EXCLUSIVE – Flipp Dinero has been using his time in quarantine wisely. While the world shut down due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the Brooklyn rapper managed to find a way to keep his workflow going in a time where the music industry was hit hard by the pandemic. He found solace in his studio, where he spent much of his quarantine working on the new music he has on the way.
“[You see] a lot of people can’t maintain mentally because of the quarantine,” Dinero told HipHopDX as he sat in the middle of his studio. “But if you love what you’re doing and if you’re a real hustler, this time was just beneficial to you.”
This time off is a gold mine for artists like Dinero who live to create through their means of art. He was able to extract all the distractions that come with being a celebrity, like being on the move 24/7, and actually sit down and hone into his craft. He could’ve done anything else with his time, but the fact that he locked himself up with his music shows how dedicated he is to put his best product out.
“I honestly just worked, and I kept making music,” Dinero said. “I made two LPs during the [quarantine]. I didn’t have too much bullshit around me. I was able to tap in with my senses, bro, and it’s such a different feeling when you sit down, you meditate, and then you create something.”
Fans will be happy that Dinero has two albums locked and loaded in the chamber. His last project, LOVE FOR GUALA, came last year and introduced listeners to the rapper whose hypnotizing croon took over New York City’s airwaves with tracks like “Looking At Me” featuring Rich the Kid and “How I Move” featuring Lil Baby.
Dinero’s biggest hit, “Leave Me Alone,” put him on the scene and gave him a taste of the success he’s always dreamed of having as a kid growing up in Canarsie, Brooklyn. Not every artist can get a quadruple-platinum record these days, and Dinero understands how important that is, especially for those in his native Canarsie, a place that’s been getting exposure thanks to the late Pop Smoke.
The latest chapter in Dinero’s career comes in the form of his new single “No No No,” featuring fellow New York rapper-singer A Boogie wit da Hoodie. The song details how the two stars are living their lives with no answers to the distractions that are trying to stop them on their journey to success.
“There’s so much bullshit happening, but I know I see the tunnel at the end of the vision,” Dinero said about the new song. “I’m trying to make an impact with this album, bro. Not only with the album but with the music that I’m coming out with too.”
DX spoke more with Dinero about his upcoming album, his time off in quarantine, how “No No No” came together, how he evolved as an artist, his relationship with DJ Khaled and more.
HipHopDX: How has this on-going quarantine been treating you? What did you do to keep yourself sane? It’s not like rappers have an employee union or something like that.
Dinero: I found different endeavors, you know what I’m saying? I got myself dug into real estate and I furthered my investments and stocks.
HipHopDX: What made you want to get into real estate of all things?
Dinero: Shit, man. Just being smart with your money, you know what I’m saying? Hearing all these things that are happening in the world, it’s like damn you see how quarantine hit? We didn’t see that coming, you know what I’m saying? So imagine how many artists out there, how many people out there that’s just fucked up financially. If you got the opportunity to do something with your bread, do that shit. And that’s just how I felt. It was more so finding a different endeavor and just getting my bread stacked as I go.
View this post on Instagram
HipHopDX: What’s the most important thing you learned about yourself throughout this time off?
Dinero: Man, I didn’t know I’d like being by myself so much. I didn’t know, bro. I was so caught up in the life, you know what I’m saying? The shows. I love it, you know what I’m saying? But damn it feels good to just sit back and actually recollect your thoughts and what you want to do, what you’re trying to accomplish. I ain’t going to lie, man. Staying with myself was something I did not know I would love it. Gangsta.
HipHopDX: You’ve been collecting some plaques. You got a quadruple-platinum record with “Leave Me Alone,” you got a platinum record with “How I Move” featuring Lil Baby. You’re able to craft these hits with ease. What’s the science behind it?
Dinero: Shit. It’s just being loyal to the music. I can’t tell you. If I was to give you a recipe, man, I’d be lying. You know what I’m saying? In all honesty, bro, I just stay to myself. I really focus on the craft and I really just try to be creative. You know what I’m saying? A lot of people use that term creative, they use it too loosely. They just use that shit. I really try to emphasize on how could I say this a certain type of way at this tone, and how would it catch people? I’m really trying to get into detail with this shit. It’s just me being loyal to the crowd, bro. But I got way more shit, I’ll tell you that. For real. For real, bro.
HipHopDX: What is the new single “No No No” featuring A Boogie all about?
Dinero: “No, No, No,” that was pretty much just a vibe from me to the streets. Like yo, I take my chances, like I really took my chances in front of y’all and I’m living my life with no answers, like a lot of people are living their life with no answers. We human, we can’t see the future. You know what I mean? Sometimes we go through shit and it’s just me venting like damn, I’m really living my life with no answers. That’s why if you hear it I’m really speaking on accomplishing better while I’m telling people yo I’m going through it. But I already know I’m bigger and better than I am. It’s just a vow to the streets, man.
HipHopDX: Why was A Boogie the best feature for this record and how did it come together?
Dinero: I felt like A Boogie would be the best fit, because bro, it’s Boogie, bro. He’s mad melodic. He’s an artist, legit. You know what I’m saying? Very creative and emotional and I feel like no one can capture that vibe like he can. The way it came about was just like alright, boom. Me and Boogie, we linked up several times in the past, but he brought me out to Las Vegas and made me perform on his set. He showed me love, bro. I ain’t going to lie. But I feel like yo, if I was just to create something and present it to him that I was just worthy enough, he would hop on it and that’s exactly what happened, bro. I manifested it and it came true. You know what I’m saying?
HipHopDX: What does this new record mean for you as you enter a new chapter in your career?
Dinero: A big one. You know you be asking me them serious questions [laughs]. I just be living life, bro. I just do shit and move on, you know what I’m saying? But nah, this track for me, bro, now that I think about it, I feel like it’s just a stepping stone, bro. It’s a goal that I reached. It’s showing people I’m still here. You know? I’m not going anywhere, bro. This shit is really real, bro. I’m an inspiration to a lot of niggas in the hood, bro. A lot of people look at me like “Yo dog, I can’t believe you’re doing this shit and you’re right here in front of my face.” So for me, this shit is a stepping stone and it’s a goal I reached.
HipHopDX: What are you trying to tell people in this new era of your career?
Dinero: I want people to know Flipp Dinero is the underdog that achieved what they said he couldn’t achieve. Flipp Dinero is that swaggy motherfucker from the block that really did it, and he never forgot about his homies. You know what I’m saying? I’m trying to show people that I could be versatile. I could rap for you, I could sing, I could do all that and I could do what you know me for doing plus more. You know what I’m saying? I’m trying to emphasize I’m really a versatile mother fucker. Stop sleeping and wake up.
HipHopDX: What can we expect from this new album you have on the way?
Dinero: Vibes, bro. Vibes. Nothing but vibes and energy. I got love songs, I got songs for the streets. Bro, I got a lot of shit, bro. I’m just happy that I actually get to display the creativeness. I’m really about to show people that I’m not just making music. I’m not just going in saying a hook or a verse, no bro, I’m really putting thought into the lyrics and into the way shit’s done, like certain cadences to the lyrics. I’m really trying to show people it’s more to this shit than what you think.
HipHopDX: With a new album I’m sure you worked hard on elevating your sound. How’d you achieve that and what was the journey like in creating this new album?
Dinero: The journey for this LP bro, was totally different. It was not the same as it would have been for the last two projects that I dropped. I caught myself doing things that I wasn’t comfortable with like I hate being in environments where there’s a lot of people unless I’m doing a show or some shit. I took the time to sit back, actually go to a party, and just observe how people react and move. I was just putting myself in uncomfortable situations just to stimulate my senses musically so that I would go back home and apply it to my music. Like alright, bet, I see people move to this type of vibe so let me create a vibe like this. It was different, bro, but you got to do things that you not comfortable with in order to grow. With pain comes growth, you know what I’m saying? With this tape you going to hear a lot of painful music. You going to hear a lot of emotional music.
View this post on Instagram
HipHopDX: With you putting yourself in difficult situations, what was the most hardest thing to get comfortable with creating this new album?
Dinero: Artists tend to judge themselves a little too much. Artists tend to create and observe their creation and analyze it a little bit too much. You know what I’m saying? Some niggas just got to let shit live. That was it, bro. I was just letting shit live and I wasn’t judging myself too much with the music. I was actually letting my senses just be free and just come up with vibes.
HipHopDX: Speaking of vibes, what type of sounds are you experimenting with on the production side?
Dinero: I actually found myself getting closer to my roots with this album. I hear a lot of instruments and certain things that just give me flashbacks of me being young. If you hear “No No No” you hear flutes. If you hear “How I Move” you hear [whistles]. There’s a lot of things that are going on with this LP. There’s definitely a Caribbean, emotional weird vibe to it, man. I don’t know how to explain it, bro. It’s a vibe.
HipHopDX: What expectations do you have for the album?
Dinero: With this album, bro, in all honesty, I want people to really understand who Flipp is. I want people to understand like yo we know Flipp for the previous work that he’s put out and we know he’s a hitmaker. I can only imagine what an LP from Flipp would be. I don’t want to say yo, I just want to put out a tape just to satisfy the fans. Nah, bro. I want to put out a tape to prove a point. I want to put out a tape to show people listen to this kid knows how to create vibes. I’m really trying to show people like yo this is what good music is, and this is what good music from the heart is.
A lot of music in this day and age, bro, is watered down. It’s repetitive and it’s watered down. You know what I’m saying? The artists that are in the game right now, thank God bro, because these artists are actually putting in work. But there’s a lot of shit that’s out there that’s watered down, bro. I just want to be listed amongst the greats, bro. Lil Baby, DaBaby, A Boogie, feel me? [DJ] Khaled, JAY-Z, you know what I’m saying? I want to be a part of that and that’s what I’m trying to show people, bro. I got work that’s real work. It’s not that fugazi. It’s real work.
HipHopDX: You mentioned DJ Khaled whose label you’re signed to currently. What’s your relationship like with him?
Dinero: Khaled, that’s my big brother. He’s a very energetic person, enthusiastic, bro. He’s very uplifting. He’s always looking at the cup being half full as opposed to half-empty, you know what I’m saying? He always pushing you to be bigger and greater than you are. That’s how Khaled is to me just by being on the phone with him for phone calls to the texts to when we actually in person. The love he just shows me like, “Yo Flipp, come on, come eat or come bump this beat.” It’s just vibes with him, bro.
That’s really my big brother. He really makes me being in the rap game, he makes me appreciate being in the rap game even more, because it shows you that there’s actually still real people that’s in this mother fucker, you know what I’m saying? Thank god “Leave Me Alone” did what it did, I proved my point and showed people. Khaled believed in me before all of this shit popped off. Khaled, Jonny Shipes, Epic.
HipHopDX: What’s the most important advice that Khaled has given you?
Dinero: Never stop. It was just so broad, but you got to understand from those two words, never stop. Legit when you feel like getting tired, yo never stop. Fuck, all that. I can’t stop. You feel me? It just does something to your brain. I’m a little different, bro. I’m a weird smart mother fucker, you feel me? So I can hear the most simplest shit and that shit will stick with me, bro. Never stop. Swear to god. Go harder.
Even if you feel like people are doubting you, just keep the vision alive. You know what I mean? Keep putting in that work, you know what I’m saying? Because even if you was to stop right now, at least you’re closer to your goals than prior and that’s just always something I keep in mind. Keep going, never stop. Keep the vision alive, man.
Check out more content on Flipp Dinero here and here. His last project LOVE FOR GUALA can be streamed below.