Q) You have a lot of names, What do you go by these days?
“yeahhhh… you gotta stay elusive!!! I respond to whatever the people call me. You don’t choose your name, your name chooses you. That being said every name that has ever stuck, represents different layers of personality; alter egos. It breaks down 3 ways: ‘DJ WRAPID’ is an extrovert.. a man of the people. ‘WRAPINI’ is mysterious.. what does it mean? Why? ‘MARCO DIMARCO’ is the most altruistic; the purest form… the Bruce Wayne.”
Q) You have been in the mainstream for over a decade. Tell us about the evolution..
“I dropped out of High School & started DJ’ing my cousins house parties.. It later turned into publishing mixtapes on ‘datpiff’ under 5 or 6 monikers (not included above) that only a few people know about. I was a bloodhound in finding new music. I would wake up every morning & run through the blogs. I also had friends who were going to college that would put me on, then I would do an insane amount of research to elaborate on those leads. (The internet was a different place in 2008/2009 it was not an easy task. I was on artist’s ‘Soundclick’, ‘myspace’ & ‘blogspot’ the list goes on.. but I loved it!! I’m always searching for a narrative to give context to art. Sometimes context makes it bad; sometimes lack of context makes it better!) Later I officially started publishing mixtapes under ‘DJ WRAPID’ in 2011/2012. By that time I was DJ’ing in Buffalo 3-4 times a week. Most of my gigs were bars but Sunday’s were at a club called NoiR. ‘NoiR on Sundays’ was a weekly hip hop party & it was a first hand experience to the industry. The promoters would book big DJ’s from Hot 97 (New York) or Local from WBLK (Buffalo). They would book walk thru’s with National Artists or Host’s who were reality stars. There would be usually be 3 or 4 DJ’s on the bill & I would always have the opening spot. I was happy & grateful to be included & leveraged the access by building connections. Later in 2012 I had a guest DJ spot on Friday night’s on local urban station WBLK, which later led to me working for Hot 108 JAMZ for 8 years. I really enjoy radio!! During that time I was making trips to Toronto 2 or 3 times a month. Hot 108 was broadcast on RogersTV in Canada at the time, there were promoters who were familiar with what I was doing that were booking me. I met a lot of meaningful people in that era.”
Q) You became a seasoned veteran as a DJ in that 5 year span.. when did you transition to Artist?
“2013 I felt I was positioned to do just that.. I was performing out multiple times a week regionally..
I had developed relationships with singers & rappers to perform on music I produced & I also had relationships with other DJ’s on multiple stations in WNY/ Southern Ontario. I could be the liaison between the two parties while showcasing my own artistry; production. I worked on it for a year then OPENCEAZN linked J3 & I. Late 2014 we began recording. J3 wrote an incredible melody over a beat I had; that record became ‘Sex & Drugs’ & the rest is history. I utilized all of my relationships in terms of airplay while simultaneously rolling out a digital release schedule. We shot a video in Buffalo on a rooftop in 2015 with the skyline in the background. Video director DZ Williams had just moved back to Buffalo from Los Angeles & put together an incredible visual. It was groundbreaking for Buffalo at the time.. it was a Pop/R&B record that was ours!! I could hear it being played outside of bars, clubs & patios around the city, DJ’s I had never met would tag me on twitter & Instagram with videos of them playing it in the venue they were playing. We also made custom dub plates for all the radio DJ’s.. and it worked!!! Of course I played it every week on my radio show & we would perform it at gigs that I had lined up. The record hit 1 million streams in a few months which was not common in 2015; or at least not as common as it is today, considering the amount of Spotify users was a fraction of what it is currently. A year later in 2016, Miles B. & I cooked up a record on the ‘Set Good Riddim’ I had added trap snares, build ups, textures & a vocal melody for the hook where I sampled a piece of Miles B’s voice. The record became ‘All Night’. It was the same vibe as the previous record; Pop/R&B only with Caribbean Crossover. All things considered It was early on what eventually became a trend!
‘All Night’ also recieved video treatment from DZ Williams. It was fun & crazy! Somewhere in that time I went on live on national television, RevoltTV, to promote the records. They were club & radio friendly; It was on brand for ‘DJ WRAPID’. “
Q) After those 2 songs released there was a gap.. explain:
“The gap of time between the releases was me maintaining my busy DJ schedule & plotting where to go next. It is also when the moniker switched! ‘MARCO DIMARCO’ was starting to take the wheel more often. I began licensing music on VH1 & BET reality shows, I was also publishing Instrumental Albums; the first one being the ‘Lake Effect EP’. The EP was an ambient sample based R&B record. It’s still very special to me. 2019 was definitely a prologue in many ways. There was some major changes in my life that I knew were coming in the year ahead but I had an intuitive sense that there were other substantial changes that were impeding in my own life & the world around me. It’s easy to play Monday morning quarterback but that intuitive sense I had is well documented in the music on the Lake Effect EP. That moment is immortalized.
Q) Are there more solo releases on the horizon?
“Possibly, my focus is on constant growth. Ive seen a full decade cycle through first hand experience. There are patterns & trends in the creative process & the business side of things. I want to act with more honest intention. There were times I just did things to do them & it was beautiful!! I want to marry that with a grand plan.”
© 2023, Logan. All rights reserved.
