Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with Dolo Tonight

New Jersey-native Dolo Tonight is an emerging rapper whose career is off to a booming start. Since dropping his debut single in 2019, Dolo Tonight has quickly made his mark on the industry with his out-of-the-world wordplay, vibrant visuals, and one-of-a-kind content pieces.

This March, he continues that success with the release of Back to Earth.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to speak with Dolo Tonight about the project, his career, and what’s ahead.

PC: How did you discover your passion for music?
Dolo Tonight: In fourth grade, I got my first drum set. The story behind that is I used to bang on stuff, and my parents were like, “We’ve got to fix this kid,” so they ended up getting me a starter kit, which, crazily enough, I still have the cymbal from right here on my bed. Shortly after that, I started drumming. I took drum lessons privately. I was in jazz band. Then, I got into playing the keys and singing.

Flash forward to high school, I started putting out singles on SoundCloud, spitting raps with my friends at the lunch table. Eventually, that became Dolo Tonight. Some of my friends gave me that name because I’m always dolo. I’ll be at a party with them, and then I’ll not exist. They’ll be like, “Where did he go?” Then, I’ll find new people and come back with them and they’ll be like, “What?” I’ll be like, “You’ve got to meet my new friends.”

Shortly after that, I ended up going to college, originally for food science, weirdly enough. I wanted to be a flavorist. I wanted to develop soft drink and chip flavors, but turns out you have to do all of this chemistry and physics and every year of math, and I was like, “No, I can’t do this.” I ended up calling my mom and I was like, “I have to drop out. I have to go to music school.” She was like, “Of course, why not?” So, I went to music school. Around that time, I met my first mentor and my engineer, Michael Ashby, and we developed my sound and worked on some records. I was like, “Let’s drop some music.”

Crazy enough, one of the singles started taking off, and things started moving. I was talking to my professor, who was a recording artist at different labels. He told me, “I dropped out my junior year to do music full-time at the same college you’re at now.” He was like, “You’ve got to drop out and do music full-time.”

I dropped out and went back to New York. I hit the streets with a whiteboard and started doing freestyles for people on the street. I started putting out more music and working on my next project, and now that’s finally wrapped up.

PC: You’ve had a lot of success already in your young career. When you look back, is there a particular moment that stands out to you?
Dolo Tonight: I remember getting my first thousand streams on Spotify—I was geeking. It was forever ago. I was like, “Yo, a thousand people heard my song.” I remember that clearly. I remember doing my first show in Denver. I remember doing some very early shows, and I’ll always remember my first sold-out show. The accolades aren’t ever something that’s been like, “I hit a million streams.” That’s not really my thing. That hasn’t really impressed me, because I always want more.

But one thing that was crazy, bro, is I was at the airport and this kid recognized me. He was like, “Are you Dolo?” I was more shocked than he was. I was like, “What the f-ck?!” Pardon my French. I was like, “What in the world? This is insane.” I literally had to go to the bathroom. I was geeking. I definitely remember that day. It wasn’t too long ago.

PC: You’ve got a new single out now. Can you tell us about “Graduation” and what inspired the song?
Dolo Tonight: It’s pretty much what I just talked about: dropping out of school to work on music full-time. “Graduation” came from that. I got the beat from my boy Austin Marr—I called him, and I was like, “Dude, this is the one.” I was freaking out. I ended up going to the studio. I had the first opening lines. I literally released everything that I had been thinking about for the past seven months up until that point and freestyled the record.

I wasn’t even that crazy confident about it, but then I never am, because I don’t know what I’m speaking when I’m freestyling; I’m just releasing. Then, when I got into the studio and listened to it, I was like, “This is how I feel.” We created something that reflected a piece of me and my journey. That was “Graduation” for me. It’s me telling that story.

PC: It’s part of Back to Earth. What can fans expect from that release?
Dolo Tonight: We’ve got so much stuff. I have a whole animated series coming out. We actually beat some world records from Guinness. We got so many visuals and so many unique content pieces, interviews like this. I want there to be something where my fans can be like, “Who is this guy? I like his music, but I don’t know him.” I’m trying to put myself out in content form. This is my debut project. This is me.

PC: If you had to choose one song off of Back to Earth that encompasses who you are as an artist, what would it be and why?
Dolo Tonight: Oh, man. I would originally say “Graduation” because of its range and dynamics—it shows my full vocal scale. But if it’s a song that’s really like who I am, speaking delivery-wise or speaking conceptually-wise, I think it’s probably the song “Simulation” that I made with my friend John X. It’s literally talking about how all this is fake, what’s going on. I’m always someone who questions everything. I’m like, “Why? Why is that way?” Then, I heard it and I was like, “This sh-t is fire.”

Eventually, I got into the studio with Ashby, and John came with me. I had a lot of it written already at that point, but then I started letting loose, freestyling stuff. It was like they both stood up and looked over the little window in the studio and were like, “This is going.” That’s the part that I’m talking about where it really shines through my personality. You can really tell, “This is exactly what he meant to do on this track.” I think it’s “Simulation”. That’s going to be the first song on the project, and it has a crazy video. It speaks Back to Earth more than any of the other songs do.

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

PC: A band or artist that fans would be surprised to learn is on your playlist?
Dolo Tonight: I used to be in a pop-punk band. I listened to A Day To Remember, Cage the Elephant. People think I listen to hip-hop, so those would definitely be a surprise to people. They’re like, “You like Cage?” I’m like, “Yeah, they’re sick.”

PC: First album you bought?
Dolo Tonight: It was either Flo Rida, Jonas Brothers, or Nicki Minaj.

PC: First concert you attended?
Dolo Tonight: Kid Cudi.

PC: An album that changed your life and why?
Dolo Tonight: I think Acid Rap by Chance. I heard that and I was like, “You can do whatever you want.” I really respected the delivery, the poetry, and the wordplay. I was studying it way back. I was like, “This is next level.”

PC: A venue on your bucket list to perform at?
Dolo Tonight: Red Rocks. When I lived out in Denver, I went to Red Rocks. I sat there, and I promised myself, dude, I was like, “I will perform here.” The energy there is crazy. I’m a nature guy; I love outside. For me, that’s such a freeing venue, and I feel like you could turn up there.

PC: A must-have on the road?
Dolo Tonight: Water, dude. It’s so easy to get to dehydrated, and I’m horrible at my water management. I’ll drink a glass of water a day and end up being like, “Why am I so dizzy?” So, water, dude.

To keep up with Dolo Tonight, follow him on Twitter and Instagram. Pick up or stream Back to Earth today.

Photo Credit: Mickey Mars