DeCarlo Tatum Jr. is a rapper with some important and lofty goals but that’s the way it should be. Hailing from Atlanta, he has a cinematic and meaningful vision for what his music should achieve.
Aiming to make Southern hip hop with added substance, Tatum’s new single ‘On Go’ was recorded during a trip from Atlanta to Los Angeles, Tatum heading immediately from the airport to a studio to lay down the track.
Over a minimalist trap beat, Tatum and guest Damain.OG drop verses about making money but, crucially, it’s all done for a cause: “Earn me a milly / A milly, a milly/ Flip it / Then give to the children, no chilling”.
“‘On Go’ is about achieving something from the ground up,” Tatum says. “You’ve just got to keep going, you’ve got to keep pushing and it takes time. My team had a ton of ideas for this video but the main thing we wanted to achieve was to make it look cinematic. We wanted it to exist on the same plane as all the movies we watched growing up.”
The song comes accompanied with a music video: directed by Susie Francis, the video sees Tatum and OG head back to Los Angeles, the city where the track was first conceived. They traverse the City of Angels in a Buick LeSabre, rubbing shoulders with hustler heavyweights and making a high-stakes drop at a shady warehouse (Tatum, who is also a clothing designer, also looks the part in the video in his personally-designed clothing).
Commercial respect is arriving more and more for Tatum. ‘On Go’ was featured in NBA 2K21, a great mark for any rising rapper, as well as HBO streetwear competition series The Hype. He’s also currently working on his third full-length album, following 2017’s Turkish Delight and 2020’s Devotion.
To mark the release of the music video for ‘On Go’, we caught up with the rapper as part of our popular Get To Know series to find out more about his life and career.
Love Hip Hop?
Get the latest Hip Hop news, features, updates and giveaways straight to your inbox Learn more
For more on this topic, follow the Hip Hop Observer.
How did your artist name come about?
In this culture of hip hop, when you’re new to it you go through the phases of names because you’re trying to create a character or persona. So one day I just accepted the fact that who I am is who I am. Just be me and be honest to the music. DeCarlo Tatum Jr is my government name. It’s me, myself, everyday life.
How would you describe your music to your grandma?
Great question! I would describe the music to my grandma as music with substance and value. I would tell her, if she was still here, that in about 20 years record companies will try and buy my masters to my music. That’s how important my music is to the world. Then she would probably ask, “Ok well, what is a master?” Yep, that’s how I see that conversation going.
Tell us about a few of your tracks; their titles and what they’re about?
I recently released a single called ‘Spin Love’ and it’s about how I met my fiancée. I have a single from my latest album called ‘Project Baby’ featuring Damain.OG. It basically talks about the mindset of a Black American kid being brought up in the urban communities of Atlanta, accepting the circumstance but always working towards better goals in life while never forgetting where they came from.
Another song from my latest album is called ‘Spinnin’ featuring Stone Jone. This record was interesting because I freestyle the entire song so what you hear is a one-take recording session. The song talks about how I meet a lady at a certain location and she agrees to hop on my spaceship and experience a galactic love affair with adventure.
What do you love about your hometown?
What I love about my hometown is we have our slang of the English language, which in conversations sometimes only we can understand. It’s hilarious when people know we are Southern or from Atlanta specifically by the slang, like we never say some popular terms that others recognise to be the proper way of saying something.
For example, mostly everybody else except in Atlanta says when ordering food at a restaurant, “May I have an orange soda?” Instead, we will say, “Can I have the orange drank?”
Another great example is if we agree on something, our response will be, “Hell you talmbout.” It means that we agree! To someone who is not from Atlanta though – and especially someone not from the urban communities of Atlanta – that person will hear that response as a question. A rude question actually. Apart from the slang, I also appreciate the southern hospitality, food and music.
Career highlight so far?
I have had the opportunity to have my single ‘On G0’ featured in the video game NBA 2K21.
Fave non-music hobby?
I am also a filmmaker, I enjoy working on my science fiction and fantasy film projects.
What’s on your dream rider?
I’d want the film 2001: A Space Odyssey playing on a projector screen, organic yellow popcorn flavoured with Himalayan salt and Land O Lakes unsalted butter and two glass cups of Milo’s sweet tea and lemonade.
Dream music collaboration?
Adele, Sade, Kendrick Lamar, and OutKast.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
I see myself in 10 years becoming the first billionaire in my family.
What’s your go-to karaoke song?
OutKast – ‘Rosa Parks’. It’s my favourite karaoke song because it’s the first OutKast song I learned the lyrics for verbatim once I became an avid listener of their music.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
I had to tell myself, “believe in yourself, that’s how you win.”
What’s one obsession you have that no one would guess after listening to your music?
People wouldn’t know I like to dance. I’m kind of sly about that. But what they should know is I really want to influence the youth in my community to believe they can achieve any dream or career. But first they have to imagine themselves being there.
I feel like Atlanta needs an artist who is beyond the status quo of what type of artists break out of Atlanta. The kids need to see another rapper with a different subject matter lyrically, besides trap music.
My obsession is to bring the same quality that OutKast and Goodie Mob did in the 90s but make that music in a modern way. I want to elevate Atlanta rap music above the expectations set by record labels and radio stations and I will influence the Atlanta musical sound in the process!
