Coming Up from the Underground: Meet Duece Flame

Underground rapper and unsigned artist Duece Flame is poised to drop his long-awaited album “Headspace” on 1/3/20, the first #FlameFriday of the new year! Duece Flame has been working on this since 2017 and has produced and written each track himself. “Headspace” is a 16-track album that explores the journey of Duece Flame in his pursuit of making it. The project follows this journey in two parts: ‘The Memory’ which is the first 8 tracks that feature a collection of older songs that were created during the project’s infancy stage which reflects old mindsets and a rougher sound; ‘The Plot’ is the last half of songs that were created more recently which features Flame’s new way of thinking, attempts to open himself up to the listener through improved production and content. A year after his big move from Houston to Los Angeles, Duece Flame finally feels like now is the perfect time to let the world enter his “Headspace”.

Ahead of his “Headspace” release, The Hype Magazine got Flame to weigh in on a few things!

From the outside looking in, who is Duece Flame?

Duece Flame is an artist who had to put in countless hours of work to fully understand the concept of loving what you do. He’s a motivated person who will do anything possible to get what he wants & does what he wants. Never afraid to be persistent when chasing your dream is a major part of Duece Flame’s attitude, which is important in life! He is a hard worker and hustles for the things he wants in life, never stopping for anybody. From the outside looking in you see a man who is always positive and searching for ways to get the job done.

What brought you to the entertainment industry, music specifically?

The idea of taking words and making them flow together has always been cool to me. Everybody wants to be heard and seen; I wanted those things as well, but I also want the people to know I exist. I’ve been a songbird since a child always singing and learning the beats of music I heard, when I got my first computer it was on from there! The flashy lifestyle, the culture, the money, the freedom, what’s not to love about the music industry? Oh, and I’m good at it so why not?

What do you want people to get from your music?

That it doesn’t matter how long it takes as long as you know you’re doing what you need to be doing. You gotta love the journey in every endeavor you have, and that’s what I want the people to understand. It’s not so much about the end goal as people make it out to be, but the hard work in between that makes you who you are. I want people to genuinely be happy and appreciative for what they’ve been through and what’s to come. I want people to gain confidence in themselves that they too can get out of their comfort zone and chase after what they love.

Tell us about your current project and why it’s divided into two parts

Headspace is an album that’s been in production since 2016. At the time that I started working on the project I had no idea that it was going to be headspace until the end of 2017 when I moved back to Houston and had a long sit down with a best friend of mine about life and what I really wanted to accomplish. I went through a long stretch in 2016-2017 after I graduated college where I had a bunch of negative energy surrounding me. I didn’t have a stable job, my roommate had psychotic issues that would fall onto me.. and I wasn’t in the right headspace for making music and enjoying life the way I needed to. The woman in my life at the time I was in love with her, but she was also a negative energy in my life & held me back from my true potential. Once I fully realized that I wasn’t being myself, I moved back to Houston to get into a better headspace. This is when I really started to plot and plan for the rest of my life. The album unofficially has two parts to it: “The Plot” & “The Memory”. The first 8 songs of the album is called “The Plot” which is a reflection of the action I took to get where I’m at now. These songs are a lighter selection of tracks that are focused on the action that I took to get over the negativity in my life. They are about the process of becoming a boss by doing the things necessary to elevate yourself above the bullshit. The second part is called “The Memory” which is a darker selection of tracks that are about the things I had to overcome and the dark things in my life that I needed to accept to become the person I am today. This side contains the earlier tracks that I recorded, which makes the name even more suitable. Overall, Headspace is the most transparent I’ve ever been on a project and I want the people to know who Duece Flame is. By the way, I produce, record & engineer all of my music, so this project is a full embodiment of me.

For new listeners, what song of yours would you pick as an introduction to you as an artist?

“S.O.U.R” is a great representation of me as an artist understanding that just because people don’t see the hard work you put it, it still is necessary to become the greatest. It’s about surrounding myself with nothing but positive energy and putting in the work to make shit happen. It’s actually an acronym for “so over underground rap” which is ironic because in order to make it to the next level, you have to learn to appreciate and master the level you’re at now. It allowed me to understand that before I get out of this underground phase I need to take full advantage of it and be as experimental with my music as possible.

What can we expect from you for 2020?

You can expect to see my name more often. More Instagram and social media posts, more visual content, more transparency, more money, more shows, an overall great year. My team is growing and I’ve been in my bag, so nothing but great things are to come this year. The quality of everything will get better and better, and I can’t wait!

Last but not least, HYPE wants to know…What’s your CRAZIEST “Where they do that at?!” aka WTF?! moment…

Man I’m from Texas where they throw you under the jail for HALF A BLUNT………. so the entire experience of moving to Los Angeles and the first time I saw a bunch of people smoking freely that shit blew my mind! We smoked stressed as fuck down south hoping we don’t get caught or arrested, but down here people pull out joints and blunts like it ain’t nothing. That shit still blows my mind how legal this shit is out here I still have WTF moments to this day! Lmao, the life of a southern stoner moving to the promise land of marijuana.

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About the Author

Dr. Jerry Doby Editor-in-Chief of The Hype Magazine, Media and SEO Consultant, Journalist, Ph.D. and retired combat vet. 2023 recipient of The President's Lifetime Achievement Award. Partner at THM Media Group. Member of the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture, the United States Press Agency and ForbesBLK.