Dot Lava is a New Jersey-based rapper who began seeing music as a career during his high-school days. The official start of Dot Lava's career was when he took a year break during college to pursue the craft. He quickly gained the attention of an independent label based in Newark and joined a group called "The Future" as a producer and rapper. With that project not working out the way Dot Lava intended, he had set out to create his independent label to further focus on the music industry. Dot Lava pays off his work ethics with his latest EP 'About Last Summer…'. Opening off the EP is the tune "No Introduction," and this perfectly sets the tone for what is to come—featuring a heavy lo-fi vibe where Dot Lava continuously pushes intense lyrics out to us without slowing down for a single moment. The rhyming is exquisite here. It shows the artistry in Dot Lava, and his lyricism, "No Introduction," is the culmination of everything that Dot Lava is capable of, and he is not shy about it. Following up is the record "Grown," and this one takes us deep into the backstory ofDotLava. Bringing the tempo down, "Grown," introduces us to an extremely chill vibe that is full of magical colors. We love how Dot Lava takes an almost organic approach here; all of the sounds feel very natural, with the help of an ethereal electric guitar and a beautiful female vocal performance that beautifully compliments Dot Lava's spoken-word-like performance. Turning the heat up is the record "Want From Me," which tells us about the story of Dot Lava not knowing what someone wanted despite having gone through a lot. A lot of people will be able to relate deeply with this one and even find comfort. Bringing back the deep sounding 808 drums, "Want From Me," is full of vibes, something you'd want to put on late at night or when you need a moment to yourself. Bringing the energy up is "Nights Like This," throwing around rich adlib vocals that feel like they are part of the drum groove, Dot Lava brings an almost tense mood to the table. This record is patient but driving; it's an outstanding balance that Dot Lava manages to achieve perfectly. Bringing down the tempo is "Alone," the trap-infused groove brings a nice little bounce to this whole track. But what completes this one is the rhythmic flow from Dot Lava, keeping up with his tasty adlibs and then bringing back beautiful female vocals who's silky tone has us in complete awe. "Alone" shows off the sweet side of Dot Lava, and we love it. Then following "Alone," "Tonight" throws us into a nostalgic feeling through the use of dirty south drums, a twangy guitar, and Dot Lava's master-crafted lyric performance that dynamically evolves throughout the tune between attitude and vibe. We couldn't help but bounce our heads while listening to this; Dot Lava pulls us into a vivid world where he sits down across the table and tells us about his fantasies. Closing off this EP is the record is "If Not Now Then When." This one brings the intensity up, opening up with a calm, exciting piano and then ultimately hitting us like a truck with a punchy verse where a perfect rap performance perfectly sits on top of a thundering drum and bass groove that's full of energy. Then during the chorus, a gorgeous female performance comes in and takes us up to the clouds where Dot Lava then tells us about how people keep getting mistreated on the streets. Overall, 'About Last Summer...' has a steady continuity through the moody keyboards and Dot Lava's eccentric performances but then introduces new flavors to each song through the extra performers but also switching up the grooves to take us to new worlds. This is an EP full of different emotions, and we can't recommend enough for everyone to listen. Be sure to listen to “About Last Summer...” here.
Hi Dot Lava! Welcome to BuzzMusic! Your newest release “About Last Summer” feels like a personal message about your life story. Is this the case? What do all of the lyrics in each song mean to you? Yes, All my music is pretty personal. When I write I always try to take from my personal experiences. And with this project, I didn't want it to be any other way. It was released on my birthday. I wanted the mixtape to be a reflection of my life. I wanted to talk about where I was (Past), what I am going through (Present), and where I am going (Future).
We are loving the dynamic change between each track, what was the inspiration behind coming up with each track? Were they all written around the same time? How did you come up with the instrumental element for each song off of the EP? Who are the various singers on the EP? Thank you. I actually wrote this project one summer after a breakup. So, yes, pretty much wrote everything around the same time. I have unreleased records that didn't make this project, but, may go on my next one. I wanted this tape to sound artistic. I wanted to push boundaries. I didn't want instrumentals that sounded like everyone else. I wanted music that would put you in a mood, music you can vibe to. The vocals come from a lovely young lady by the name of Jevonnah. She is like my sister. We met at church when we were young and we remained friends ever since.
What had made you want to take a year off college to pursue a career in the music industry? Was there any particular event that had inspired you to do this? What was that transition like? For me; at the time it was either one or the other. My friends and I started working with an independent label and we had plans to travel, we had projects we were working on that needed to be completed. So, I felt like I had to put all behind the music. If I tried to do both at the same time one or both items would have taken a hit. My grades were already slipping, classes being missed, homework not being done so, I just decided to stop school and focus on the music. It was a pretty easy decision. I felt like it was the best course of action. One day I just stopped.
Now that you and your friends started your own independent label and your goals being to try and grow it to be as big as some industry icons, what are some of the small goals and plans that you have set in place to help turn that dream into a reality? We would like to release consistent music. Grow our social media presence. Grass rooting: doing more shows and networking more. Promote, Promote, and promote some more. I believe we are all talented; we just need to keep pushing so people can see that talent. Consistency is the key to progression.
What are some goals and plans you have for yourself as an artist for 2020?
I want to create meaningful and consistent music. My goal is to grow my presence on social media and become more sociable on those platforms. I want people to get to know me a little better as a person. I want to grow my streams on streaming platforms. I want it to be consistent over all platforms. From Soundcloud to Spotify. I hope to find more platforms like yours that give guys like me a chance. I want to stay consistent work with more and more artists through collaborations and etc..
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