By Garrett Caples
D-Lo
“Once I heard myself on the song,” D’Angelo Porter says about his studio efforts one night two years ago, “I was like, ok, that’s me right there.” He was right: thanks to “No Hoe,” the man known as D-Lo soon found himself a full-blown celebrity in various ‘hoods.
“In Oakland, I might hear whispers,” he says, “like, ‘There go D-Lo.’ But out of town, like Fremont or Sac, they be chasin’ me down.” One excited fan, encountering him at a gas station in Pittsburg, asked him for a hug, only to promptly “pee on herself” after receiving it. This ghetto Beatlemania hasn’t gone to D-Lo’s head, however, but only inspired him to grind harder.
Thanks to “No Hoe”’s popularity, KMEL found itself getting tons of requests for a song they couldn’t play on the radio. “They was telling me it was too vulgar,” he recalls, “too much cussin’ and all that.”
D-Lo, "No Hoe"
As implausible as it seems, D-Lo managed to make an acceptably “clean” version, which did receive airplay; he also put together a high-profile remix featuring Beeda, E-40, and the Jacka, which is spinning everywhere from San Diego to Vegas. One of the remix’s most fascinating features is the way all three veterans adapt their flow to D-Lo’s, partly encouraged by the beat itself, but also, one senses, because they want to try the rhythm out. This might be the ultimate complement to a young, homegrown MC.
D-Lo, "You Played Me"
“I grew up on hella Bay Area rap,” D-Lo affirms. “That’s all I listened to when I was younger: Keak, Jacka, RBL Posse. Mac Dre was like a big influence to me. Now I’m working with the dudes I used to listen to.”
D-Lo’s debut album is titled Undeniable Talent. “I go to YouTube and look at the comments,” he says. “People say I can’t rap, I just got this one song. That’s why I’m doin’ this album and showing people how I get down with this pen. My pen game right now is killing. Only features I got right now are Sleepy and [Mistah] F.A.B. I don’t want features; I want a song that’s hot.”
"No Hoe" remix video shoot
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