Welcome to the DKTM Series. The DKTM Collective, short for “DON’T. KILL. THE. MOVEMENT.”, is a collective of artists, producers, and overall creatives that have come together in order to pursue their artistic endeavors. They have bolstered an impressive fanbase within the DMV area and are reaching for even further heights with every project they release.
Every episode, we will focus on one of the collective’s artists, until we reach the end of the roster.
Below, we get into our fifth member, Blklexx.
Enjoy 😈
So what is the most difficult part of the music making process to you?
Oh wow, that’s a good question! So um most difficult part of the creative process honestly depends. So like sometimes if you’re working with a lot of people everybody works at different rates and every body has different schedules. So like for example if you’re working with beats you might get the beat at a certain time or even a little late. And then by the time you get the beat you might not have the time to write for it because your busy working on something else. So overall scheduling, and really giving yourself time to write, especially when working with other people is the hardest part.
Yeah, I definitely get that people are so inconsistent, so next questions is kinda weird and might be kinda hard to answer but if you could name your fan base what would they be called.
Oh wow, I honestly never gave thought to that!
I thought of something like movers, but I don’t think that makes sense
Movers??????????? (Looks at Morgan with Confusion)
Yeah you know like, Don’t Kill The Movement. But i was like you know never mind.
That name sounds like we sell drugs, or like we would probably endorse and solicit drug use and sale if that makes sense?
Haha, LMFAO Move That Fucking Weight!
(baatchoy comes in and informs everyone’s he’s running to one of the best spots in the DMV Hip-Hop Chicken)
Lex: Can you bring a half and half for me?
Reem: (Slaps Keys out of Lex’s hands): NO, NAH NIGGA, FUCK THAT. (Picks them up right away), I got you bro. Also for five dollars a day you can also have a Reem Unknown.
Lex: Aye bruh, yall gotta release the audio now, Reem always says some shit like that, one time he was completely calm and he told out friend Natalie. (As Reem): “Natalie can you stop making that noise it’s making me irate.”
Everybody's laughs,
Lex: Reem Is really funny as fuck, like one time. I had met Reem and knew him around but this is really around the time we started to hang out more and become cool. So one time this nigga came up to me, and with the deepest voice possible was like. ( As Reem): “I’m drunk enough to slap a nigga.
Waaaaaaaaiiiittttt. Okay so next question next question. So how do you make your self stand out in a group with so many people.
Ummm so one thing I’m glad I did was go bald, cause people look at me and be like oh this nigga bald and that grabs a lot of attention.
Right, that makes sense. So was that your choice or did someone go like aye you should shave your head?
No actually, I was like lemme just go bald. Actually lowkey, before I even went bald we were working on a song called Blklexx Luther, and really that song ended up being the last song on Metropolis “Adult Swim To a Minor”. Like the orginal song had a different verse and hook and all that but that's where the bald idea came from, so it was going to mini persona or character for me.
So what were you called before that?
I switched between different name honestly. Like at first my first rap name honestly was so dumb, it was one of those like Logic. Not to say logic is stupid or anything like that but that such a simple name, like his appeal is like he’s a rapper, rapper. And while there's nothing wrong with that I felt like I wanted to have a less generic name. And like his name works for him because he’s built a brand around all that but for me I wanted something different.
Yeah this can actually work for you bro, like you can build a brand around this.
Yeah exactly, like my first rap name was like ILLIAD, and i coulda kept it, and i fuck with that style of artist and rap but I wanted to be me. So then i changed my name to Maverick because my name is Erick. But then people started shotetning to Mav, and people still call me Mav depending on who you talk to. Then Nav came out and Mav was way too close to Nav, and this nigga has more clout then me so that killed the name. Then i came out with Blklexx. Especially after we started talking about metropolis, cause last year around the summer is when we came out with the overall concept of Metropolis. Honestly we technically started it like when we did “Adult Swim”, but we didn’t fully conceptualize “Metropolis” was a project until last summer. Like was started making crazy synthetic beats, and then we did “City Lights”, “Chop”.
Honestly metropolis goes crazy I first heard City Lights, then I heard White Rice and I was like damn!
Yeah man shout out to Dyyo for blessing with the first verse. Dyyo is so dope because he’s like super versatile, like he doesn't really focus on being like a rappity rap dude, but he can really rap. And he can give you all different types of verse and stuff. Bro like and then the way he came in on “White Rice” was crazy and i had to match his energy and live up to the name.
So let me ask you really quickly is there a Sci-fi movie that you would really like your music to be apart of. I ask that because you have an interesting sound to you, so is there a particular show or eben movie were you would be like damn if i could get my music on that would be great.
Twinks Peaks especially cause of the way they rebooted it. It’s an old show and it ended in ‘90, or ‘91. Twin Peaks is a really big influence on a lot of us in DKTM, like me, Tish Pope. Especially with references. Like Pope has bars about Twin Peaks. Like when he says; “That’s a message for the blind from a place between the pines.” Like there's a ton more Twin Peaks references I;m just blanking on some of them.
So in what ways do you inspire yourself when you are feeling apprehensive, or the inspiration isn't there.
I literally do something else, if i feel like i have writer's block. Well for me it's less writers block and the more you know…. I’ll put it this way I feel like when i;m feeling absolutely stuck i'll start reading something else like poetry, ill listen to music that’s not Hip-Hop related so like Bjork or something. So like listening to something that is not related to what I usually listen to or make, and usually that music will give me inspiration to come back to it. As for rapping itself, I’m a big hip-hop nerd so for me there's so many different ways to approach a verse and rapping that its hard for me to have completely writers block, and i don’t really force myself to write anything so i technically never really have it.
So kinda like spur in the moment type thing?
Yeah I try to be real spontaneous, so like i did a verse for the song that’s gonna be on Pope’s upcoming project.
Yeah that makes sense after you’ve been doing this for a while there’s certain times where you just know what you’re doing.
Yeah, it’s just about being comfortable with your writing style and process. LIke when i say I'm rapping nerd I really am a rap nerd, so i try to study as much as i can to the point where I understand what separates me from other people, and I am usually able to implement at will. So I;m usually not super stuck, and I just try to have fun, keep it loose and not be to tight about any of it.
I feel as though that should be something you should always so especially as an artist, because sticking to the same regiment won’t allow you to evolve.
Yeah, like all my favorite rappers a fairly borderline unpredictable one way or the other. Its either their actual rhyme schemes, their patterns, or it can be someone like DOOM who completely plays with your expectations almost every time he says anything. Like Doom will have whole bars where everything rhymes with each other then he might a punch line, drop off that topic, start something else, and its like what he’s rapping about is fresh every time you hear him. Another one Biggie is not necessarily that way with subject matters but he’s like that with his flows so the patterns themselves are unpredictable their just like so like slick. So i just try to make my rhyme schemes like you’re going somewhere. So not even like telling a specific story but using imagery, and the patterns themselves to get the point across. Like you can either rhyme patterns themselves work in such a way when people hear them you’re able to manipulate people’s ears with them. So you can use it to evoke different ides or evoke things.
Yeah that makes sense!
Like for example the way I rapped on “Youcanshakeyourassinhell”. The first verse me and the beat are like hand in hand. Like for me it starts out at a clasp, and the first verse is very hard up with the beat and by the end we start to merge to eventually come together.
Yeah, that was one of the more eccentric tracks I’ve heard on the album, and I was like damn this is crazy. I jumped around the project first but after I went back and listen to it from top to bottom everything started to make sense.
Yeah, I feel like that's an album you could technically listen to backwards, and it kinda flows. It works because “Youcanshakeyourassinhell” is like you’re going into the city, or like you’re going into this place that we have been and where taking you there. And then by the end we kinda break things down like for me Blk Lex. Lex Luthor is a human being and he hates Superman because Superman is like a God on Earth. And yeah Lex is greedy but there so many qualities about him that human and make him relatable that it’s kinda understandable in a weird way. And while Clark Kent is a representation of American norms and values fuck that cause America is on some bullshit.
Yeah lowkey Lex Luthor is an entrepenuer, but he’s one of the most evil niggas.
Exactly but he’s relatable, and he’s is known for bending these systems. So like this idea that Superman can like can represent America as this altruistic sort of whatever the fuck. I like Lex more because he’s more like exposes the nitty gritty of everything. One of the reasons I like Blklexx as as a name is because he also indulges in evil. And that’s where “City Lights” comes in. It's about how even though we hate evil, we indulge in it, and to a certain degree we like it.
Nah, that’s crazy I ain’t never thought about that now I gotta go back and re listen to the project.
Yeah, that’s why we put it in the first couple of bars, it's completely vague, but its necessary because you have to be apart of it. Like even “Youcanshakeyourassinhell”. That’s how we best describe being in the city, its like you can have a good time in hell.
So quick question, what was the concept behind “White Rice”.
Well Dyyo came with his first and he was talking about people throwing dirt on his name of looking down on him. My verse is continuing off that but for me it's about defying people who might look down on me. And fuck all the humility like you gotta recognize who you are, and I really don’t think that to many rappers would really really want to Rap with me.
Damn, why not?
Cause I mean a lot of people aren’t really on the bars, I mean some people are I could be wrong don’t get me wrong there’s some really great rappers. But that just me. Like people are weird you know they might not have the best intentions, but like anything its always weird navigating and dealing with people. Especially in a scene where you have eyes on you, but a lot of Metropolis was honestly about the state of where we were when making the album.
Damn Word, Well it was nice talking to you and learning more about you!
Big shout out to Blklexx for coming on and interviewing with Us! if you enjoyed this interview and want to stay up to date with Blklexx and future projects you can find him on Instagram. While you there be sure to check out his newest project; “The Waiting Room” which is above.
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