We were lucky to catch up with Darryl Coley recently and have shared our conversation below.

Darryl, appreciate you joining us today. Has your work ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized?

It’s hard for people to grasp my way thinking/moving. I’m introverted, I don’t follow trends/crowds, I don’t eat meat.. I don’t drink, smoke, pop pills, none of that. When vacations are planned, I would much rather go to Montana than to Miami, etc. This is all due to how I grew up. I was taught & molded to be me. However that may look to you, it works perfectly for me. Then when you add music to it, one would assume that I want to be center of attention, but that’s never the case. My talking comes inside the music. I dare you to listen. I may not make the “popular” music, but you can’t ever say I’m wack and once you actually listen, you’ll definitely learn a lot about me and you will be able to relate in more ways than you think.

Darryl, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I got introduced to hip hop by my Uncle Frank. I remember being 5 years old & rapping words to Too Short “Short Dog’s In The House” album. Too Short is without a doubt the reason why I love women so much. And that’s how my love for Hip Hop started. Then it was Pete Rock & CL Smooth, Gang Starr, Scarface, Geto Boys, Rakim, KRS-One, Wu-Tang, Black Moon, Nas, Jay-Z, Tha Alkaholiks, King T., Ras Kass, OutKast and so on & so on. I”m a purist. I learned from all of these guys on how to put words together, how to say it, how it make have a double/triple meaning. It’s beautiful. Hip Hop has definitely saved my life. That’s the part that separates me from most of my peers. I learned from the past. Not just in hip hop neither. We talking about Sade, Parliament, Smokey Robinson, Prince, Sam Cooke, Glady’s Knight, The Commodores, The Manhattans, Gap Band, like… come on. Music is deeply rooted in me. I’m most proud of just being able to say I have music in the world. Even if only 1 person ever heard, that’s more than enough for me. Stay tuned, though. Trust me.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Being on stage. It’s a feeling I can’t explain.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

Balance. Everything needs balance. Turn on the radio and everything sounds the same/everybody sound alike. The Culture is so big that you’re missing out on so many artist because it isn’t “popular.”

Contact Info:

• Website: www.VAR540.com
• Instagram: selfone218
• Twitter: selfone218

Image Credits
ShotByCurry & B’Lystic Productions