Lil Dicky Has the #1 Rap Album In The Country. He Reveals the Story of Its Creation (Video Interview)

In just a little more than two years, Lil Dicky has gone from being an unknown artist to having the number one album in the country on the Rap Album Chart. His success has been instant, starting with the first music video he ever released (“Ex-Boyfriend“) generating more than a million views on day one. The video was propelled by Dicky’s unique sense of humor, deft story-telling ability and unassailable talent as a rapper. While to some, those types of immediate results might seem like a dream come true, to the MC born David Burd, they have only fueled his desire to prove that he is an artist here to stay, not a novelty act or one-hit wonder. As such, his album Professional Rapper, could not be better titled, as it is Dave’s 20-song “resume” for a job on the career path to becoming one of Hip-Hop’s most important MCs.

We sat down with Dicky for an extended interview, where he explained the concepts behind the album, its construction and what he wanted to achieve with it. He spoke in-depth, addressing several specific songs, the strategy for selecting the specific guests vocalists on the album and even rapping a verse that best summed him up as an MC. For longtime fans and newcomers, this is a comprehensive look inside the mind of one of Hip-Hop’s freshest new talents and one that is here to stay.

Dicky starts the interview discussing how it feels to see his album ascend to the top of the charts. It becomes clear from the conversation that there was nothing accidental about the album. For example, he was extremely strategic about the guest vocalists he chose for the LP. Each one was selected to advance a specific narrative related to the song on which the artist was featured (1:08). Guests included Snoop Dogg, Rich Homie Quan, Fetty Wap, T-Pain and more. Dave also explains the overall concept of the album and its title of Professional Rapper, saying that this was a very conscious decision for him as a career path and that, while he takes the craft extremely seriously, it’s a funny construct to label it as a “job” (4:23).

As the conversation progresses, the discussion shifts to the different aspects of Dicky’s personality that are revealed on the album. While he is most well-known as a jokester, like any person, there are many sides to who he is and he has songs that reflect his serious side, his philosophical nature, his insecurities, and other emotions (5:32).

One of the most creative songs on the album (and any other in recent memory) is the eleven minute “Pillow Talking.” The song portrays an awkward, thoughtful, and darkly hilarious conversation between a couple (and their brains) after a sexual encounter. They touch on everything from aliens invading the earth to the merits of vegetarianism, and Dicky gives an extended explanation of what inspired the song for him (7:03).

Toward the end of the interview, Dave address some of the misconceptions about him. Critics have often accused him of not taking Rap seriously. He explains that nothing could be further from the truth. While humor comes naturally to him as a person, the thing that makes him the most proud is the hard work he puts into constructing his rhymes (14:08). While he will never forgo his comedic point of view, as its what defines him, he gives context for what motivates it and why his jokes are in no way making fun of Rap, itself. As a punctuation, he closes the interview with an a capella verse from the song “Bruh” off the album which makes it indisputably clear that, as an MC, his lyrical game is nothing but serious (16:36).

Related: Snoop Puts Lil Dicky to a Rap Test…and He ACES It Like a Pro (Video)