My introduction to indie rapper Fleetwood DeVille was random; however, his delivered truth in this interview steers far from any accidental occasion. His music captivated me through tracks like Cold Chillin’ and 9-to-5 but it is his story that has confirmed my stance as a true fan. With his hard-hitting verses, vast cerebration, and charisma, I can honestly say that for anyone who invests their ear into Mr. DeVille, they will gain a deeply connected return on their investment. Now, if you can't fathom that statement, then I highly suggest you take a listen to his music or better yet, take the opportunity to learn who Fleetwood DeVille is below.
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Bria: Where are you from and where do you currently reside?
Fleetwood DeVille: I was born in Muskogee, OK at the Regional Medical Center three days before 1989 began. I lived there ten years, pinballed between a few other places for the next ten and landed here in Washington, DC in 2009.
B: When the two words Fleetwood and Deville are mentioned, the first thought that comes to mind are both of the classic Cadillac vehicle models, so what inspired you to take on the name Fleetwood Deville?
FD: When I started out rhyming in ‘04, my name was Franchi$e. Don’t judge my dollar sign; I was 15. Actually, it happened arbitrarily. Freestyling in Algebra II class and at the lunch table, coming up with cool punch lines and winning a couple battles had cats calling me “The Franchise” at school. And I wasn’t even really disciplined or particular about writing raps at that time. The name went from school to my neighborhood and from there it stuck. I never really was a fan of the name, though. Steve Francis hadn’t disappeared from the NBA yet and there was a dude I’d known since 7th grade who rhymed and also went by Franchise. Then, to pour more salt on the situation, Dem Franchize Boyz dropped “White Tee” in I believe 2005. I knew I had to get as far away from the name as possible. The name change came near the end of 2006. I’m a big alliteration guy and all my favorite rappers got first and last name aliases. So, first, it was Fleetwood Fran; then I thought about connecting the Cadillac theme and put DeVille on the end. When I came up with that, I knew it was fly enough to drop Franchise altogher…ha. I put ElDorado in the middle and made DeVille an acronym: Defeating Evil, Verbally Inciting Love, Liberation and Enlightenment. And there it is, as Elgin Lumpkin say.
B: Explain your first connection to hip-hop and your coming of age story through the culture.
FD: 1998 and 99 were my true introduction to holding a stake in the culture. I was nine years old until the end of the year. Aquemini and Hard Knock Life, Vol. 2 dropped on the same September Tuesday [September 29, 1998]. DMX had put out his first LP and I was riding through Austin, TX with my mama to all three of them. Jay-Z was instantly my favorite. His intelligence and confidence were things I could feel immediately, and a song with such ominous subject matter as “A Week Ago” was easy for me to understand even at nine years old. Aquemini was an album I loved from the first moment I heard it and my love for it has only grown as life has placed me in spaces to appreciate it on a visceral level. Black on Both Sides [by Mos Def] dropped in ’99…and I have yet to hear a better album.
When I was 12, I knew that I wanted to be involved with hip hop as either a producer or a DJ. Watching Rap City and seeing how the DJ got love while just sitting back in the cut killing shit intrigued me so much. I was all in The Source peeping Numark turntables with the Robin Harris eyes. I’d had a keyboard and a drum set already, so I was into making noise and I asked my mama for a beat machine for my 15th birthday. She came through, but I didn’t have any of the accompanying equipment needed to actually make beats or any idea that there was accompanying equipment needed. So that deflated pretty quickly.
I started rhyming my junior year of high school and my initial drive was a competitive one. I went to school and saw so many cats not only freestyling, but also being on the bus, in class and in the cafeteria playing the stuff they’d recorded at home, and a lot of it wasn’t good. I thought to myself, “I KNOW I’m capable of being at least sharper than these cats if I focus on writing”; at that point, I pledged to write at least a 16 each day. I banged out on that mission for about six or seven months before I missed a day. I had a ton of stuff written and nowhere to record; I went to Walgreens one night after Bible study with my mama, copped a tape recorder and a 10 pack of Maxell cassettes. From there it was on. I completed my first mixtape, in the most literal sense, the next year, 2005. I started passing it out at school once one of my homies figured out a way to get the audio onto CD. I got a response I never really expected but I believed that I had something worth pursuing. I told myself, “I’ll come back to making beats, but the focus is rap for now.” I’ve still yet to make my return to beats…ha.
B: How do you define great lyricism and how do you feel your music is a correlation of that definition?
