Spanning at the edge of southern hip hop, pop, R&B, and electronic music, the Louisiana-based MC, HD4President compresses a wide sonic palettes into his unique soulful expression that rises up from the street yet subtly reminds you of the tough times behind. Bouncy, hard-hitting banger has a southern urban glare, while the identical, mesmerizing HD signature echoes deep in the sonic DNA that feels like hitting home. That’s the beauty and cleverness of HD. There’s the familiarity and nostalgic within his own music, but the drive always takes you somewhere else. Every song is a wild exploration.
As a musician, HD has been writing since he was six or seven years old. Since a young age, HD had a clear vision of what he wanted to do despite the circumstances or other people’s opinion. He held on to his belief, worked towards, and never gave up, which eventually came true. “When you believe in yourself at a young age, they think you’re crazy, but if you got it in you mind, just keep believing.” The Motown artist commented on one of the most important life lessons he learned.
HD4President is an artist who is constantly on the move to the next level. He seeks to challenge the existing walls and goes beyond where the eyes can reach. His fearless spirit and raw creativity brings audience to the next level with each and every song. The mixtape compresses a wide range of sonic possibilities while introducing and re-introducing the identical “HD signature” — “Bow Bow Bow.” Inspired by life, the same mesmerizing sonic signature is the cornerstone and re-occurring theme that always gives you a nostalgic, good feeling yet each song is a wild adventure that introduces to a different side of HD where the past, present, and future isn’t bound by the linear time.
Featuring 2 Chainz, Boosie Badazz, and Fredo Bang, To Da Max is a mixture of fascinating collaborations on the existing hits and new originals of the next step. From the hard-hitting “Mouth Fulla Golds” to a luscious, darker “Touch Down,” the distinct contrast in styles between the two has shown the artist’s versatility. The title track “To Da Max” again derives to new direction, while “Whip It” features a darker, more aggressive beat towards the progressing rap. “Diddy Bop” removes the adhering dark piano and dives into the elevating electrified guitar with airy pads that dips into the electronic world further.
Written by Katrina Yang
Press Q&A with HD4President
Q (Rising Artists Blog): What are some challenges you faced pursuing music? And how have you overcome them?
HD4President: Building a fanbase and actually getting people to. I’ve been writing since I was six or seven years old. In 1998 or 1999, I had little name. When I turned 11 in 2001, I had a record deal on the table, but I didn’t sign it. Seven years later, when I was 17, I had another record deal on the table, but I didn’t sign itagain. When I was 24 or 25, and I had a chance to sign again and I didn’t sign it either. I wondered when my time will come and if I have missed it when I didn’t sign the deal, but none of the situations made any sense to me.
I’m 31 years old now, and I just signed one of the biggest record deal along with any established artists. Building a fanbase and getting people to see my vision is the biggest challenges. In 2019, I tweeted I said, 2020 could be my year with music. In whole 2020, I just kept progressing. Starting with “Mouth Fulla Golds” ended with “Touch Down,” which was the biggest song of the summer almost.
Q: What are some life lessons you’ve learned coming a long way from the street to where you are today that you would like to share with young folks today?
HD4President: The biggest lesson I’ve learned is not to listen to nobody else if you got some on your mind. People told me you ain’t gonna make it, you’re too old, you’ve been doing it so long, you need to find something to do with your life. They never think it’s never going to happen for real, so I block out every single person who didn’t believe in my dream. My family didn’t believe I was going to make it. They love it now, but they didn’t believe it back then. Nobody else supported my dream. I was ten years old buying my own recording gears to record. Nobody else supported my studio time. I bought it myself. When you believe in yourself in a young age, they think you’re crazy, but if you’ve got it in your mind, just keep believing.
Q (Unrivalled Hip-Hop) : what do you see your music progressing towards?
HD4President: I’m really into pop music. It’s going to be hard to make a transition cuz people don’t want you to change. They want you to stay there and wait. A lot of people don’t understand progression, you know, just getting better what you do, but I like to do all kinds of music. I don’t see myself as a one way artist. I’m trying to work with different areas and just trying to be.
Q: Which artist is your favorite artist?
HD4President: Jay Z. Juvenile. Right now Lil Baby, NoCap is the artists in the world. Lil Wayne.
Q (Label): What is the emotion you felt when you were signed to Motown? What is the emotion
HD4President: I was thankful. When I was a kid, I used to come home and watch The Temptations every day, and my mom said, I watched the movie too much. I actually had a chance to sign from thirteen different labels. I’ve got twelve labels calling me from one day. Every major label in the world called, but I thought Motown was the best situation for me because they made me feel like a family instead of just signed because I gotta have songs.
Q (Finesse Media): There are artists who write in the most unconventional places, I wanted to know where do you usually write your music?
HD4President I don’t write music. I just go into the studio and do. I do it in my house, everything I did, I did it at home. In my comfort spaces, early morning, taking my number 2, ideas flowing in my head. When I finish, I wash my hand and come upstairs and go record. That’s the real deal.
Q (Bridge Music Magazine): You talked about turning down deal when you were young. Were there any a time when you regretted that decision?
HD4President: My teenage years I was in the street real hard. When I turned 15, I have bought my own car. I have way more than any 15 years old should have. I was taking care of grown people. I got deals from people who were older than me. I was in the street really bad. When I was older and I tried to leave the street, I found myself financial struggling sometimes, and I used to be thinking, when I was 17, I could have signed the deal. Should I have signed it? I don’t know. Actually it was a good idea signing, because the record label ended up going down the dream, and it would have been a situation that I would still be stuck into these days. During my teenage years, I didn’t regret, but when I was 23, 24, I was like, man, I should have signed the deal.
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