Glockstar Dimi on Upstate New York, Fashion and ( G ) Corp

On this week’s episode of our podcast Monday to Monday, we speak with emerging rapper/fashion mogul Glockstar Dimi. Dimi and Mike discuss the New York state rapper’s recent single with Richie Souf and his last project, LOADIN(G)... Dimi got his start in hip-hop through fashion, and maintains its importance in cultivating a successful presence in the rap space. The duo covers a ton of ground in this interview before letting guests in for a Q and A, in which Dimi discusses the importance of fashion, being from upstate and how he embeds emotion in his music.

Early in the interview, Mike asks Dimi when he first knew that music could be a career. "When my friends started bumping my music. Like when my friends really started taking my music seriously,” he responds. This emphasis on his friends’ opinions comes up a lot throughout the interview, because if his friends enjoy the music, that suggests the world will as well. Dimi also shares some stories about when folks first started bumping his songs.

They go on to address the rapper’s recording process, something he has been fleshing out for the past year or so. "When I record, I want the song to come out the first time, like how I hear it. I don't wanna keep recording it over and over and over,” he says. Recording LOADIN(G)... helped him develop this process, encouraging him to record things the right way on the first take.

Responding to a question from a fan, Dimi discusses his collective ( G ) Corp and how he perceives the future of the group. "We make clothes, music. I got producers, we got people that build tech, photographers, stylists. It's just like a creative lab,” he says. He continues, saying: "I wanna make something more than a fashion house, like if you could put a fashion house and Apple in one thing." It’s certainly an ambitious undertaking, but with Dimi at the helm, it’s well within reach.

Mike asks Dimi about his upbringing in upstate New York and early commitment to fashion. Although he was partially raised in NYC, Dimi still claims upstate as home. "I'm from upstate. I grew up here. I got my bumps and bruises here. I got my heartbroken here. I got a hit out here. Everything that ever happened to me, happened upstate,” he says, and adds: "Upstate, when you come here, there's so much culture that people don't know about.” The upstate scene is relatively unknown compared to the city scene, and thus he feels a responsibility to ride for his home. On his genesis in the fashion world he also has interesting advice. "I was fashion first. If you not fashion first, it's not really gonna work for you,” he says. Part of Dimi’s success can be attributed to his commitment to looking fly, a commitment that many artists overlook.

They close the interview with a discussion of the emotional quality of Dimi’s music. "I just want people to be able to feel what I'm talking about... You could talk about a whole bunch of shit, but if it's not relatable to people bro, people not gonna gravitate towards it. So I always try and make sure my music's relatable,” he says. This emotional relatability is part of what makes Dimi’s music so raw and so enjoyable.

If you loved this episode and want to hear more of Mike and the gang talking with artists, producers and managers, make sure to check out last week’s episode, when he spoke with 2KBABY’s manager, Danny Hajj.