Toronto
rapper and Northstarr label head D.O. (short for ‘Defy the Odds’)
presents “Never Gets Old”, his new Classified-produced single featuring
Maestro Fresh Wes. “Never Gets
Old” appears on Down Home,
D.O.’s album produced entirely by JUNO award-winning producer
Classified and
also featuring Joell Ortiz, Saukrates, Chad Hatcher, Mic Boyd, Spesh K,
J-Bru and Jake Boyd. D.O. is the 2003 Guinness World Record holder for
longest freestyle rap (watch),
a regular public speaker with his own school tour program Stay Driven, a
Toronto Independent Music Award nominee (for his 2007 album Northstarr),
a #1 CMJ artist and regularly performs internationally, most recently
performing as one half of the duo Art Of Fresh alongside Snoop Dogg and
ASAP Rocky at Croatia’s Fresh Island Fest, Europe’s biggest beach
festival. 2014 releases from D.O. include the Home
For The Summer mixtape (listen),
as well as videos for “I Live For This” (watch) and “Still In It” (watch).
“It was great to work with an artist I have looked up to since I picked
up the microphone,” D.O. says of his collaboration with Maestro Fresh
Wes. “The track – and the video – are about having that same love for
Hip-Hop as when you started. It was great to
go back to my hometown to shoot the video and kick it with the same
crew I hung out with when I was a teenager.”
What made you decide to be a rapper?
At first it was just loving the music.
But it was studying the business and the moves that went into having a career that made me take it serious.
I always looked up to rappers that were able to have a long career instead of being a one-hit
wonder, so I looked at ways I could do that for myself as well.
What moves did you make that helped you break into these international shows you do so often?
It's all about relationships.
I was just talking to an artist who wanted to do some shows in Europe but has never been there and doesn't know anyone.
They think that their music will do well over there because Europeans like "real hip-hop."
I remember I used to think like this.
I had to go to Europe to find out what the scene was really like instead of what I thought it might be.
It took building relationships with DJs, artists, promoters in order to travel there and be able to do some good shows and make the time worthwhile.
What was it like working with Maestro Fresh Wes?
It's always a blessing when you can work with someone that you grew up listening to.
Wes is great. We'd talked about doing a song for years, but you always want to make sure you have the right track and this one fit the bill.
What can we expect from your next album?
Sooner than later!
I'm putting work in over the next month to have it ready for the summertime.
But then I keep getting new beats sent to me and I want to keep creating.
But I think we have the bulk of the album done so I'm looking forward to releasing it.
Any advice for upcoming rappers?
I think it’s important to focus on the craft.
Making good music, building up songwriting skills and performance skills, but then it’s also important to get out there.
Attend music conferences and build
relationships with artists and business people so that it can help take
your career to the next level.
Always got to stay
driven!