We met Lil Dicky: The suburban answer to the rap game

Think back to your freshman year. There was probably someone in your dorm who fits every stereotype of a white suburban guy. From somewhere pleasantly normal like Long Island or Westchester, they were funny, intelligent and pretty laidback. Not the hardest partier or the biggest ladies’ man, but most people found him funny, charming and easy to be around.

Lil Dicky is the kid from your freshman dorm all grown up. But instead of taking the easy route into a life of 9-5 grinds, banal chats at the watercooler and a quiet house in the burbs, Lil Dicky chose the road less travelled. Dropping his job as as ad man and using his Bar Mitzvah money to shoot his first music video, David Burd did something few people would in his position, risk it all.

He left his job writing NBA ad campaigns and decided to become a full-time rapper.

His first tracks, with GarageBand beats and videos shot on a shoestring, were more Lonely Island than lyrical genius, but what hits like Ex-Boyfriend and White Dude did was shoot him onto the scene. They were the access point for the people that loved rap but couldn’t relate to it.  The comfortable middle class kids with comfortable middle class problems who loved to bump Kendrick, Lil Wayne and Jay but will probably never understand the gritty beginnings these guys had, flocked to LD and turned him into a viral sensation almost overnight.

Fast forward a couple of years and the U of Richmond grad is an a different position. He dropped an album last summer collaborating with big names like Snoop Dogg, T-Pain and some guy from Panic at the Disco.

We caught up with him ahead of his Boston stop on his tour at the House of Blues, to find out what it’s like hitting up colleges as a 28-year-old, why his dream collab is Drake and whether he still manages to call his mother.

Hey Dave, it’s great to speak to you.

The pleasure’s all mine.

How have you found the last year, must’ve been a pretty huge transition?

I feel very validated, it’s great when you see all your hard work actively paying off. I don’t miss my old, stable nine to five life in the slightest. That’s not to say my life now is more unstable, it’s just a lot more active. There’s just such a sense of satisfaction and I guess happiness that comes along with living your absolute dream.

You’ve worked with some pretty big names in the past, but if you could collab with any rapper out there, who would it be?

Probably Drake you know, just because he’s my favourite rapper. And although it’s an easy, obvious answer, it couldn’t be anyone other than Drake. It’s not even because of the Jewish connection, Drake’s not really out there as Jewish, he doesn’t feel that Jewish to me. But maybe it’s a subconscious Jewish thing that I don’t even realise.

Do you think you’re a role model for suburban Jewish kids or white fratty guys in general?

I never like to put race into it, and I wasn’t even in a frat either. People tell me all the time I’m like “fratty” which is crazy to me, because I was never even in a frat. I guess I just appeal to the male sensibility. Having said that, I certainly strive to be a role model for kids in the suburbs everywhere in the sense that me and a lot of peers weren’t really encouraged to dream artistically. There was a lot of “set yourself up to get a great job” situations and I feel like I’m an example of how you can have a non-traditional path towards achieving your dream.

You recently featured on a song by Trinidad James about thicker women, do you see yourself as an activist for real beauty standards?

I’m just a guy that pushes for acceptance of all kinds. So in this particular instance it’s about thick girls, but there are a lot of portions of society that are perhaps underappreciated, so I’m always down to remind people that these people should be appreciated.

You’re obviously pretty close with your parents, they feature on your album, so how has your relationship changed with them as you’ve taken off?

They’re super supportive now, but before they were super anti this whole thing, they thought it would impact my ability to get jobs down the road. But now, because it’s proving so successful, they’re very supportive. I still find time to call my mother from the road, once a week at least.

Your tour is taking you to a lot of colleges, as someone that’s left that part of their life behind, how does it feel to go back to college parties?

It’s fun, because I’ve walked into parties as a student and nobody cares, I had no leverage with girls and now when I walk in it’s totally new and people like gasp when they see me. It’s cool to see that. When I started out and realised I would go back to colleges on tour, I got really excited about that opportunity to go back to colleges as “the man”.

But, I’m a 28-year-old so there’s definitely a gap socially, now more than ever. So sometimes, it’s weird.

What’s your best story from tour?

You know it’s weird, nothing crazy really happens, if I’m being honest with you in a legitimately VH1 behind the music sort of way. I’m not that wild. We just end up eating a lot of fast food and occasionally we’ll go out, but only if the night calls for it. I wish I had better stories for you. But I actually think it’s more fitting that it’s uneventful.

Where’s your favorite college to visit?

I love the University of Wisconsin at Madison, definitely my favourite.

What’s coming up for you in the next year?

There’s so many more songs on my album that deserve music videos, so I’m gonna get on making them. The video for the song Molly is coming up as well as Pillow Talk, which should definitely get a video at some point. Oh, and Personality with T-Pain. That is for sure going to happen.

On the note of Pillow Talk, something that annoyed me personally is that we never found out if that girl fucked with Pangaea

It’s one of those classic cliff-hanger open-ended things. Being honest, I don’t think she fucked with Pangaea, she doesn’t really get Pangaea. She also doesn’t fuck with the war, but that goes without saying of course