Bar Tab Blues: The Emergence of D.P. in Gainesville Hip-Hop

By: Dante Lima

Danny Perez is trying to create the soundtrack to American nightlife. He finds poetry in the half-empty drinks left on bars at the end of the night, the hopes of finding a connection to a scene, the conversations clouded with loose inhibitions and cigarette smoke and the desolation of last call. Much like Bruce Springsteen painted the pictures of the vibrant, consuming life on the New Jersey boardwalk in the mid-1970s, Perez is telling stories of the modern youth through the music of the modern youth: Hip-hop. If it sounds ambitious, that’s because it is, and Perez would be the first to tell you he’s never wanted to be bound by the conventions and stereotypes of a genre that has surrendered songwriting to major label hit factories. He wants to bring the charisma and the artistry back to hip-hop, and if it takes long, drunken nights in Gainesville bars to get there, consider it liquid fuel for thought.

Hip-hop is a nocturnal genre. It started in the basements of New York houses and apartment buildings, where DJs would spin records and MCs would rhyme into the early morning. It eventually moved from guerilla encampments to the grandeur of nightclubs all over the country, and that’s primarily where it’s stayed. So naturally, when Perez was brainstorming for his 2010 full-length album Bar Tab Blues nightlife became the central theme. Rather than try and duplicate the big-city vibe, he traded in 15 dollar cocktails for PBR tall boys, the 40/40 Club for Common Grounds and focused his attention on the small bars and clubs of Gainesville, his hometown. After all, this town is just like any other in America, and to a certain extent, small town life is punctuated by trips to the local bar. Otherwise there’s just not much else to do.

"Bar Tab Blues" is the first installment is a series of upcoming albums by D.P.

So Perez got writing. What came out was 17 tracks of lost love, disenchantment, drug use, escape and ocassionally, sobriety. With the use of all self-produced beats and piano rhythm tracks, the songs flow seamlessly from one to the next, as if they all exist in one long night.

“Call it a concept album if you want. I’m not really sure that it is,” Perez said while sipping an iced mocha at Maude’s Coffee Shop in Gainesville. “I’ve just always liked art that follows a theme, whether it’s visual or musical, but unfortunately hip-hop has moved away from that and it’s all about singles. Singles are certainly necessary, but I’ve always thought of songs as small components of a bigger idea.”

Make no mistake about it though, Perez wants a large audience. He wants to be a star, just not at the expense of his art. The songs should be relatable, they should be catchy, they should do all of those things, but they can also be personal and tell stories too, he said. A hip-hop single doesn’t have to be a “shake your ass girl” type of song.

Since he was a teenager he admired the likes of Outkast, a hip-hop group that could coexist in both the artistic and popular communities. For the last 15 years Outkast has not only given hip-hop some of its best and most thought provoking albums, like Aquemini, which blended dirty South roots rap with psychedelic overtones, but also some of pop music’s most enduring singles like “Hey Ya” and “I Like The Way You Move.” Outkast laid the blueprint for a successful crossover, and for that reason Perez calls them a pop group and an inspiration.

“I don’t have any problem with people calling my music pop music. I actually enjoy pop music and that’s honestly what I’m going for,” he said. “What’s the point of making music if people don’t want to hear it, I mean I guess there’s a meaning in that for some, but that’s never been my goal. I’m in it for myself, but I think every musician wants to be heard.”

Here’s a couple examples of D.P.’s pop style: (Tell me you couldn’t hear this on the radio)

“Lost In The Music” from Bar Tab Blues

Also, the official video for “I’m Gone”

Getting your music to a wide audience is easier said than done in a town like Gainesville. There’s a limited population and a limited number of music venues that can adequately suit a growing artist. D.P. is routinely drawing between 200 to 300 people to each show, but he says he’s reached a bit of a ceiling.

“I love the Gainesville music scene, and I ideally want to live here. I think this is a great town and a great town for music, but I can see myself outgrowing it in time,” Perez said. “I feel like the next step is to take my music around Florida and eventually all over the country.”

(Photo/Flysouthmusic.com)

To help him achieve his goal he’s signed a management contract with the Orlando, Florida-based company Fly South Music Group, an agency that manages the likes of A Day To Remember, Paramore, Whole Wheat Bread and The Supervillians. So far, the added promotional help has helped him land opening gigs for hip-hop giants like Goodie Mob and Bone Thugs N’ Harmony, and an upcoming opening slot for Public Enemy.

“They [Fly South] have kind of put me on the fast track to getting bigger shows, and it certainly helps. You know, you open for local talent across the state and 30 or 40 people might hear your music, but if 1,000 attend the show and 500 are there when I play, I’m getting a lot more ears in the room.”

Passive ears don’t necessarily make fans though. On a recent trip to Miami, FL, he played a free show to about 200 people, none of which were really interested in the music. “It was more like background noise to them,” he said. The ambition to consistently promote himself and grow as an artist is juggled with his love for small, in-touch communities like Gainesville. Playing to big crowds is nice, but bodies aren’t fans. Here, he has lots of them.

To keep the fans happy and interested he’s released a four-part EP series called American Scene which can be downloaded at www.officialdp.com. He’s also got another full-length album in the works called While We’re Still Young, a sister album to Bar Tab Blues. There are over 25 conceptualized tracks for the album, many of which will not make the cut. If anything, Perez always has his audience at the forefront of his thoughts and his music, and he’s quickly established himself in Gainesville as a crowd pleasing performer, but also mind-bogglingly prolific one.

Maybe it’s his own youthful ambition that inspires him, or maybe it’s what he sees around him, but D.P. is a character in Gainesville music whose story is still being told. His stories chronicle the lives of attention starved young adults “pushing to get so close to the stage,” and perhaps Perez has given us a glimpse into his own world. His goals are just as bold and bombastic as his hooks, and given the small spectrum of hip-hop artists in town, the magnifying glass has been placed solely on him. But that’s exactly where he wants it to be.

To purchase D.P.’s albums, or the latest news and tour information visit www.officialdp.com.