. He did what he
wanted to do, he said well he wanted to say.
And even the way he delivered his music was so
unconventional and so like just jointed in a way that
it just came across as so raw and so real.
(23:26):
And I pray for every artist that they can be
an artist like DMX, unapologetic and be able to really
connect with people the way he couldn't. Like we love
DMX until the I feel like till the last day.
He went out doing what he wanted to do. And you,
as an artist, you know how important that is being
who you are, not having to put on your independence
(23:49):
still right.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
Just recently signed a distribution deal with who with Platoon.
Are you familiar with Platoon? No, you will be so.
The tune is now owned by Able Music. They're a
London based label, but they've had some some names throughout
(24:11):
over the time, like they've been affiliate with some names.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
Are your teammates over there.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
Boy, Pinky Tinky from Harlem? That's my my guy like that?
Speaker 1 (24:21):
How do you feel about, you know, the signing. I
know for some people, staying in like let's say for
Russ Like staying pendent is so key.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
I think it is key. However, I'm thinking of it
as help. You know, I think having a strong team
is important, having someone on the marketing side that has
a vision or can amplify my vision. Having people that
can amplify my vision in general, or even take it
(24:53):
to another level. Because to me, it's like being independent
is key. Of course when it comes to making your money. Everybody,
everybody you want to keep you going, you want to
keep it going. For me, right now, I'm thinking legacy
and how big of an impact or how big I
(25:14):
can get, because I do want to be a big artist,
like I want to be remembers like I will be,
you know what I mean. And for right now, I'm
not too sure it's about how much money I'm making
right now rather than how how much awareness I can
create or how much of an impact I can make,
because like the songs I have out now are cool,
(25:38):
but like I'm I'm.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
Just vibing to you all day yesterday.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
Yeah, there's more and there's better, and there's there's things
I want to accomplish. You know, there's artists that we
look up to, you know, like I want to be
up there, you know so.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
And you will be. You know, this is the beginning
of your career. And you know what they say, it
takes years to become an overnight success. You'll be in
a game ten years and they'll be like, where the
hell this guy dot came from? And you've been putting
in work forever now can we talk about Rome?
Speaker 2 (26:04):
Yes, talk to me.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
What's the deal?
Speaker 2 (26:06):
Oh? Man? That was that song? I played the beat
lyrics came to me. I was probably done writing in
like thirty minutes. Are you kidding me? Yea? I swear swear?
Speaker 1 (26:17):
Wow? Where were you when you wrote that song?
Speaker 2 (26:21):
I was in Jersey City studio, Yeah, my last place.
What else? Can I tell you what I was gonna
tell you? Same producer that produced Florida's Floridas.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
How did Flora's end up going so viral? Can we
talk about this?
Speaker 2 (26:36):
I don't know, man, I was, you know I was.
I had this mindset where I'm like, fuck, man, Like
how can I grow on Instagram? Like what can I do?
Like does posting every day really work? Like? Oh so,
I'm like I was at my ends, like like I
don't know what to do anymore, Like I'm gonna start
posting every day. Me and my coworker we went out
(26:56):
and shot some videos. He was doing like fashion videos,
and I was doing these like I think i'ma grabs
some flowers and like somehow incorporate them to like a
fit video. Like He's like, yo, what if you put
the flowers by the camera before you start and then
back up. And then I started writing some hooks with it,
like being being do Minnigan. People assume this is that
I thought it was corny. I'm not gonna I thought
(27:17):
I thought it was CORNINGM like, I feel so corny
right in this. I'm like, yo, I'm I'm I'm trying
anything like it connected. It started going and I'm like, oh, okay,
maybe it's not not so corny. And then that's that
was the beginning of me like kind of understanding the
whole marketing thing. I still had ways to go, but
I kind of have like a sort of grasp on it.
Speaker 1 (27:38):
Now that video was my whole timeline. Yeah, but I
was like enough for it.
Speaker 2 (27:46):
I would keep posting it.
Speaker 1 (27:46):
I would gep going now you I mean other people
and sharing it and it was on my stories and
I was like, if I see this guy with these flowers,
one more. But I was sold. It connected with me
and immediately I started sharing it. I'm like, hey, have
you seen this guy?
Speaker 4 (28:02):
Hey?
Speaker 1 (28:02):
You see this guy? Do you hear his music? So
it did what it needed to do, and I liked
that you you were thinking outside the box. Everything about
you is different. It was the way it was shot,
the clothing, everything, and I loved it, and I love
what you're doing as far as, like, you know, putting
us in a different space as far as Dominican artists go,
because sometimes you know, they tend to box es in
(28:23):
with the whole you know, it ain't getting I love
what you're doing and I.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
And I when I post that or when I say like, oh,
people assume that we only do this and do that.
Some people like to say, well, what's wrong with you
know what I mean? I don't think anything is wrong
with any of the genres we do I have. We
love every genre that we do. I'm just trying to say, hey,
look we're doing this too, like I'm doing this too,
and it sounds different, there's a different spin on it.
(28:49):
It's our you know. I just want to clarify that
I don't have anything against any other genre.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
And we just talked about you know, we love j
we love Sidsae, we love Bacha that we love them
bow but you know it, sometimes they do kind of
like box us in and they're like, this is what
Dominican's doing. It's not We're so multifaceted and multi dimensional.
I think that's one of the reasons why I gravitated
towards you as an artist, because I was like, he's
representing us in a different light, and I love that
(29:17):
for us. So I was like, fucking I love him
doing it. What's the next the EP? Is that your
latest project?
Speaker 2 (29:26):
That was my latest project? My next single is coming
in August. I hope. I'm waiting on the producer these
stems so I can get it mixed, but ideally August
and then the next one.
Speaker 1 (29:40):
Would talk to me A night out night, how's your
voice feeling? Why don't you just give me a little
bit of a night out?
Speaker 2 (29:48):
A night out? Come on?
Speaker 1 (29:50):
What do you mean, drink a little bit of a surprise.
Speaker 2 (29:53):
You even know what language is gonna be, and I
can't just give it's gonna be a surprise.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
So give me something. Come on, give me a vibe.
I want people to listening right now that are not
watching to be like, oh nah, I definitely need to
go stream DADDI amant e la monte right now, I
rung to iHeart Radio. Open it on the side, don't
(30:19):
pause the episode because after this, I want you to
stream every single song that he has uploaded. Florida is
what are you thinking of singing?
Speaker 2 (30:27):
Yeah, you want me to sing the new song, or
you want me to sing.
Speaker 1 (30:29):
Flord whatever you feel like you want to give us.
Speaker 2 (30:31):
I'll sen the No. One.
Speaker 1 (30:32):
Yeah, I'm excited.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
So girl, shake your body showing me what I want
to see. Act like it's just you and me going
off shots and to see you got me widen acting
like I never do. Club is full for me, and
(30:54):
you dance like gang No One in the room.
Speaker 1 (30:59):
That's that's and I love it already. Wow, you sound
so good.
Speaker 4 (31:04):
Thank you?
Speaker 1 (31:05):
When did you discover you even had a voice. We're
not gonna We're not gonna put somewhere about it. We're
not gonna put this out before the single.
Speaker 2 (31:12):
That's it. I don't know. I really don't know, because
you must.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
Have realized at one point.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
What's crazy is that I feel like I couldn't sing.
I feel like I couldn't sing because I was rapping.
When I told you I was in that rap group,
I was rapping.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
I'm gonna look you up. I'm gonna look you up.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
It's gone already, it's going. You wiped clean gone. I
was doing. We were doing like you know one train,
uh that ahipe rocky like cipher type song like. We
did a remix of that. We did a remix the
pound Cake by Drake and jay Z. I smoked that.
By the way, again, I was like fifteen. I was
rapping and I'm like, yo, if I could, like, I'd
(31:50):
be an R and B singer. That's what I would
always say. I'm like, Yo, why don't I just like
try to sing? And then I kind of, you know,
I would practice and practice and practice. I've been getting better.
I still think. I think I'm all right, You're good.
I got I got a ways to go yesterday. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
You definitely know. I'm happy that we sat down today.
I'm excited to see you know, what's next for you.
Where can people find you? Where can people stream the music?
Talk to them they're listening.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
I'm on every platform. Dady la Mont At, Dadia Lamont.
Speaker 1 (32:22):
Thank you so much for joining us today. Man, I'm
really excited to see what's next for you and Graciers
Come Again. It was a pleasure once you get them Grammys.
He we got to sit down again for sure. Thank you.
Graciers Come Again is a production of Honey German Productions
in partnership with ihearts mic when through that podcast network.
Come Again, a podcast by Honey German. Welcome back to
another episode of Glaciers Come Again. Today. I am sitting
down with Dariel Almont. I love how you did that.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Talk to me, Talk to me, talk to me. Welcome.
How are you feeling today?
Speaker 2 (00:21):
I'm feeling good. I'm really excited. Thank you for having.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Me, Thank you for joining us. Dominicano, New Jersey.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
New Jersey. I was born in sa, New Jersey, raising Clifton,
moved to New York chasing a dream, and here we are, here,
we are.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
The dream is unfolding. Right. How do you feel about
everything that's happening right now?
Speaker 2 (00:39):
It's a lot to process. Man, It's a lot of
things are coming my way. And it's all the things
that I asked for, all the things that I hope for.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Did you pray for them?
Speaker 2 (00:47):
I pray for them.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Okay, you know you gotta be a man of God
to be sitting here with me. I'm just playing with you.
Mommy and Pappy Dominicans.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Yes as well. They are born in La Vega. Okay,
I came here, Yeah, yeah, I came here at a
young age. I want to say my dad was around
twenty five. Is came here, had my sister didn't have me.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
And here we are.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Here, we are.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Man, How connected do you still do you feel to
your Dominican side, being that you were born in America.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
It's conflicting, It really is conflicting. You know, you spend
a lot of me. I've spent a lot of time
away from the island. Okay, most of my family that
I'm cool with is here, and they're my connection to
me being you know, yeah, exactly, when I visit, it's nice.
But when you when you spend so much time away
(01:46):
from it, you know, it can kind of, you know,
you kind of lose the balance sometimes you don't want
to be. When you work in the corporate America, you
kind of lose that feel. You know, none of these
jobs feel like home. A lot of these cities don't
feel like home.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
You feel like you get a little whitewashed because you
have to do the code switching a little bit because
you mentioned corporate American. And I understand, because I have
all my voices. I have my white voice, I have
my crazy Dominiicana voice, I have my urban voices. I
understand where you come from.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
It is hard. Well, I won't say white wash, because
at the end of the day, you know, I'm me,
but the whole pretending and cold, you know, it takes
a toll on you.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
I'm oh, it definitely does. You gotta wait when I
call my insurance company. It's like I have to like
decide I'm a whole different person right now. Geico. You
know what I'm saying. It is It's hard, but it's
something that we do have to do, you know, as
Latinos and as second generation Latinos. Just like at home,
I'm sure your house is wild Dominican with two parents
that came here as adults, I can only imagine you
(02:53):
still exist in a very Dominican environment. But once we
step out of our homes, we kind of have to
switch around.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Yeah, but it's the things that I grew up with
that really pulled me in, you know. Like my dad
was a DJ. Yeah, Yeah, I listened to a lot
a lot of music growing up.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
DJ was here.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
He was a DJ back there, and he would DJ here.
It was more of like a it was like a
hobby passion. He did a lot of things.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
He would DJ at home. He would jail drive you
crazy with the music.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
No, I loved it.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
You did.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
I loved it.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
I feel like a lot of kids when they're little,
they don't want the music that their parents play, and
later on then we grow to love it.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Iron like you would think it was that. Like I
have a lot of friends that like for some reason,
like they don't like to listen to like my child
or whatever, because they're like always one of my parents
that turns off. And like, like I used to love this,
Like when I go I'll go home, and my dad
had some CDs. He left them behind, so like he
left from behind when he moved. When I go back
(03:50):
to my mom's house, I grab some CDs and playing
and I just feel like I'm in, you know, I'm
in my dad's likesus from back in the day. Like
I feel like a kid again, you know what I mean.
And those songs really resonate with me now as an adult.
Back then, I ain't know, like I just like Disham.
It's like the sounds like the lyrics back then. We're
really hard hitting and really meaningful, I think, and.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
You always understood them maybe maybe you know, because music
is it's a frequency, you know, Like I cried the
songs when I was like ten, I look back on it.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
I didn't go through I didn't gone through anything yet.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
What heartbreak had you gone through?
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Right? That's what I'm saying. So it's like I guess maybe,
like inside I understood him. And then when I got older,
some of the words really started.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
To resonate with you. You know, they start to connect high school,
all done college? What did you do?
Speaker 2 (04:42):
High school? I finished?
Speaker 1 (04:45):
I don't know, hold you are because like maybe it's no.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
No, thank you, twenty eight. I'm twenty eight. High school?
I finished college. I did one year and went in
like a semester and coming my dad. You know, hm,
the Caribbean parents immigrants story, they want They wanted me
(05:09):
to be like a doctor engineering, Like yeah, I'm gonna
go for civil engineering on my yeah because like music artists,
you know, we didn't bring here for that, Like they
didn't even finish high school. So then they brought me
here and they're like, oh, yeah, we definitely we're gonna.
I'm gonna have my kids finished school college. But I wasn't.
(05:29):
I wasn't feeling it, man, like I did. I did
a year of engineering, and I was like I hate this.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
You hated going or you hated the classes, what aspect
of it just too.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Because I was going to nothing wrong with community college.
I was going to community college and Patterson grade school,
grade school, grade school. But you're not even getting the
college experience. You know, the college experience, and you go
to little parties and you got your little friends. Community
college as far as like in Patterson, I'm not shorts
(06:02):
what it would be if I went to like I
don't know, like Montclair or like some like big school.
So there, you know, I didn't really have motivation to
go because of that. It's one two. I hated the classes.
Like everything I was learning, I was like and I
was really immature too, So like I'm like.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
Because you're like, what like eighteen years old, I'm.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
Looking back when I was really immature about it. I'm like,
I don't want to do this, Like I want to
go home and make music.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
And that's listen. I don't think it was in school.
I don't think it was a class. I think it's
just you wanted to go home and make music.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
It's your passion.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
You already know what you're built for. So of course
you're like, why am I here? When did you discover music?
Like when did you like I'm gonna be an artist
because you're we're talking college and you already had it
in the back of your mind.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
Hmmm. I think eighth grade around that time.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
That's a that's a baby, like.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Maybe twelve thirteen. I was like, yeah, I want to
do music you recorded. But that's why I decided I
wanted to be an artist. Before that, I was doing
like little webcam rapping videos on the family computer. I
loved it. I remember my dad found that. I was
like embarrassed, and but yeah, I think around eighth grade
in middle school. Right after middle school, I joined like
this little rap group called Legacy in Jersey. In Jersey
(07:20):
shout out to them, and then that faded away. We
did we went our own ways. I started recording at
home and how did you get equipment?
Speaker 1 (07:31):
How did you record? I always liked that because some people,
like my parents bought me all my equid like Doja
cash she had a studio at home, like her parents
bought her everything. But then some people are like, listen,
I use my phone.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Back then. The phone thing was like now, I feel
like that phone thing is crazy because I'm like, wow,
I could have used that back then, but at the
time I what was that twenty the home computer dropped
out of No, we didn't have one at the time,
so I bought a new computer for like two fifty
I don't remember how I got the money. I'm not
going to ask. And I got a mic cheapest things
(08:05):
I could buy, and I just started going at it,
like I would spend hours in my bedroom. Like there
was one day I skipped school college and I stayed
home and I was mixing a song for like twelve hours.
At the end it still sounded terrible. But that's how
I got good, you know what I mean, Like days
like that, like when I spent my time.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
That way, That's how I got So you were rapping, produce,
I mean you're rapping, producing, writing, doing everything on your
I was.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Doing everything I was producing. I was producing more back then.
I don't produce as much anymore. I engineer record and
uh write all self self to it. The engineering. I
had a friend that was in that rap group that
would engineer. I learned a lot from there, but the
rest of it was all like trialing there with that
(08:54):
type of stuff, it's only so much someone can show.
You kind of got to like building.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
Air for Yeah, you gotta definitely when you get on
those Like let's say, when I started doing radio, they
were like, can you do the boards? And I was like, yeah, sure,
I can't. Took me a while before I could do
those boys. But again it was trial and errors, like
oh I didn't do this this time, I gotta do this.
So I understand where you're coming from now. Musical influence influences.
You said you started rapping. Who were your rap artists
that you grew up?
Speaker 2 (09:18):
My favorite? Give me your top one, first, top five?
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Come on, come on, no particular order your top five.
I'm not talking top five that are alive.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Okay, all right, Loopie Fiasco up with there Ja Cole.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Nice Jake Cole is a beast. That's one of my
This is.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
So problematic, but Kanye is like.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
Kanye, Kanye before the.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
Three, you know what I mean, Like Kanye when I
was growing up on Kanye. You know, after as I
became an adult, things started kind of shifting, but like
my teenage years, he was very important.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
We can't take it away from Kanye. He's problematic, but
he is a great artist.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
I agree.
Speaker 4 (09:59):
I agree.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Where that was three?
Speaker 1 (10:15):
That was three? Drake.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
If we're going out for doing English America. I think
jay Z there you go.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
I like that you threw jay Z and then one
of those you know.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
Yeah, he's like the father.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
It's like, because everybody always goes NAS, jay Z.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
Biggie up there, I'm playing jay Z Overna.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
That's what I feel.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
You.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
I feel more connected to jay Z as a New
Yorker than I do with NAS. Respect to NAS, but
jay Z album after album, hit after hit, hit after hit,
there's just.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
A lot of game in those jay Z songs. Man.
You go back and it's.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
Like, oh my knowledge, right, there's a million captions in
those jay Z albums. Now your Latino influences, because that's
how I discovered you. Let's talk Latin influences well, Romeo
in general, h J in my insta, Uh five, you
(11:12):
don't gotta give me five with those two. You just
gave me you know, a lot, and you still Dominican
with it.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
Yeah. I really like Omega like like his like peak Omega.
That was crazy in peace my mom. You know he's
family was actually in really yeah, I need to give
you one more. I want to think it through. Do
(11:40):
you think my dad was a big like fern.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
Day one nuts nuts that thing.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
Yeah, it's just just too many.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
There is too many. And you know what, you know what,
I love that you kind of like just to Dominican
with it, which tells me that your household really shaped
you music.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
Oh yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
Mom still plays the music when she cleans the house.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
She sings. She's for some reason, she doesn't like playing
the radio. She would always sing. She's more of like
her own voice. Yeah, her own voice.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
Is it good?
Speaker 2 (12:13):
It's good. It's not it's not fundamentally, you know, it's
not like classically trained. She's good though.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
He's like, she's no Maria, But that's mom. You're an
only child.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
I have an older sister, younger brother. My older sister
is she's really like my mom number two?
Speaker 1 (12:34):
Yeah, No, that's always older sisters. Like let's say when
my mom they put her in charge, they'd be three
years apart from you, and they're like, that's your second Yeah,
first of all, you're only three years older than me.
How does your family feel about you as an artist?
Who gave you pushback? It was dad and who encouraged you.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
He get He definitely gave me push back at first.
I think that everybody gave me push back at first,
but they're like, you know, honestly, everybody gave me push back.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
It's just me and you were here.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
I'll be honest. I had to like build this delusion
in my head. I had to explain myself to them.
I'm like, what if rub Ben has never had it
to Like what if what if you guys told him like,
oh nah, you can't do this, Like what if you
told like, you know, he can't be a singer, Like
I'm trying to be like that, you know. And then
when once I once I came out of my mouth,
they're like, oh this guy serious.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
Like they were like, there's no stopping just you know.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
You know what I mean. So I had to like
I got pushed back from them, but me pushing them
back kind of made them kind of like, okay.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
They do them in. They were like, listen, if he
believes in this this heavily, we got to back them up.
And you know, that's family. At the end of the day,
we're nothing without family. I'm glad you know they're backing you,
they're on your side, and they're supportive because it's all happening.
Like I couldn't look at my timeline without seeing your video.
That's how I discovered you. I'm like, who is this kid?
And why do I keep seeing this video on this
(13:55):
kid and this stoop? And I was like, and that's
when I started like. I was like, oh, he's nice.
I was like, I like him, I like his voice
and I love what the direction you took it in?
How did you decide to do you know, spanglish R
and B afrobeats, Like it's totally like different. What prompted
you to say I'm going to be completely to the left.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
I hadn't. I had the idea like like years ago,
like three years ago. But when I first started doing
I'm like, I'm not liking it. And when I came
back to it, I was like, Okay, now I'm better
now I kind of get it. Like It's what really
I think influenced me to do it was when I
was working them for Amazon, like.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
Six years ago, driving or delivering.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
Yeah, deliberate delivering. I met this West African dude all say,
and he had put me on to this afrobeats playlist
that he used to that he used to listen to,
and it had all these and I was already kind
of in it, but not all I wasn't like like
deep in it, and like during those Amazon rides, I
was just kind of just you know, it's an eight
(14:57):
hour shift. I was just let him, let him play,
let him play, let him play. I'm like, wow, it's
like it really resonated with me. But even then I
wasn't thinking, I'm like, I'm not going to make like
a It had n't popped in my my head yet.
Like I made a couple of English ones, like they're cool.
I kept making music, and one day I'm like, what
about Spanish afrobeats. It's a huge thing right now, But
(15:21):
at that time, I'm not sure if it was the
biggest thing.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
Not six years ago. I could tell you, and I've
been I've been in radio and in music for a
long time. Six years ago, there was not Spanish afrobeats
like mainstream.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
I think in these recent years, yeah, it's been a
big thing.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
During the pandemic. You started putting out.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Singles during the pandemic.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
During the pandemic, let's say twenty twenty, take me back
five years, where were you at.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
I think five years yeah, Oh, I was probably recovering
from this accident. I had an amazon An auto accident.
It was a truck accident. We used to do Amazon Excel,
like if you order a fridge or like a generated
it comes in a box truck. Okay, in the morning,
we were taking pictures of the box trucks doing expections
(16:06):
and stuff. Where at the gas station, the guy behind me,
he's in his box truck. He gets out, leaves it
in drive, and I'm like there and it's like it's
slowly coming to me, but you know, it's a truck.
So I try to like hit one of these and
I get my right leg caught, and I think I
(16:27):
was out for like I was in bed for like
a month, like a month straight. No, No, it fractured,
like every bone in.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
My ankle shattered your ankle.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
Yeah, it was crazy. That changed the trajectory of my life.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
I think every why do you say that.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
I changed my artist name? Okay, I decided I was
going to start doing Spanish music at.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
Some point, but being laid up gave you time to
think or yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
I took it as a sign from God. I'm like,
I must not be doing what I'm supposed to be
doing right now if I something like this is happening
a I'm just hanging out working. I had heard it
was a wild some years back when I was a kid.
I remember hearing like when you're forced to take time
off or to slow down, it's for a reason. So
I'm like, you know, like I think this is for
(17:14):
a reason. Like let me think of what I'm doing
and let me just you know, reconsider things, and yeah,
here we are.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
How did you land on? Daddiel a month?
Speaker 2 (17:26):
That's my middle name. My mom wanted that to be
my first name. I told years ago. I said, I'm
a junior. My dad's name is Angel Marte as well,
so a mont. I thought it was clever because it
just means lover in French, you out of e it
means lover and Spanish, it's a word that kind of
just reads well, you.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
Know, no, it definitely does. It's pretty, it's nice, and
we love saying French words, don't we makes us feel
boot at and I like la monte. Yeah, it just
gives you kind of like, you know, a different name
that we can call you by. We always like that.
Have you been to France?
Speaker 2 (18:04):
Have not been to France?
Speaker 1 (18:05):
Got to make your way over it.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
I've even been to Europe.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
I'm not once where we traveled to talk to.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
Me California a bunch of times. I wonder what, like three.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
Times, like for work, for pleasure, family and work, okay.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
And then one time I went to San Francisco for
my birthday. Cool place. I'm not sure I go back,
but the weather was really nice. Not my type of
crowd over there, though.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
You're an East Coast guy, Yeah, I think so.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
I think. So.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
Do you go back to Dominican Republic.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
Or it's been a few years. I gotta go, gotta go.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
Visit you both both both. Do you feel like you're
home when you're there?
Speaker 2 (18:48):
Mm hmm not necessarily. Not necessarily. I feel I feel
at home. I feel at home. I don't feel like
it's my home, you know what I mean. My home
is like when I go back to my mom's house.
I'm like, ah, you know what I mean, Like it
surmonds you my childhood because that's where I was when
(19:09):
I go through Pa Sake and I'm like, okay, like
I remember walking through here as a kid. The your
for me is more like I would go on vacation
and obviously, like my roots are there, so it feels
like a home, but it doesn't feel like my home. Necessarily,
you know.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
Like the reason I asked is, you know, I've had
a lot of you know, Dominican guests, and we always
get into the fact that Dominicans always want to go
back to Dominican Republic. It's like that's the goal. Do
your parents want to retire there eventually?
Speaker 2 (19:37):
My dad does. He's been talking about it for years.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
And what's going on is he planning, is the house
being built?
Speaker 2 (19:43):
The house been built, house, the house has been built
for years. I don't know what. You know, he had
another kid, and like, I think they're going to end
up moving at some.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
Point sooner or later. Mom and Dad and I feel
like it's good for our folks. You know, winters are
very treacherous here on the East Coast, and you know,
when you're said eight to be tracking through that, it's
just not good.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
That's the only thing that kind of kills me about
about living out here, Like I want to stay out here,
but I'm like, the winters.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
The season is impression, right, Yeah, it's a little like
you can make your best music though during the winter.
Once that season was depressing, you alreadyt be tapping into
a whole other section.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
That's that's what they say, man, but I'm trying to.
I'm trying to go to the other oute. Man, I'm
trying to I'm trying to bring light, you know. I'm
trying to bring some light into the world because I
feel like I've made enough sad music in my younger
years where I'm like, I want to bring some some
more light into my music. I feel like everybody, for
every single person, for as much darkness or sadness having him,
they have the same, if not more of the opposite.
(20:42):
They have it just as much light happiness in them.
You've got to tap into it. Like, so that's my goal.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
Like I like that, you know, because it is true
with music, It's like we tend to really lean in on,
like you know, sad songs, break up songs, depression songs,
like you know, like look at xxxtentas you don't like
he had such a movement and such a following and
it was all based on like emo rap and you know,
going through things.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
And I was listening you listen to him, I was,
I was at that time, but you see.
Speaker 1 (21:10):
What an impact he made and his music was sad.
But when we're going through things, music is something that
I feel like we really lean into. We don't want
to talk to people, we don't want to express what
we're going through, we don't want to put it on
social media and music.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
Yeah yeah, I don't know how you are, but I
like to listen to when I'm in that mood and
like that certain song grabs me, Like I could listen
(21:45):
to that same song like twenty times.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
Oh my god, there's a J Cole album for your Eyes,
the whole album from beginning to end. I can play
it when I'm in that mood and I want to
talk to nobody. Yeah, and I'll play it two or
three times. I don't care. It just puts me in
that zone and it touches on everything. You know what
I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
He's good at that.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
He's really He's one of my top five. It's just
the level of lyricism and like, you know, the way
he really connects and not using you know, profanity or
you know what I'm saying, Like, it's just it connects us.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
Who else you got of J Coles one?
Speaker 1 (22:18):
J Coles One. I love Big Sean. I feel like
Big Sewan is definitely super underrated.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
Middle school man. Big Sean was my guy. He was
really my guy. Like I don't know if you remember
the Lemonade remix from way back, like they Lemonade that
was that was you.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
Yeah, Now, Big Sean is definitely up there. He's he's
definitely underrated. Jadakiss Top five listen. And I'm speaking, you know,
as a New Yorker, but I really hold the rappers
to a certain level. Bars, delivery, punchlines, wittiness, it's it's
it's a you know, it's a whole sound culture of
ingredients that I require.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
I think up there.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
Oh, he's definitely up there.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
I'm not sure. I feel like he doesn't get that
country wide respect, but like we like we give him here,
but he's out there. He's out there.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
Definitely. DMX, the laate DMX. That man was a genius.
But you know what I love the most about DMX
he didn't buy by any rules. He was who he
was till the day he died. He did what he
wanted to do, he said well he wanted to say.
And even the way he delivered his music was so
unconventional and so like just jointed in a way that
it just came across as so raw and so real.
(23:26):
And I pray for every artist that they can be
an artist like DMX, unapologetic and be able to really
connect with people the way he couldn't. Like we love
DMX until the I feel like till the last day.
He went out doing what he wanted to do. And you,
as an artist, you know how important that is being
who you are, not having to put on your independence
(23:49):
still right.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
Just recently signed a distribution deal with who with Platoon.
Are you familiar with Platoon? No, you will be so.
The tune is now owned by Able Music. They're a
London based label, but they've had some some names throughout
(24:11):
over the time, like they've been affiliate with some names.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
Are your teammates over there.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
Boy, Pinky Tinky from Harlem? That's my my guy like that?
Speaker 1 (24:21):
How do you feel about, you know, the signing. I
know for some people, staying in like let's say for
Russ Like staying pendent is so key.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
I think it is key. However, I'm thinking of it
as help. You know, I think having a strong team
is important, having someone on the marketing side that has
a vision or can amplify my vision. Having people that
can amplify my vision in general, or even take it
(24:53):
to another level. Because to me, it's like being independent
is key. Of course when it comes to making your money. Everybody,
everybody you want to keep you going, you want to
keep it going. For me, right now, I'm thinking legacy
and how big of an impact or how big I
(25:14):
can get, because I do want to be a big artist,
like I want to be remembers like I will be,
you know what I mean. And for right now, I'm
not too sure it's about how much money I'm making
right now rather than how how much awareness I can
create or how much of an impact I can make,
because like the songs I have out now are cool,
(25:38):
but like I'm I'm.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
Just vibing to you all day yesterday.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
Yeah, there's more and there's better, and there's there's things
I want to accomplish. You know, there's artists that we
look up to, you know, like I want to be
up there, you know so.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
And you will be. You know, this is the beginning
of your career. And you know what they say, it
takes years to become an overnight success. You'll be in
a game ten years and they'll be like, where the
hell this guy dot came from? And you've been putting
in work forever now can we talk about Rome?
Speaker 2 (26:04):
Yes, talk to me.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
What's the deal?
Speaker 2 (26:06):
Oh? Man? That was that song? I played the beat
lyrics came to me. I was probably done writing in
like thirty minutes. Are you kidding me? Yea? I swear swear?
Speaker 1 (26:17):
Wow? Where were you when you wrote that song?
Speaker 2 (26:21):
I was in Jersey City studio, Yeah, my last place.
What else? Can I tell you what I was gonna
tell you? Same producer that produced Florida's Floridas.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
How did Flora's end up going so viral? Can we
talk about this?
Speaker 2 (26:36):
I don't know, man, I was, you know I was.
I had this mindset where I'm like, fuck, man, Like
how can I grow on Instagram? Like what can I do?
Like does posting every day really work? Like? Oh so,
I'm like I was at my ends, like like I
don't know what to do anymore, Like I'm gonna start
posting every day. Me and my coworker we went out
(26:56):
and shot some videos. He was doing like fashion videos,
and I was doing these like I think i'ma grabs
some flowers and like somehow incorporate them to like a
fit video. Like He's like, yo, what if you put
the flowers by the camera before you start and then
back up. And then I started writing some hooks with it,
like being being do Minnigan. People assume this is that
I thought it was corny. I'm not gonna I thought
(27:17):
I thought it was CORNINGM like, I feel so corny
right in this. I'm like, yo, I'm I'm I'm trying
anything like it connected. It started going and I'm like, oh, okay,
maybe it's not not so corny. And then that's that
was the beginning of me like kind of understanding the
whole marketing thing. I still had ways to go, but
I kind of have like a sort of grasp on it.
Speaker 1 (27:38):
Now that video was my whole timeline. Yeah, but I
was like enough for it.
Speaker 2 (27:46):
I would keep posting it.
Speaker 1 (27:46):
I would gep going now you I mean other people
and sharing it and it was on my stories and
I was like, if I see this guy with these flowers,
one more. But I was sold. It connected with me
and immediately I started sharing it. I'm like, hey, have
you seen this guy?
Speaker 4 (28:02):
Hey?
Speaker 1 (28:02):
You see this guy? Do you hear his music? So
it did what it needed to do, and I liked
that you you were thinking outside the box. Everything about
you is different. It was the way it was shot,
the clothing, everything, and I loved it, and I love
what you're doing as far as, like, you know, putting
us in a different space as far as Dominican artists go,
because sometimes you know, they tend to box es in
(28:23):
with the whole you know, it ain't getting I love
what you're doing and I.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
And I when I post that or when I say like, oh,
people assume that we only do this and do that.
Some people like to say, well, what's wrong with you
know what I mean? I don't think anything is wrong
with any of the genres we do I have. We
love every genre that we do. I'm just trying to say, hey,
look we're doing this too, like I'm doing this too,
and it sounds different, there's a different spin on it.
(28:49):
It's our you know. I just want to clarify that
I don't have anything against any other genre.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
And we just talked about you know, we love j
we love Sidsae, we love Bacha that we love them
bow but you know it, sometimes they do kind of
like box us in and they're like, this is what
Dominican's doing. It's not We're so multifaceted and multi dimensional.
I think that's one of the reasons why I gravitated
towards you as an artist, because I was like, he's
representing us in a different light, and I love that
(29:17):
for us. So I was like, fucking I love him
doing it. What's the next the EP? Is that your
latest project?
Speaker 2 (29:26):
That was my latest project? My next single is coming
in August. I hope. I'm waiting on the producer these
stems so I can get it mixed, but ideally August
and then the next one.
Speaker 1 (29:40):
Would talk to me A night out night, how's your
voice feeling? Why don't you just give me a little
bit of a night out?
Speaker 2 (29:48):
A night out? Come on?
Speaker 1 (29:50):
What do you mean, drink a little bit of a surprise.
Speaker 2 (29:53):
You even know what language is gonna be, and I
can't just give it's gonna be a surprise.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
So give me something. Come on, give me a vibe.
I want people to listening right now that are not
watching to be like, oh nah, I definitely need to
go stream DADDI amant e la monte right now, I
rung to iHeart Radio. Open it on the side, don't
(30:19):
pause the episode because after this, I want you to
stream every single song that he has uploaded. Florida is
what are you thinking of singing?
Speaker 2 (30:27):
Yeah, you want me to sing the new song, or
you want me to sing.
Speaker 1 (30:29):
Flord whatever you feel like you want to give us.
Speaker 2 (30:31):
I'll sen the No. One.
Speaker 1 (30:32):
Yeah, I'm excited.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
So girl, shake your body showing me what I want
to see. Act like it's just you and me going
off shots and to see you got me widen acting
like I never do. Club is full for me, and
(30:54):
you dance like gang No One in the room.
Speaker 1 (30:59):
That's that's and I love it already. Wow, you sound
so good.
Speaker 4 (31:04):
Thank you?
Speaker 1 (31:05):
When did you discover you even had a voice. We're
not gonna We're not gonna put somewhere about it. We're
not gonna put this out before the single.
Speaker 2 (31:12):
That's it. I don't know. I really don't know, because
you must.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
Have realized at one point.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
What's crazy is that I feel like I couldn't sing.
I feel like I couldn't sing because I was rapping.
When I told you I was in that rap group,
I was rapping.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
I'm gonna look you up. I'm gonna look you up.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
It's gone already, it's going. You wiped clean gone. I
was doing. We were doing like you know one train,
uh that ahipe rocky like cipher type song like. We
did a remix of that. We did a remix the
pound Cake by Drake and jay Z. I smoked that.
By the way, again, I was like fifteen. I was
rapping and I'm like, yo, if I could, like, I'd
(31:50):
be an R and B singer. That's what I would
always say. I'm like, Yo, why don't I just like
try to sing? And then I kind of, you know,
I would practice and practice and practice. I've been getting better.
I still think. I think I'm all right, You're good.
I got I got a ways to go yesterday. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
You definitely know. I'm happy that we sat down today.
I'm excited to see you know, what's next for you.
Where can people find you? Where can people stream the music?
Talk to them they're listening.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
I'm on every platform. Dady la Mont At, Dadia Lamont.
Speaker 1 (32:22):
Thank you so much for joining us today. Man, I'm
really excited to see what's next for you and Graciers
Come Again. It was a pleasure once you get them Grammys.
He we got to sit down again for sure. Thank you.
Graciers Come Again is a production of Honey German Productions
in partnership with ihearts mic when through that podcast network.
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