Lil Donyel
Lil Donyel on the rise…
Arriving late to the Lil Donyel party, we present an exclusive listen, look, & discussion about some of the Portland by LA artist’s tracks & videos off the upcoming Dony Le Blow mixtape available June 6 via DatPiff. Having dropped releases previously on imprints like Afterlife Records, Afternoons Modeling, Gnar Tapes, Splash Tapes, etc; we had a chance to get know the young west coast creative don a little bit better as we discussed his upcoming appearance at Deathstock (hosted by Death Records), being his own producer under the handle Minderals1 along with all of the various projects in motion.
Premiering the phonetic and catchy “*Brpp Brpp*” produced by airboyexpress; Donyel gives us a taste of that city life all the while coming at you with his signature fuzz-treated vocal execution. And like another trademark of the Lil Donyel method, the title is used as the chorus hook of which every reiteration hinges off of a weedy haze narrative stream. “*Brpp Brpp*” repeats it’s belching loops as the very title describes everything from cell phone calls to just blowing smoke.
Presenting the debut of the @skinnyjesus420 video for “Gritsn’Eggs”, Lil Donyel brings some lo-fi morning glory routines to start your day off right. Standing as high and tall as the sun, Donyel breaks into some jubilant dance moves while enjoying a mellow sunrise out in the yard. Grinning ear to ear, the breakfast bell call is sounded through lo-tek fashioned nursery rhymes where Lil Donyel takes the roll of the Mother Goose-master of ceremonies.
Lil Donyel entertains his sophomoric side with the scuzzy Don Juan boasts on “Wett”, complete with over exposed video and abstract image montages. To be featured off the forthcoming Dony Le Blow mixtape, the delivery if fuzzy & feral while the super-syrupy trap-production drips like melting PC motherboards. It’s the surreal and dazzlingly sinister-ish sound from the parts of known of the coolest west coast sectors that span north to south.
Lil Donyel keeps his trap game golden & 100 on “Molly Soda” featuring more beguiling and head floating production by his Minerals1 alter ego. The internet artist/icon in the title is dropped in a stream of consciousness stew, not unlike the po-mo barrage of iconoclasts that have been featured in some of Lil B’s classic tracks (see “Bill Clinton”, “Fuck Kevin Durant”, among a host of other name checked celebrities that have been the subject of a Lil B song in recent years). Donyel here presents the persistent quest for the URL famous life (on that lo-fi/minimal-tek budget/diet), featuring filmwork by Finken.
Turning up an overpass, Lil Donyel brings more of that Minerals1 slow-fade movement on “It’s Cold” where half awake rounds of confident expressions are told as if drifting in and out of consciousnesses. The freeway surroundings provide another layer of afternoon idolatry that advocates for lazy days and reckless loitering. Read our interview with Lil Donyel now.
Describe how your Portland roots have helped shaped your creative consciousness.
Growing up in Portland is weird, especially being half black & half white. I was raised by my grandma Tedi because my mom and dad were gone, not around, except for visiting sometimes but for a short amount of time. Where I used to be filled with resentment and hatred mixed with unconditional love, I now see and accept they were so young when they had me and as an adult now, I don’t blame them for leaving me. My mother and grandma are really strong. My grandma did an amazing job and I will always be thankful for her love and care she had in raising me and supporting me, she always pushed me to be creative and I have always been involved in making art. Where I come from in Portland is different than all this “Portlandia” shit. I grew up extremely poor, sometimes we barely had food or had none at all. I come from the numbers, by Gateway where a lot of cultures are mashed together and there’s a lot of skinhead type fools who don’t like that. I used to get harassed a lot as a kid with a huge Afro and children’s Fubu clothes. I always had a keyboard and loved rap music since I was in diapers. When I entered into the music scene in Portland around 2010-ish, I fell in love with—at the time—a very accepting crowd of people who weren’t restricted by their aesthetic/race/origins/wealth all making really dope shit and basically being the string that held the town together. The Gnar Tapes boys and entire roster were so diverse and talented, they showed me the ropes of playing shows and became my second family. I was really intrigued by the whole thing and knew that I was where I belonged. With the weirdos and creatives. The environment is so diverse to develop in, so much to hear and experience it gives you a lot of musical perspective.
Give us the ballad & rise of Lil Donyel, describing how you came into your own as an artist & emcee.
I grew up on a lot of Bay Area rap, My mother dated the legendary Mac Dre for several years when I was a child. I have a photo album of them just smoking blunts, etc, and me chillin’ in his Escalade. I’ve always loved rap music the most out of anything because of how much room there is for innovation. I’ve always been rapping, people always just assumed I had a rap project like in high school so me and some buddies recorded a satirical Christmas album where I had a “Hannukah Song” I think that was my first recording. After high school I wanted to keep recording, I suck at guitar so a band wasn’t for me, I tried though, until I discovered noise music and the experimental scene and realized I could suck as an artistic/aesthetic choice. So I made up Donnie Blossoms, my first project I put time into, it was just simple synth shit with really badly mixed vocals and good melodies but no structure. I was still making rap on the side but it wasn’t my main focus. Then I became @DEAD_BAE which was me at my worst most Xanax’d out stage but also when I first started to think about taking rap more seriously, I made like one video. Then I switched back to Minerals1, my production project which I started after Donnie Blossoms in like, 2012. Over the last few years I’ve been making around four beats a day every day and last year I made the Fuck12 mixtape on DatPiff which is when I officially realized rap was my comfort zone, its always been there for me and with so many royalty free beats that I had been creating I just decided to stop putting out instrumentals and rap over everyting I have. Lil Donyel came about shortly after I dropped Fuck12, I realized after so many name changes that MY REAL name was the best to use all along. So this project is basically me in my true form. Like Super Saiyan or some shit.
A meditative moment with Lil Donyel; press photo courtesy of the artist.
Describe the creative synergy you share with your executive producer Minerals1.
[laughs]Well, we share the same blood. Minerals1 is my producer name, which is sometimes confusing to people, it’s like split personas. When I’m in that mode I am a studio rat, working a couple hours on a beat then while I’m making the beat I’ll come up with a hook and go from there.
Give us the breakdown on your most recent tracks and videos for “Molly Soda”, “Wettt”, “Its Cold” ft. OG Skinny Jesus, & “Grits & Eggs”.
All these tracks are for my new mixtape Dony Le Blow coming out June 6 on DatPiff and Bandcamp. These videos have been really fun to work on, I’ve been pushing myself to make videos almost every week, editing them myself and throwing them up online before I pass out sometime around 5am usually [laughs]. The one with OG Skinny was a lot of fun to do, we just filmed it on the way to Burger King. I got a sundae and some fries.
Introducing Lil Donyel; photograph courtesy of the artist.
What else are you cooking up in the works?
Working on a lot of collabs and features there’s gonna be a lot on the Dony Le Blow mixtape. Been working with Yung Bruh, Souljahwitch, Lil Tracy, Abreeda9000, and more…
My little homies from back in the day Sporty & Icee-bOI are linking me with their homie from Oakland, Stunny and I’m excited to work with that nigga. I’ve got some stuff coming with a lot of homies from back home…Danny Denim, Mike Laary and more. I’m gonna stay reaching out to people to work on tracks, I have a long list of people I wanna rap with and nothing but storage space on my laptop.
Tell us which artists you are most excited to see and kick it with at Deathstock.
Oh man, so many. A lot of my friends are playing that, the day that I play my homies White Fang / The Memories get back from a two month European tour they are currently on so I’m very excited to smoke a blunt with them again and hear stories from abroad. I’m stoked I’m playing with Harry Talin (fka Trailblazer) at McT’s Bullpen, also cant wait to see Mild High Club, CCR Headcleaner, White Fence and Little Wings.
Lil Donyel flashing bills; press photo.
As an artist who has dropped releases on Gnar Tapes, Afterlife Records, Afternoons Modeling, etc; what’s next in the play book of Lil Donyel?
Lots of DatPiff releases to be honest, I’m gonna just keep cranking out mixtapes every month or so. Working on my networking clout and hopefully catching the eye of a label on my wishlist!
I have a couple of labels that I have in mind, there’s so many good ones. I’ve always liked 4AD as well as Olde English Spelling Bee, they put out so much good material. My manager used to help run Hippos In Tanks back when it was around. I want to reach out to more rap labels.
As groups and labels I really feel Thraxxhouse, Divine Council, Metro Zu, and GOTH Money they all do so much, them boys really work hard.
Sorry I talk a lot, I’m just really excited this is my first interview!
Shout out to ALL MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS, Jono mi Lo, Sean Bowie, Lil Tracy, Jimmy V, My best friend Dustyn Astbury, Hannah, Hess, Abreeda, Toonworld, Wakefield, Mike Laary, Danny Denim, LTBP, 100PCK, KWC, DPG, WHOK, BKF, GNAR TAPES, my fans, my exes, uncle steve, grandpa, my family, THE PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS, all the teachers that told me I wasn’t good enough and to every woman in the world, your beauty and strength amazes me daily.
Lil Donyel’s Dony Le Blow mixtape is available now via DatPiff.
