Nowadays, you have to stand out in the music industry, especially given the influx of new artists releasing music every single day. Insert D4M $loan, who arrives on the scene with his own unique sound, style, swag, and distinctive raspy voice — that’s quickly turned into a viral phenomenon on social media (specifically TikTok).
If you’ve heard his signature “rrruuuhhh,” you already know it’s a D4M $loan record. His ability to go from hard-hitting and aggressive to that bouncy Jersey Club style is one that’s not overlooked, and day-one fans can appreciate his diversity the most. In fact, D4M $loan and his rap partner Skiano who passed away reignited the Philly/Jersey Club house music scene for rappers in Philly when they released their song produced by Dj Tizz “Baby Shark” music video via youtube on Valentines Day 2020 in his hometown of Philly.
This was way before Lil Uzi Vert dropped “I Just Wanna Rock,” but D4M $loan humbly states he doesn’t need credit. Recently, he had the rare opportunity to chat with Uzi at the Roots Picnic… and Uzi knew exactly who he was.
At only 22 years old, D4M $loan describes himself as “one of the most unique creatives in the world. I ain’t going to say artist. Creative all around. Anything you could think of: music, fashion, lingo, business ideas, everything.”
With the virality of “Swagg Talk,” which even caught the attention of Lil Uzi Vert, and
“Drive Who Crazy” which caught the attention of Meek Mill, D4M $loan is excited as ever to release his highly-anticipated debut album titled I Couldn’t Decide releasing July 28th. Beyond the music, $loan also made his acting debut in Peacock’s “Bel-Air” and will be featured in the upcoming movie Old Heads.
AllHipHop spoke with D4M $loan in downtown Los Angeles, just one day after the BET Awards, which he attended. Read below as we discuss his roots in Philly, his sound, his name, going viral on TikTok, acting, his love for boxing, and more!
AllHipHop: When did you first discover your sound?
D4M $loan: My sound, the rrruuuhhh or the Jersey Club?
AllHipHop: Oh, are they two separate ones?
D4M $loan: Yeah basically. Even with my upcoming album titled “I Couldn’t Decide”. You get the dark me, “make me wanna get up!” [raspy voice] Or the Jersey Club, “gang gang gang.” [snaps] It came along just being in the studio creating. You want to be as different as possible. What’s something nobody never did before?
AllHipHop: Talk about reigniting the Philly, Jersey Club house music scene.
D4M $loan: See, I’m one of the humblest people when it comes to that. A lot of people feel like I should be like, “yo, they’re not giving me credit!” Credit is cool, but it ain’t everything. I see everybody winning, and I knew I played a major part in it. That means a lot to me to know I contributed. It was the 50th year anniversary of Hip-Hop, these past four years, I contributed to it. Heavy, too, major. A lot of people probably don’t understand that. For those who do, I deeply appreciate it. Gangsta. [laughs] And people hearing it, it makes them ask, “damn, who are you?”
AllHipHop: Do you have to put effort into making your voice like that? The rrrruuuhhh.
D4M $loan: See, it kind of stuck with me. When I laugh, “Haha.” [deep voice] It’s soothing. I’m not real loud, like “whatchu mean….” [deep voice] No. “Whatchu mean make me wanna get up…” [softer voice] So it really comes effortless.
AllHipHop: When did you fall in love with music?
D4M $loan: Seeing and hearing about Biggie and Tupac. I was seeing their feud going on on YouTube and TV. The channel they got the Notorious documentary going on. Then my mom had a CD collection. She had Tupac, Biggie, DMX, Teddy Pendergrass. She had Lil Wayne in there, a few different ones. I always paid attention to it, but I didn’t pay attention too hard until one day I seen the Lil Wayne “Lollipop” video. I said I want to do that. That right there, with the limousines riding around with shining chains on, I want to do that. That made me fall in love with it.
AllHipHop: Are you on TikTok?
D4M $loan: Yeah, I just got on TikTok. One thing I say about me it’s good that I blew up before TikTok. I blew up off YouTube, and that’s hard. I blew up off Youtube and Instagram. Millions and millions of views off Instagram and YouTube. Just them two alone, nothing else. No other platform, no other streaming. No Apple Music, no Spotify. Youtube and Instagram, and SoundCloud too. Now that they got TikTok, that just adds fuel to the fire.
AllHipHop: How do you get your name?
D4M $loan: D4M $loan means “do it for Mir.” That’s my brother who passed away, I started rapping with him. He drowned when he was 14, my best friend. My real name is Sloan. Making my rap name, I didn’t want to be Lil Sloan. Now it’s crazy, a lot of rappers got three-word abbreviations in their name. You got EST Gee, PNB Rock, YNW Melly, NBA Youngboy. It’s crazy too. Dang, I still fell in line. [laughs] I wanted to make my real name. Nobody knows, that’s my real name Sloan. You never hear that name, it’s a unique name. Especially in my city.
AllHipHop: Talk about the mini-doc you have coming out.
D4M $loan: The mini-doc that’ll really explain a lot of the impact I had. It’ll explain a lot in a short time. It explains my life. It explains coming up, even what my teachers in school told us. It damn near made me cry a little bit watching it.
AllHipHop: When is it dropping?
D4M $loan: July 28th, it’s dropping with the album.
AllHipHop: What’s the album called?
D4M $loan: I Couldn’t Decide. I couldn’t decide the name of the album, what type of tracks I wanted to put on there. What side, the club side? I couldn’t decide how many songs to put on there, what samples to use.
AllHipHop: Your first big project?
D4M $loan: My first big project, debut project. First album forreal. I’m excited about this one in particular because it’s my best body of work so far. First real body of work, I did my best. I did my thing
AllHipHop: What can the fans expect?
D4M $loan: Fans can expect different vibes every song, a little bit of what everybody wants to hear. I read the comments so much, I know each fan be expecting or wanting from me. Some fans say “make another song like ‘’Drive Who Crazy’. Make another song like ‘Wolf N Demon’.“ Different songs that they hear. I’m gonna give you something in them categories and vibes. I got bars, rap, swag, kids, the ladies.
@d4msloan Tat tatt maaa maaaa ughhh just do thatttttt 🤦🏽♂️🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥CANT NOBODY IN THIS WORLD FW ME ON THIS TIP!!!!! #d4msloan
♬ D4M Sloan TapTap MaMa Dropping Soon – D4M Sloan
I be seeing the ladies say, “dang, I just want him say that in my ear. He don’t gotta rap. Can you make a whole song saying ‘rrruuuhhh’ in my ear?” I made a song like “tat tat ma ma, uhhh. Right there mama. It’s fat fat ma ma. Throw that back ma ma like uhh. Do that do that.” The ladies ate that up on TikTok. [shows TikTok] 23K people liked that comment: “you be talking them through it don’t you?”
AllHipHop: That’s hilarious. What song is that?
D4M $loan: It’s called “Tat Tat Ma Ma.” produced by Dj Slink. It’s supposed to go on the album, but we need the Miguel sample cleared… “Girl With The Tattoo.” His team just don’t want to clear it. I might have to try different things, like get someone else to sing on it. I can do that, but something may still interfere with the release.
AllHipHop: That’s the worst!
D4M $loan: The worst. It’s like damn, that’s something really going good for me too. I can still drop it on YouTube, because everything isn’t about streaming and the money for me. It’s still going to be beneficial to my career and give the fans a record that they love and have been impatiently waiting for by dropping it for free on YouTube. If he don’t support, I don’t have no choice.
AllHipHop: That sucks though, because you want it to be part of the project right?
D4M $loan: I want it to be on the project. It’d be good, it’d be great for the project. I’m thinking right now, you got me reminiscing.
AllHipHop: 3 things you need in the studio at all times?
D4M $loan: Essentia water bottle, a homie with some weed. A dark studio, but I’ll say some candy. Lifesaver Gummies, the mixed flavors. I can eat all of them.
AllHipHop: Loved seeing you act in Bel-Air. Did you know how to act?
D4M $loan: No, it’s crazy. Because even talking to some of the cast, people who were extras, they went to acting school. They’re asking me, “how long you been acting? How’d you get the role?” Bruh, this my first time in this environment. I don’t know nothing.
AllHipHop: Isn’t it nice? They take care of you on set.
D4M $loan: That was a blessing, they do. Food, sitting in the trailer all day long. It was a different experience for me. You ever been in class in school, everybody gets a character. You read, you read, you read. That’s how it is. You just gotta remember your lines, and keep your face straight for TV. Try to act it out, really be in character.
I was nervous, I ain’t nervous for nothing. But right there, I don’t want to keep messing up. It’s a thousand camera crew, everybody got a different job. Hold the water, hold the microphone. Hold that camera, hold this camera, hold that angle. Give them fake sweat, sweep the floor when you’re done. Different stuff.
AllHipHop: I interview a lot of artists. Some who have been rapping for over 10 years, they always want to act. So for you to do it so early in your career, that’s dope.
D4M $loan: Yeah, it’s a blessing. Somebody said “damn, I’ve been acting for da-da-da.” But I gotta realize, even though I haven’t been acting, I’ve been building my name up for a long time. As much as you’ve been acting, I’ve been building my brand up and really putting in work, which brought this blessing to me too. I’m eligible to do more roles, I could do a main role right now. But I didn’t want to do auditions yet, I’ve been so focused on the music. But after the album drops, I’m pursuing everything.
AllHipHop: What about Oldhead?
D4M $loan: I have a starring role as the villain in the Oldhead movie, created/directed by filmmaker Tony Chennault. Oldhead is dropping July 28th on APEX streaming platform the same day as my album drops.
AllHipHop: What’s your love for boxing and training?
D4M $loan: Boxing, that’s something I love to do. Since a kid,I used to get in the gym and box. I got hit by a car so I stopped boxing. That’s why I really pursued rapping.
AllHipHop: How bad was it?
D4M $loan: This ankle, I broke my ankle. It was hanging out like that. [points to ankle] I had to wear a cast. I was 17, which made me start rapping more. I used to love boxing, I’d probably be pro right now if I kept going. It’s crazy, because as a kid, I never even liked training. I just love boxing. Sparring in the gym with pros, people who were better than me. I like sparring with them. That got me sharper, that got me better. I love boxing. Still to this day, I want to do celebrity boxing soon.
AllHipHop: You got favorite boxers?
D4M $loan: I like Canelo. Errol Spence Jr. Floyd. Older boxers too, Sugar Ray Robinson and Muhammad Ali.
AllHipHop: Top artists in rotation?
D4M $loan: I listen to Lil Poppa a lot. I like Lil Poppa a lot, that’s one of my favorite artists. I don’t even want to do no song with him, I just f### with his music. I f### with him as an artist, as a person. We got the same life damn near. I love his music. I like NBA Youngboy, Drake, A Boogie. Really, I only listen to Lil Poppa a lot. I’m not even going to say all the names, the only person I listen to is Lil Poppa. if we get in the car right now, I’ma play 5 Lil Poppa songs. Then I’ma get tired and stop playing music. And my brother Skiano who passed away. He one of the greatest artists in the world. He raps just like me. See how I rap? He raps just like that. He prolly thinks I’m nice, but I think he’s nice. We rap the same exact way, sometimes people can’t even tell we’re different. He got the louder “rrruuuhhh,” I got the smoother “rrruuuhhh.”
AllHipHop: Talk about being mobbed by fans when you move around the city.
D4M $loan: I will never get used to that. I’m used to it, but the feeling I get even performing, I get the same thing every time. Getting mobbed by fans, that be crazy. Then we got different fans. I had a group of friends that mobbed me one time at a Lil Tecca show, and they all had Snapchat. But in Philly, nobody in Philly really uses Snapchat. [shows videos]
AllHipHop: Where was it? You had that many people?
D4M $loan: TLA, South Street. Yeah, stuff like this really gave me chills every time. This was at East Stroudsburg University, they sing the songs word for word every time. I don’t even know how to explain it, pure love. You really feel love.
AllHipHop: Anything else you want to let the people know?
D4M $loan: Album dropping July 28th, that’s it. Tune in.