Dino James wanted to be an actor. He moved to Mumbai to achieve this dream. You might have seen him in small roles, like in CID. While acting didn’t bring him anything he aspired for – name, fame, money and the like – he got noticed for something he didn’t even know he was capable of – writing. “I never actually picked up the pen, never wrote. I used to ideate of course, with my mentor Salman Afroz. I met him at auditions, and he would feel very bad for me, and say, "Bro, you're not an actor, you're a writer." He would say, ‘You can speak your mind, eventually you're going to write.’ I said, ‘No sir, I will act’. And then, hip-hop happened. But when I started writing, at that time hip-hop was nothing in India; there was very little happening in Mumbai; and Delhi was all about Honey Singh and Badshah,” shares Dino, who recently performed at the second season of Royal Stag Boombox. “I will not forget my first experience with Royal Stag BoomBox. We made songs, but I was very nervous because I’d never associated with the brand before this. They are so artist-friendly. I enjoyed making Pehle Jaisi Baat Nahi with Jasleen Royal last year. And this year, I'm doing a song with Nikhita Gandhi for Royal Stag BoomBox. I am grateful for the opportunity.”
Going back to where it all started, Dino shares, “I came to Mumbai to act. I was lost for a year, was not able to understand what to do. Coincidentally, I met a group of friends, who were living with me as well. I was working at a call centre, and I wanted to do something, but I didn't understand what to do. This group of friends I made would take me to auditions. I submitted my entry once and I got selected which helped me earn some Rs 8,000 to Rs 10,000, and that was a lot of money for me. Then it became Rs 20,000! So, I got into that loop of trying and failing; trying and failing, until I realised that I can't do this; I got bigger plans. I felt like hip-hop was waiting for me. So I can say acting happened out of probably necessity and hip-hop happened because I think this was my destination.”
Continuing with what the audience can expect from Dino, the artiste excitedly exclaims, “Oh my God! It's so much, I'm going to drop my album soon, probably in two months.”
With hits like Plastic, Pyaar Pyaar, Boyfriend, Bin Bulaye, Tandav, and many others to his credit, we notice that Dino’s songs are based on his life experiences, and ask if there is any particular reason for it. “I never knew any other way to actually write songs,” he says, and adds, “I've written songs because I wanted to speak, I've written songs because I listened to Eminem and he was talking about his daughter, his colour, he being broke, his fights with his mom. So, I thought to myself, ‘I've got so many stories going on in me, I mean I'm hustling! I'm here, I've got no money, I'm heartbroken, I'm angry and frustrated. So, why don't I just write about this?’ That was the only blueprint I had. I never had an Afrobeat or a club beat or something to talk about. And I said, this is my life; let me talk about my dog, let me express what I want to express and that’s how people got connected.”
The rap artiste, who has had humble beginnings, slowly tasted success and was also seen as a mentor on MTV Hustle. There are lessons he has learnt on the way and they are “too many,” he tells us. “I don't know where to start. Life is unpredictable. You have to keep moving. You have to take care of yourself. You don't have to take your downs very seriously. You have to always believe that it just takes a miracle to change your life upside-down. So, you have to be very hopeful. And life is too short. People come. People leave. Also, you are not the Superman, which you think in your head you are. Just have fun, I mean, don't take life very seriously.”
Ask him the artistes he looks up to, and pat comes the reply, “The entire Interscope gang! When I started, it was Dr Dre, the Guru, Eminem, 50 Cents, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, J.Cole, Post Malone, AR Rahman, Kishore Kumar, everybody, oh my God, so many!”
Apart from being an artiste, Dino is also a fitness freak, and says “It's exactly like hip-hop. It's an interest that I developed at a very young age. I looked up to bodybuilders had their posters in my room. I always thought that I want to become like them. It's not like that I'm into fitness because I want to stay fit, I'm into fitness because that's my temple; I have to be there, like how I have to be there in the studio or I have to write something, I have to be in the gym.”
