TheDMVDaily Exclusives: Deante’ Hitchcock, The Best Blend Of Music And Personality

“Growing up in Atlanta, you get to see a wide range of musical acts that have shaped the landscape of modern hip hop. It’s not longer classic boom bap, which I’m still a fan of though. You have very successful acts yet diverse acts such as Andre 3000, Future, Gucci Mane, Young Thug, J.I.D, Summer Walker, and more from Atlanta. It’s amazing to even grow up in the culture.” – Deante’ Hitchcock

Let’s rewind time to 2016. You know when COVID-19 wasn’t existing, and stalwart acts in hip hop from Atlanta, such as Future and Young Thug, where capturing the scene. With vivid melodic trap drum and eccentric personalizes, the south has become the main staple of hip hop. Stars such as Summer Walker, 6lack, Russ, Young Nudy, Lil Baby, Gunna, Lil Keed, Yung Mal, J.I.D., Earthgang, and more have put the city of Atlanta on another pedestal of cultivating exceptional music talent.

With the release of his 2020 album Better featuring Miguel, 6lack, Young Nudy, and J.I.D., Deante’ Hitchcock adds to the ever-growing prodigious music acts from the ATL. On a bright Thursday afternoon, while we were both being reasonable adults quarantining safely unlike some people, Deante’ and I had an insightful conversation about his latest album, Atlanta, finding comparability in himself, and just life overall. Hitchcock’s current path to success is genuine, as it can get for a music artist. From growing up on voucher tickets to Atlanta Hawks games, experiencing A3C has an indie artist, seeing Atlanta becoming one of the pillars in modern hip hop, being put on to hip hop from his uncle, and just embracing the culture of his city defines the current person Deante’ Hitchcock has became.

For Better, I didn’t want too much of the same sound or subject matter; I wanted a diverse track-list which shows the world both sides of the coin of my personality” – Deante’ Hitchcock. 

His journey from his 2016 debut in Good to 2019 breakout single on Revenge Of The Dreamers 3 PTSD Ft. Omen, St. Beauty, and Mereba, to his current album is inspiring. One key point Deante’ told me which is leading to his ongoing success, is finding comfort-ability within his sound and team. Instead of forcing bonds between people, Hitchcock has a natural aura to which attracts people to him. His sounds and song selection has led to an incredible, diverse track listing on better. To best describe the project, Better is an album for different moods throughout your day.

Even Deante’ had a tough time deciding which track was is favorite. The features, in particular, flowed cohesively to the order of the project. Deante’ complimented the grit of Nudy, went bar for bar with 6lack and J.I.D., and balanced the soothing vocals of Miguel perfectly. I also love to see his sampling of some of my favorite Neo-Soul/R&B acts ever in Maxwell and Hi-Five. From Good to Better to Best (potentially which Deante’ stated), each album will build off each other in terms of his overall sound and narrative. 

I was astounded that we instantly clocked when it came to the subject matter of our conversation. What’s even more amazing is how low key and transparent of a star emcee he is. “After I’m all said and done with music, I want to have my family and raise them on a farm somewhere,” Hitchcock told me, which made me laugh out of pure joy. He continued with, “I might be opened to living in another country and exploring the world. It might be nice to look at the water and see the chickens roam the field freely.” 

He credits Atlanta and the artists he grew up on or within the city to the overall mindset and sound he has in music. The introspective subject matter of his music stems the different spectrum from the A. “The thing that’s the most amazing about the city of Atlanta is that each artist from every spectrum of music or life who is on the map brings something very very, very good to music,” Deante’ joyfully told me. “With the versatility of our artists, I’m equally in the mood for Lil Baby as I am for J.I.D. There is no stereotypical sound from our city, which makes the rise of Atlanta the past decade in music so beautiful to witness. I’m glad to grow up to see Andre, Gucci, T.I. D4l, Jeezy, and a lot more amazing artists put the city on the map while my generation is solidifying it as a powerhouse in music.”

“I’m not a super hip hop purist, but I’m also not a super trap artist. I’m Deante’ Hitchcock, a one of a kind artist” – Deante’ Hitchcock

For many music artists coming up and looking to establish themselves within the industry, the idea of being original and authentic can get lost. Hopping on current trends to develop your likeliness among fellow rappers can seem like a reasonable business move for a music artist. However, for Deante’ Hitchcock, he always kept his sound to represent himself as genuine as possible. Especially In Atlanta, where the “Trap genre” of music was birthed, Deante’ never strayed from who he was as a person in his music. While he paid homage to his friends and family who was from the streets, Hitchcock himself seen some of the same struggles but looks at it from a different perspective. 

Deante’ at the current age of 27, knows who he wants to be in life. A sentiment few people in our age bracket (I’m 25) can actually credit to themselves knowing what they want to do. Being comfortable in himself and manifesting his career of being a music artist led to his breakout in 2019 on the single PTSD and the highly acclaimed L.P. Better. Being a former super athlete in high school, Hitchcock describes his recent success as hitting a game-winning shot at the buzzer-beater. 

“From hearing the news that PTSD was the last track selected to be on R.O.D. 3, I felt my life shift in the best way possible. It was like I hit the game-winning jump shot at the buzzer. I almost threw my phone at the wall because I was so excited! Everything came full circle for me. From finessing autographs at the Dollar & A Dream concert, to being featured in the documentary to being on R.O.D. 3, and putting out a project like Better, everything worked out the way it was supposed to!” – Deante’ Hitchcock.

Overall, Deante’ has experienced a fantastic journey to his current music stardom. A tip he left me to let aspiring music artists know in terms of pursuing their dreams is to keep pushing your music and perfecting your craft until your moment comes. He wants artists to know that once you make it with that one hit or cosign, it’s your overall library that makes people fall in love with your sound. In the case of Deante’ Hitchcock, he has the music, personality, looks, and transparency of a future icon. 2020 is only the begging for him!