FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Music

Here Is Dangeruss' New Music Video for "I'm Poppin"

We interviewed the dude James Franco played in 'Spring Breakers' about his music, his life, and exactly why he's allowed to say the n-word but no other white people are.

Above is the music video for "I'm Poppin'" by Dangeruss, who you probably know as the white rapper James Franco's character Alien in Spring Breakers is based off of. We found Dangeruss a few months ago, and it turns out Dangeruss is actually kind of an incredible rapper and one of the realest dudes out in any capacity. He represents St. Petersburg, Florida, and his rhyming style is hardnosed and menacing, practical and swift. Just like Alien, Dangeruss speaks in odd poeticisms and carries himself with a sense of self-reliant mysticism that suggests he's too weird to live, too rare to die. He and I spoke on the phone earlier this week, discussing his life story, Spring Breakers, and why it's okay for him as a white dude to say the n-word but literally no one else is.

Advertisement

Noisey: How have the past few months been treating you?
Dangeruss: It’s been beautiful, man, because I work hard on the music. I feel great about having more people be able to find out about me, because I don’t have a big team or a machine behind me where I can get a lot of people knowing who I am, but a lot of the people who come across me are becoming fans for one reason or another. The ball just getting rolling. It’s a process.

Do you want to explain the concept of “I’m Poppin’?”
The song’s kinda self-explanatory. It’s about how most people feel, coming from where I come from. I wanted to do it without a real hook. The video came together so well because Kelly came down here and I was able to really take him where I be, give him a view of what the life like down here, know what I’m saying? It got to the point where I was gonna take the Big Boy Toys out, but I 86’d that because I didn’t wanna let too many people into the game in case there’s other people watching your videos besides your fans and music people.

What do you mean by “Big Boy Toys?”
Big Boy Toys. You know what I’m talking about. Big fire.

When did you start rapping?
I started rapping early, man. I started writing when I was like 12. I was in the streets a lot when I was young. I didn’t take music seriously, to me it was more of a hobby. When I was about 17, I dropped a mixtape. I did it just for me and my partners to listen to and just drive around in the hood. The neighborhood all had copies of it, but it wasn’t nobody trying to get big off of it. I was nine toes in the streets, and a pinky toe in the music, know what I’m saying? I just did it recreationally. Then I put out the “My Fork” record and it took off. I’m just trying to do something with this shit, man. “Hangin’ with the Dope Boys” got me in the movie, and ever since then, the ball been rolling.

Advertisement

Are you still in the streets?
I’m mostly focused on this music. I can’t be out there like I was. Every street nigga that’s been in the streets, their goal is to get out. I’m really focusing on this music as much as I can. You can ask Kellen; I took him around my partners; ain’t no stuntin’, ain’t no fakes. It’s all for real. He was actually in the zone; in the areas. I respect him, because he ain’t from here.

Tell me about your childhood. You were in the streets early.
Yeah, man. Early. Real early. My daddy was gone. My momma was gone. My grandmamma raised me and my brother. I read some article on the Internet the other day that said my momma and my daddy left and my grandmamma died when I was 13 and I took over the house and raised my brother and all, what the fuck? People mix all kinda shit up. My grandmamma raised me, she’s still alive. I wanted to clarify that. I ain’t really have nobody to say, “Hey nigga, you can’t really do this.” I was the man of the house early. I did what I had to do to make sure everything was straight. My role models are like my uncle; he grew up in the projects. He moved down here when I was about two. He was a real thoroughbred street dude. I was out there early, man. My grandmamma got sick, so I did what I did. I ain’t have no real direction.

Do you have any regrets in life?
None at all.

How many questions have people asked you about Spring Breakers?
Man, thousands. 90% probably the same. I respect that, though.

Advertisement

Do you feel like appearing in the movie helped you?
I don’t really have a team behind me, and I have a lot of good fans now who help spread the word. I get messages and emails from people all over the world, it’s actually kind of crazy. The movie was definitely a door that helped me get my name out there to people who weren’t familiar with me at the time.

How old are you?
I’m 26.

How long have you had dreadlocks for?
Ten years.

Why’d you decide to start growing them?
I don’t know. When I was younger, probably 15 or 16, I used to get what they call “fishbones.” They’re two big braids coming from these little braids. I got tired of having to sit there and have bitches doing my hair, so I said, “Fuck it, I’m gonna see if I can grow some dreads and not really worry about this shit.” When I started ‘em they was skinny, but I didn’t like that. I started putting them together and they just got bigger and bigger every time, and that’s how they ended up like this.

Would you ever cut them?
Never. I don’t wanna cut these things, man. I contemplated it, but it never got to where I was close to doing it. I think about how I’d look without ‘em, or sometimes they get in my way when I be sleepin’ and shit, but I couldn’t cut these thangs, man.

Why as a white dude can you say the n-word?
Imma give you a quick synopsis of what I believe. If you took a kitten or a puppy or a baby, what have you, and threw it into the woods and leave it with a pack of wolves, and those wolves raise that kitten or that puppy, teach it how to hunt, how to live like a wolf, and you go back a couple years later and see that kitten or that puppy living with the wolves, hunting with them wolves, is family to them wolves. At night when the moon comes up and the wolves start howling, who are you to tell that kitten or that puppy that he can’t howl with them wolves? It’s definitely not me opening any doors or being like, “It’s okay for other people to do it,” it’s just me. If some white folks come around me and say “nigga,” somebody fixin’ to get beat up. That’s just my personal thing. I’d never use it in a derogatory manner. It’s just like saying “my buddy,” or “my pal.”

Does St. Petersburg have a good rap scene right now?
Yeah. There’s a plethora of talent. It’s been like that for a while. It’s a small city; we’re overshadowed by Tamp, because Tampa’s a big business city. It’s a lot going on here, and if, God willing, I can open that door, I want to open that door for people to have a way to make their dreams come true and come out the hood. Coming from where we come from, everybody says, “Oh you could be a doctor, be a lawyer, something like that.” But coming out the hood, what’s the chances of that happening when you go through what we go through? You’re either balling, an athlete, or you do the music.

Anybody you want to shout out?
I’d definitely like to shout out Kellen, man, for lookin’ out on this video. He earned so much respect with me. I got nothing but love for him. Shout out the city, St. Pete, my brother Los, Money Mane, 40, Lee Dog, all my partners that came out for the video. And shout out to God for having my back through all this craziness from a youngster to now to get me to be able to get closer to my dreams.

Drew Millard saw Spring Breakers twice. He's on Twitter - @drewmillard