 Gorilla Zoe | Kurupt  |
I’ve never worn a pair of Jordans.
Believe it or not, D'Juan “Young Dro” Hart just might have as much swag as his label captain, T.I. The clean-cut rhymer’s been dipped in the duds Tip has only recently gotten props for since high school. Dro, 31, called up to rap about his sophomore album, P.O.L.O. (Grand Hustle/Atlantic), his fashion sense, and how it helped him dodge the law.
VIBE: Well, let’s get right into the album. What does P.O.L.O. stand for?
Young Dro:P.O.L.O. stands for “Players Only Live Once.” I’m a player of life more than anything. You only get but one time to live so you’ve got to be real.
What’s your process? Are you one of those people that come in with the idea and the lyrics written down already? Or is it the music first, and that drives you to make the song?
It’s kind’a both ways with me. If I hear a beat when I walk in the studio and I feel like it needs to be done with me being alone, then I really don’t want to work around nobody. If I feel like showing out, I’ll go ahead and record with 15 people in the room.
Is the album done?
Yeah, we finished with the album, the finishing touches are there. “Take Off” was the single, it was like a little buzz to get everything back in motion. We got these next two songs we finna work. We finna work two more songs. One is called, “On Fire,” that T.I. co-produced and Jim Jonsin. The next single is called “In the Club,” that Jim Jonsin also produced, which only has me on it. We gonna work on both of these. They both hot, like they out of this world records. So, it’s how I feel it. We back in the ballgame.
What are some other highlights of the album?
A lot of other highlights of the album. We’ve got Travis Barker featured on my album as a producer, that’s one of my good friends. Swizz Beatz is on the album. You got The Runners on the album. You got Mannie Fresh. There’s a couple of more artists on there. We’ve got Boosie on there, Jeezy, T.I. of course. Yung L.A. is gonna be on there of course, because that’s my artist as well.
When people start making an album they have their wish list of people that they want to bring to the table as far as producers and guest appearances. Do you feel like you got to that point where it was, “Yeah this is exactly what I want it?”
Yeah, I mean everything was to my satisfaction. But most of all, we were really focusing on me, being in the position that I am. I hadn’t been out in like a couple of years. So it was really focused on me and getting my name back out there and letting people know I still can hold my own.
So what was the layoff about? Obviously, you had a couple of big records on your first album.
Well man, you know how it is. You get out of the streets, you know I’m a project kid. So I got out the streets, I went to loving the life, man. Just drowning into the luxury that I had created for myself. But at the same time, I never really just slack off my music. I stayed putting mixtapes out and in between that time I signed the newest artist on Grand Hustle, which is Yung L.A. I would not have found him and put time into him, worked on his project and got him to where he need to be. And then you know, after I felt like that I got back up off my ass and I’m ready.
Define what a “Player” is?
A player is a person that doesn’t pick or choose any one thing to stick by. I could play golf. I could play football. I could play tennis. I’m a player to anything. I could do anything I like, that’s why I’m just a player. I ain’t just gonna cut myself off [and say], “Well I’m gonna be a gangster.” I can play any kind of game in life I wanna play. And I’m gonna play it, until I leave.
How did you work your way into being interested in some of these things? Because when people think from the outside looking in like, “Okay, Dro is from Atlanta. He comes from trap living.” They wouldn’t be associating you with golf or tennis. They wouldn’t think polo shirts. Where’d that come from?
That’s being odd. When I was growing up, man, I used to see so many people that did the same thing. I never tried to follow nobody though. Even if I liked you and I saw you and you had something that I liked, I’d probably just master that, kill that and move onto something else. But I always wanted to be different. If you didn’t tuck your shirt in, then I’m gonna tuck mine in and see what kind of reaction I get. That’s how I’ve always been. It’s been like that since day one.
So speaking of the style and the fashion, one of your phrases that has really caught on is “Black boy swag, white boy tags.” How would you describe your fashion sense?
[Laughs] Black boy swag, white boy tags. If you’re wearing Lacoste, you’re a black boy with the swag, but you got the white boy tags on. It’ll come real simple to you.
So you’re more of a Prada loafers man, as opposed to a pair of Jordans?
I’ve never worn a pair of Jordans.
Really?
Nah, never wore a pair of Jordans a day in my life. I mean, I couldn’t always afford them but always when I could, I got a pair of Polos and put me some slacks on, creased them up, tucked my shirt in, and walked through DM Therrell High School like a player. I have to do this. It’s the only thing that makes me comfortable. I ain’t never really just did the not-classic type, I’m real classy. I gotta get my fashion on. I’m always a fashion statement. I get compliments from 65-year-old, 70-year-old white women on a continuous basis, like all the time. And that’s odd. My homeboys be standing there like, God, like that’s how it go down. That’s how I dress. As well as, I get those same compliments from young black kids. You could see 100 people with this same gear on, but when you see me, you gonna be like, “Oh, that’s shawty.”
Coming up in high school and on after that, were there cats that were like, “Yo Dro, what are you wearing? That looks bad.”
Yeah, there were some people. Like I’m very content, I’m thorough with this type shit. I’m gonna do this forever, I’m Polo forever. For real, I ain’t gonna quit. I’ve been winning for so long. I was able to mix in with all kinds of crowds. I was so stressed from the blocks, and I was from the projects. The cops used to run right past me, chasing people. [Laughs] And I probably had a bulge in my pocket. They’ll run straight past me like, “This kid couldn’t be doing this shit. Not the way he dressed. He looks like he don’t want anybody to touch him.”
And where exactly are you from down there?
I’m from Bankhead Court. I was born in the Bankhead Court Projects on the West side of Atlanta.
To take it back to Grand Hustle, with T.I. gone, who steps into that role of unofficial captain?
Well, it sort of goes down the line. After T.I., I became successful stacking up him. Yung L.A. became successful stacking up me. It would have to trickle down. Like I gotta step up to the plate because I’m the next person that was selling albums, that went gold or whatever. It’s really not to the point where we looking forward to it happening again, but I gotta step up to the plate. I gotta maintain his record sales, I gotta send these people plays on the radio. I gotta get back on my job because it’s gonna be a year and a day. There’s so much you can do within a year and a day of your life. So many kids you can reach out to, so many TV shows, so much money in a year. And there’s a lot of ways to lose all of this in a year. You gotta keep working.
Do you kind of feel that pressure? Like Jordan is out and you’re Pippen?
I don’t look at it as Jordan and Pippen. I look at it as Shaq just left, and I’m Kobe over here on the Lakers still. I’m Kobe over here, still trying to get in. Even though Shaq left, he ran the team too but it’s my time to carry the team. And I got it on my back because of my homeboy. I love that boy to death.
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