Also known as The Renaissance Rapper, Bridgeport, Connecticut’s daFinchi drew inspiration from the late and great, renowned masterpiece artist, Leonardo da Vinci. daFinchi’s “sing-song flow, laid-back vibe, and easy wit make his new full-length perfect for kicking it on the back porch or in the back alley.” (Hip Video Promo) With his latest single, “The Burbs,” daFinchi throws lyrics and beats about growing up a city kid, now living in the suburbs, rapping-singing about the typical foundation of the suburbs; lawns, trees, and peace. The song is the perfect song for summer, even featuring a little slice of the city life that daFinchi was accustomed to growing up.
Featured in the video for “The Burbs,” is daFinchi finding himself at home amongst the suburban row, and throughout the video, directed by KDTV’s Frankie Fire, daFinchi keeps his city street-cred, with his freestyle, and although he’s comfortable with his new suburban life, he’s sure to never forget the city.
Your name draws inspiration from the legendary artist Leonardo da Vinci. Is there a specific influence about da Vinci that you’ve drawn from?
daFinchi: Da Vinci explored, toiled, dreamt and created. He was the Renaissance man. Who can ever create anything as memorable or iconic as the Mona Lisa? But we can try. Nas once told me in an interview, that there’s nothing new under the sun, everything’s been done, but it’s how you do it as an individual, as your own self. Basically, do you (title of my next single). Make your own imprint. Discover the depths of your self and the world around you. That is what Da Vinci did, and that is what I want to continue to do. As a singing rapper, lawyer, interviewer, host, filmmaker, husband, father and entrepreneur, I think I’m somewhat of a Renaissance man also, minus the Mona Lisa.
I love the catchy chorus and lyrics of “The Burbs.” What was the creative process behind it?
daFinchi: At the time of the creation of “he Burbs,” I had just moved to the actual suburbs of the city I grew up in and where I was living for the last few years after law school, Bridgeport, Connecticut. My wife and I were expecting our first child and I was in the soon-to-be baby’s room. I was on beatstars.com browsing some beats, looking for some inspiration for whatever song or vibe I caught. Something told me to go in the rock section and I found this beat by Fantom and I was just playing around at first singing and humming “I moved to the burbs!” and laughing. I wasn’t even planning on recording the song because it was a little different from most of my other projects, and I was just having fun with it. I heard the beat a few more times on a couple of different days and kept humming and singing the hook and finally just recorded it. There were some good parts to the first version, but I let my wife listen to it and she gave me some feedback. At first, I pushed back against her honest and helpful advice, but then returned to the lab and voila!
This single is the title track from your debut album. What was the recording process, and collaborating with Fantom like?
daFanchi: I would like to say that it was a blast working with Fantom, but I just found him on Beatstars.com like I pretty much do for all my beats now. Fantom’s beat brought me this fun song and I’ve had a blast so far shooting the music video and pushing the marketing campaign. Fantom was great to work with on a business side, as we worked out the contract, and I was able to push forward on this project registering the song with ASCAP. I like some of his other beats too.
Did you have a lot of creative input with the video for “The Burbs”?
daFinchi: The crew at KDTV, including Frankie Fire, Rai, Johnny and Rook really did a great job with the treatment and lining up the whole shoot, from locations to props. Having done some acting in some of their Chris Webby music videos, I knew I was in for a treat with how fun and smooth they ran their productions. I just had to be the artist and perform. It was a blast! I did add the scene of the pie-eating contest, which I think was the icing on the cake of the video. I couldn’t stop laughing during that part of the shoot. I picked up a few pies and the KDTV crew actually partook in the contest with Rai and Jhonny getting smoked in the contest. Johnny I think was gagging pretty early and tapped out and might have even thrown up. I was making crazy sounds, getting into character, freaking him out. Like I said, I was tearing up crying during the shoot, it was so fun.
What’s next for the rest of the year?
daFinchi: I am recording and mixing and negotiating my next album called The DaFinchi Code: Vol.1 The Awakening. It will have 7 songs and will be about 20 minutes long. I’ve finalized the playlist and most of the songs are done. I’ll shoot another video or two while I enjoy spending time with our newborn, Valentina. The album flows pretty good my wife says. It will probably be out by Election Day 2020.
