Sit Down Series: B.A.D

B.A.D is a young up-and-coming rapper out of Boston’s growing hip-hop scene. By formulating his own sound, he has created some solid mixtapes that have generated more and more exposure. It won’t be long before he finally breaks through, especially with the team in Boston he has surrounded himself with. Last week, he found time between the studio and getting his new single “Come Thru” out to sit down with Leo and talk a bit about life, his upcoming album, and the Celtics.

CM: Let’s start off from the beginning. How does a kid from Norwood, Massachusetts get into rap?

B.A.D: It’s kind of a lot of things. Growing up around music, I just really loved it. I listen to all genres but I related most with rap music. I think I just felt it and realized I had stories to tell from growing up. It started as writing off little pieces, almost like poetry you could say, then it became me and my friends just smoking and freestyling in the car; slowly getting better and better. Eventually, people started telling me to write and make songs. Then, bang, just like that I started fucking writing and making music.

CM: So who were you listening to as a kid?

B.A.D: Anybody and everybody! I grew up on Snoop, Dre, Eminem, Lil Wayne, and 50 Cent, really whoever was big back then. 50 was really one of my favorites growing up for a while in the mid-2000s. I didn’t really have an iPod until I was older so I was really listening to whatever I could find on YouTube.

CM: Now your real name is Brian Dittmeier. How did you come up eventually with the stage name “B.A.D”?

B.A.D: Well it’s actually just the initials of my name. Brian Arthur Dittmeier. I was always called Ditty growing up and shit, from 7 years old and on. But obviously, I can’t use the name Ditty since that’s already a billionaire rapper, one of the biggest of all time and another of my inspirations. I just knew I had to go with something myself so I kept it simple and went with my initials, B.A.D. It’s not like it’s a fake name I am hiding behind, it’s me.

CM: You seem to run with a pretty tight crew. However, would you say the Boston rap scene is easy to break into or difficult to?

B.A.D: It’s getting a lot better. I can see a progression with it because there is a lot of talent out here but no one has ever really worked together and there aren’t many big platforms to push us. There aren’t any big labels out here and there are only a few small studios. People are coming together a lot more though and you are starting to see more Boston artist really push Boston’s own stuff. It is becoming less of a competition and more of a support system almost.

CM: There are a few big names that are starting to shine out of Boston; Cousin Stizz and Michael Christmas being two great examples. Now they don’t sound the same but have similar styles, almost Boston’s own type of Trap. How would you describe the hip-hop that is coming out of Boston recently?

B.A.D: It is kind of tough cause there is a lot of different things going on. Mass is such a small state so everybody is geographically close in a sense. There is Joyner out in Worcester who is wicked lyrical. Then you got Cousin Stizz who is the new school type and gives you that wavey vibes when he raps. I don’t think there is a particular sound out here. I think it will come into form eventually though.

CM: Now what would you say is your sound?

B.A.D: I have been getting a lot more into melodies. Starting off, I had the bars but I needed to develop that catchiness, something to get the people dancing and shit like that. All peaks and valleys! I feel like I have been really finding it in the last six months or so. I am still trying to perfect. My new shit has more melodies. I don’t want to compare it to anyone but almost like a Post Malone style where is singing but also rapping too.

CM: A month from now, your debut album is coming! What can you tell the readers about that? Who is going to be on it? How many tracks?

B.A.D: It’s more of a smaller album. There will be four songs that I’ve dropped over the last few months that were singles. Then there will be nine new songs so really 13 in total. I wanted to make this one small just so I can come back quick with another mixtape in a couple months from now just to keep the consistency. This album though is really a story about forgetting the last few years and moving on. There is everything from relationship stuff to friendship stuff on it. It’s called Don’t Look Back.

CM: Damn okay! From one album onto the next project. How much time does that mean you are spending in the studio?

B.A.D: I go right from work to the studio. Either we are recording songs in there or were mixing songs. The last two months I have probably been in there 100 plus hours.

CM: That’s a ton of time! Are you writing a lot there as well?

B.A.D: It depends because it’s really whenever anything comes to me. I can be riding around in the car and I hear something or feel something so I write it down. Sometimes I also find a beat and stuff just starts flowing. I feel like I do work best in the studio though. I could be in there and someone asks me to write a verse, there’s the pressure of getting it done quickly and I feel like I work well with that. The lyrics really come from whatever I may be inspired by or something that is on my mind that I really want to get out.

CM:  You have also done a ton of work with Valid Tone, another rapper out of Boston. Tell me a little about the work you have done with him. I know he does a lot of your beat production.

B.A.D: It’s awesome! He just makes everything easier for me really. He knows all the technical stuff and been doing this shit for years. He’s truly the best fucking engineer in Boston. Tone’s been teaching me along the way too how to do my own stuff. He’s just really easy to work with plus he is really well known in Boston and because of that, I have met a lot of other artists as well. I was going to another engineer for a little while but have come back to Tone just cause he hooks it up with the prices and he is really just one of my boys. When we work together I barely know how to describe it! It’s like fucking peanut butter and jelly. It comes naturally!

CM: How many shows have you had so far this year?

B.A.D: In the last month, so the first month of 2019, I have had five shows. That’s pretty much total of what I had in 2018 so starting off strong.

CM: One of your recent shows you had DJ Chubb pull up from 94.5 (Boston’s hip-hop radio).

B.A.D: Yeah DJ Chubby Chubb pulled through. That show was in Boston in the Financial District then Moneymav showed up a few weeks later. Those are pretty big DJs on 94.5 so they have a pretty big name for themselves in the local area. It’s just about getting those people to see you and notice you so the next time they see you they recognize you and think to themselves “I know this kid he must be making a splash on the scene”.

CM: Back to your music here, but where are you getting inspirations for your lyrics?

B.A.D: It’s just anything I am going through in life. It could be fun shit, bad shit, something my boy is going through and I am speaking through him. Anything like that really.

CM: Obviously you are a huge Boston sports fan. One glance at your Twitter or Instagram proves that. Everywhere you go you seem to be rocking some apparel.

B.A.D: I grew up on this shit! It’s hard to hate them when they are so good, what can I say?

CM: In that music video for “Change The World”, you are dancing around outside the Boston Garden so what are your predictions for the Celtics this year?

B.A.D: I think they are coming into form at the right time. They won 10 out of their last 11 [as of February 7th]. Plus a close game with Golden State a few weeks back which shows we can compete with the guys who are “supposed” to win the championship. That should give them confidence.

CM: I always try to hit artists with this as my last question! If you were to have dinner with three artists, dead or alive, who would they be?

B.A.D: I got to put Biggie up there. He is one of my absolute favorites and is definitely the one dead rapper I would have to meet. Just ’cause the bangers he had, the way he switched up his flow, and what he did for how young he is, he could’ve done so much more. I think he could’ve been the greatest rapper of all time if he didn’t die at 24. His life was cut way too short! Other than that, maybe like Snoop Dawg because he just enjoys life and has a good time. I would love to chill and get some advice from him. He still is doing this shit and was doing in back in the 90s when Tupac and Biggie were just popping off and getting big. Lastly, probably Eminem. Growing up I only listened to black artists then I saw Eminem and was like “Oh damn, white people can do this shit?” because I had no clue it was like that. I would love to get some information from him on what it was like going through this shit and being a guest in the game almost.

CM: Follow up to that, is there a specific place you would want to take them?

B.A.D: I am trying to make some money and give back to everybody. I am a big food guy and love cooking too so I want to invest in restaurants if I get money eventually from music. Put some in my own town and get some more shit to do there in Norwood. Almost like Whalburger’s and what they did. I got to get the idea fully down but something like that.

CM: So you’re telling me you would want to cook for Snoop who has his own cooking show with Martha Stewert?

B.A.D: I don’t think I would be the head chef but I would definitely bring them to whatever restaurants I own.

CM: Final question. What is next for you? What do you want this year, 2019, to be for you?

B.A.D: I want this to be the year I start getting noticed and recognized. It doesn’t have to be performing at motherfucking Rolling Loud by the end of the year but as long as people have my songs in their playlists that helps. Even to get on the radio a few times would be great. I know the music I have is good and once people hear it and like it, I will have more to follow it up. Once they hear you once, then you come right back and hit them again with new stuff, they start to recognize you and pay more attention. Then it is just up if you keep putting the work in.