How to Make The Internet Love You: D. Julien Makes His Entrance

In July of this year, Brooklyn rapper D. Julien released his first mixtape, Let Me Introduce Myself. After slowly leaking individual tracks to the Internet from the time he started recording, the mixtape has earned over 1,000 downloads thanks solely to Julien’s self-promotion. He’s an unknown currently flooding the blogosphere as much as he can, already hailed by some as the beginning of a new breed of hip-hop musicians that are different from what mainstream marketing would have you expect. Three months after that mixtape’s release and a number of interviews later, what else might be on the agenda for a young man who, if he plays his hand right, is poised to be the underground’s next breakout?

At one-thirty on a Thursday afternoon, D. Julien’s just getting out of school.

“I get out at this time every day,” he says, announcing to me that he’s done for the afternoon. His day is now his own.

At 17, D. Julien is now a high school senior this year. He’s at the top of chain, finally, among all the upperclassman ready to ditch the routine, except unlike the majority of his peers, he’s already figured out how to get a start in the business he wants to pursue. During the day, Julien’s like any other American teen trying to finish his homework, but he simultaneously uses any free time to manage and promote his own musical career.

Produced by Buzz and Neek Rusher, Let Me Introduce Myself is D. Julien’s attempt to do just as the title suggests. He’s looking to get his voice heard by as many people as possible, putting out solid (free) product and then generating all of the hype himself through contacting individual publications. D. Julien has no problem with mainstream artists in hip-hop right now that he’s most-likely to be compared to—the Soulja Boys and the Lil’ Mamas of the industry, but he also wants to make it clear that his own style flips the script a little. He’s keen to make music that people can groove to, but he doesn’t only want to be limited to catchy hooks.

“[It’s] about making sure that art and the substance of lyricism are still there,” he says. In his experience, listeners don’t want to have to think too hard when they first hear a new artist or new record. His approach attempts to seduce an audience with a good rhythm and then challenge their ideas with the kinds of self-aware thoughtfulness they might not see coming from a senior in high school. If the general public doesn’t anticipate teenagers to exhibit introspection beyond whining about failed crushes, then D. Julien banks on getting to broadside a lot of unsuspecting ears.

So far, the response has been overwhelming. Prior to the mixtape’s release, Julien had a handful of original demos and a few freestyles uploaded to his Myspace page. He says that convincing people to really hear him has become much easier now that he’s got a body of work to reference, but the way online media has embraced him so quickly is still unexpected. Other underground artists have even reached out to him, including Donny Goines and Chicago’s own Mickey Factz. “People telling me they like it is incredible,” he says. “It motivates me.”

He hopes the exposure will continue to give him an opportunity to keep putting out music and possibly work with some of the people that inspired him to record, both in hip-hop and outside of it. Like many music listeners growing up with a plethora of music and media one mouse-click away, D. Julien’s tastes and style are a mix of a variety of genres. The track “Open Mic Live” features Julien rhyming over a George Benson jazz instrumental, which he’s found even brings in older listeners who might otherwise dismiss him. About blending in elements that people might not automatically associate with hip-hop, D Julien says it’s all a testament to how he likes to make it hard for anyone to box him in artistically. He says, “I don’t like to be categorized. Ultimately I rap, but I listen to everything and use that.”

The challenge is in getting his audience to feel comfortable enough to take in those experiments with an open mind. However, for him it’s worth it, because when something a little left-field works, it could also potentially make up the track that sparks a new trend. He plans to keep listeners guessing on his next album as well, saying that, “the next mixtape is hopefully going to be the one that really separates me.”

D. Julien performs new material at NYC’s Urban Music Festival

This doesn’t mean that he isn’t open to any criticism. In fact, it’s feedback from people who listened to his music that has encouraged D. Julien to make his next album a completely clean record. No cursing, no use of the N-word—nothing. He sees it as an experiment, and the question waiting to be answered is whether or not it might allow him to reach an even broader fanbase. “That was the one real big criticism I had: too much cursing,” he says. “They say, ‘oh, we like the music, but there’s too much cursing,’ and I’m trying to make music for everybody.” But if his current mixtape is supposed to be a reflection of the way he is and the way he speaks, does he think deliberately editing those parts of himself could be difficult or come off as disingenuous?

“No. I have a wide range of vocabulary,” D. Julien says, chuckling. “So it’s not difficult for me.”

The other truth is that D. Julien doesn’t want to be misleading and distract listeners with foul language. He doesn’t see himself as a rough person. He isn’t in the streets, he does well in school, and at the end of October, he was visiting colleges to see about taking up a major in Communications. For him, hip-hop is partially a vehicle to tell his story, but it’s not quite the same tale he’s already heard told. More than anything else, writing and recording gives him an opportunity to interact with a genre he’s enthusiastic about and hopes to make a living pursuing.

Early in the fall, he performed at New York’s Urban Music Festival and was also approached by a couple of independent labels, but signing isn’t his top priority for the moment. Music isn’t his get rich quick scheme. Julien’s working to build his career carefully and on his own terms. He says, “[The music industry] is evolving. It is about money, but for me it’s about integrity before money. I won’t say names, but when you offer 70/30 in publishing and still have control over what I’m working on, then that’s not beneficial for me. I want to have creative control.”

D. Julien wants to be able to take his time and cultivate a business model that makes him happy. So far he’s on the right track. “People are actually starting to approach me now,” he says, and he wants to make the most of those opportunities by nurturing them carefully. One of the benefits of starting so young is that there really is no rush. He doesn’t want to rely too much on his youth and the illusion of having all the time in the world, but he also reminds himself not to jump the gun and make hasty decisions. What remains most important is continuing to make quality material worth releasing.

“I just like to be different; that’s big for me,” D. Julien says. “Not weird-different, but you’ve got to stand out. There’s a billion rappers. You got to stand out.”
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For more information and download links for the mixtapes, visit http://www.myspace.com/djulien.

- Chanelle Johnson