While creating his new album, DBDLP: The Dirtbag Dan LP, Dirtbag Dan crafted "Suburbanites," a selection that details his family's turmoil and his father's meth use.
"We went from living on the block to living by the hills,"Dan raps on the track. "Mom and dad both had multiple jobs to pay the bills / Side gigs, seasonal work and overtime / They both were always on their grind / My dad 'bout lost his mind...Speed's part of the trade, so he started taking meth."
The battle rapper says that writing "Suburbanites" was "cathartic."
"I think a lot of people, in Northern California specifically, grew up in families that were affected by methamphetamine abuse," Dan says in an exclusive interview with HipHopDX. "As an artist you always hope something you write can help somebody get through a hurdle in their lives, but this is something I felt I needed to write as much for me as anyone else."
On the track, Dan says that his mother and brother left their home likely due to his father's drug use. "I stayed with dad because I felt he had nothing left," Dan raps on the track.
Today, Dan says his relationship with his father remains strong.
"My dad is the homie and we've definitely moved far beyond our more serious issues," he says. "As gloomy as the topic [is], I hope people hear the song [and] realize that there's [a] light at the end of even the darkest tunnels."
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