Interview with rapper "Decent"

Brandon Harris: Who are you as a person, outside of music?

Decent: As A Person I'm David Angel Cerda Your Average Teenage Artist That Was Raised By Great Parents But Witnessed And Have Had Little Experience With The Gang Related Scenes Along With The Drug And Alcohol Related Scenes. I Started Rapping At 8 Years Old, March 15 Is When I Wrote My First Song.

Brandon Harris: What has been the best part so far of being a rap artist?

Decent: The Best Part So Far About Being A Performer Would Have To Be The Love From The Crowd, Rocking The Mic Has Always Gave Me Chills And Excitement Due To The Fact That Your Past, Present, And Future, Doesn't Matter When Your On Stage It Is Therapeutic Actually And Relieves A Bunch Of Stress.

Brandon Harris: What are the goals you have set for yourself in 2014?

Decent: The Goals I Have Set For Myself Is To Step Up My Lyricism And Flow Along With My Stage Performance. I Always Try To Improve And Perfect Myself Musically In Order To Give The Fans What They Deserve Which Is Good Music. Also A Long Term Goal Of Mine Is To Be A XXL Freshman In The Upcoming Years Along With Being Signed With Either Def Jam, Roc Nation, Or Even Bad Boy

Brandon Harris: How long does it take to prepare a song for release?

Decent: It Usually Takes A While To Prepare To Release A Song Depending On Who My Studio Session Is With Like I Said I'm A Teenager, 16, At That And I Have To Fit The Studio In My Schedule Along With Work And School. There Are Good Days And Bad Days When It Comes To Releasing A Song.

Brandon Harris: What was the fist cd you ever owned?

Decent: The First CD I Ever Owned Was Honestly An RZA CD And Usher CD I Got Those As A Christmas Present From My Father And Mother. How It Went Was My Mom Bought Me The Usher CD Because She Was A Huge Usher Fan And My Dad Gave Me A Hand Me Down RZA CD And I Always Cherished Them.

Brandon Harris: What is the rap game like now, compared to when you got into it?

Decent: The Rap Game Now In Comparison To Where I First Started Is Actually Becoming Harder And Harder To Get Into Due To The Fact That There Are A Bunch Of People Wanting To Rap And Calling Themselves "Rappers" However I Think It Is Really Clear To Tell The "Rappers" From Us Artists. I Have Spent About 9 Years Rapping And Built A Name For Myself, I Have Invested In Myself And My Music Which Makes Me Kind Of On Top Just Because Now And Days It's Not About Skill It's About Money And In Order To Make Connections With Other Big Named Artists You Need To Be About Your Money

Brandon Harris: Where do you get the themes for your music videos?

Decent: I Haven't Really Shot A Bunch Of Music Videos But I've Been In One And Have Shot One Only. My Experience With Music Videos Isn't Really That Good Because There Aren't That Much People Good With Shooting Them And Directing Them Here In The Lower Valley However If They Are Good They Over Charge But I Am Going To Be Shooting More Music Video This Coming Summer Possibly With These Big Named Artists The Fans Just Got To Stay Tuned.

Brandon Harris: Who was your best performance on stage with?

Decent: Honestly All My Performances From The Past Have Been Solo And They Were Very Good I Have Gotten A Lot Of Positive Feedback From Fans That Were Present But March 22, 2014 At The Seasons In Yakima Valley I Will Be Performing With Local Artists Slette From Brickz 2 Bred Ent. And Vivid From The Revolutionized Lyricist Group. Any tour coming soon? What are your hopes for 2014?

There Are A Couple Tours That I Have Been Invited To Join Which Is Illest Uminati's "Illmerica Tour" And Brickz 2 Bred Ent. "Texas Takeover Tour" I Am Still Deciding Whether Or Not To Go On These Tours But I Am Well Aware That It Will Benefit My Career In So Many Ways But I Am Still A Minor And Have Priorities. My Hopes For 2014 Is To Drop The EP In The Next Couple Of Months And To Drop My Freshman Album Under The Independent Label "Brickz 2 Bred". I'm Hoping To Build My Fan Base Massively. I Also Have A Collab Project Coming Out With Another Artist Off Of The Label Who Goes By Statiix. There Has Been No Set Dates Yet But It Is Slowly But Surely.

Brandon Harris: Who if anyone would you like to colab with?

Decent: There Is A Few People Id Like To Collab With Such As MGK, Logic, Dizzy Wright, Tech N9ne, Kendrick Lamar, And J.Cole Mainly Because They Are My Main Influences In This Rap Game And I Love Their Music.

Brandon Harris: What was your vision when you started?

Decent: My Vision When I Started Was To Be One Of The Best Artists Locally Which In My Opinion I Believe I Am, Im Not Trying To Sound Arrogant Or Cocky But The Work Behind My Career Is Proof Of My Grind, I Have Made Songs With Mac Lucci And Neoh Of DPG, Juicy J, Trae The Truth, Chingo Bling, And Pyrexx If That Isn't Proof Of A Steady Grind Then 

What I Don't Know What Is.

Brandon Harris: Where did you think you would be today?

Decent: Would Have Never Even Guessed That I Would Be Where I Am At Today Career Wise It Really Surprises Me That I'm Here But Then Again It's What I've Been Working For These Past 9 Years Of My Life

Brandon Harris:  What song of yours has the most views, hits?

Decent: The Song I Have That Has The Most Views And Hits Is "Northwest Riders" By Slette Feat. Decent (Myself) It's Going On 7,000 Plays On YouTube Which Is Really Cool To Me I Wrote The Chorus And Second Verse To That Song Which Came Out Really Dope. The Song Itself Is Really Catchy I Love It.

Rapper Decent in 509 Magazine

Brandon Harris:  As a performer does anyone inspire you?

Decent: As A Performer I'd Have To Say The Inspiration And Influence Comes From Machine Gun Kelly And Strange Music Just Because They Are The Greatest Performers Out There And Really Connect With The Crowd And Gets The People Going.

Brandon Harris: What is your opinion on Russia and the US right now regarding Crimea?

Decent: My Opinion About Russia And The US Right Now Regarding Crimea Is That It Isn't Necessary But Then Again We Got To Think About The People Actually Involved In The Situation And How It Is Affecting Their Lives As Well So I'm Kind Of Neutral Right Now But Anxious To See What's Going To Happen Next I'm Truly Hoping For The Best.

Brandon Harris: As a person, what do you do on your free time?

Decent: As A Person My Free Time Revolves Around Music Or Music Related Activities, I Put So Much Time In My Music That Sometimes I Forget About The People I Hang Around With But Not Often There Will Be Times When I Screw Around And Spend Time With My Friends And Family But When I Don't They Still Support Me And Understand What I'm Trying To Do With My Life As An Artist.

Brandon Harris: Do you have any crazy fan stories?

Decent: I Actually Do Have One, Kind Of Crazy Fan Story, There Was This One Female That Loved My Music And She Had Tattooed My Stage Name (Decent) On Her Lower Back And Showed Me That And A Little Something Else, No Comment On What Was Shown But It Was Pretty Sexy, But Later On She Had Told Me It Was Tatted But With Temporary Ink And I Was Kinda Bummed But Hey It Was Tatted For A Short While.

Brandon Harris: Who do you feel is the best rapper alive?

Decent: I Believe The Best Rapper(s) Alive Is Between Two Artists, Kendrick Lamar & Tech N9ne. Based Off Of Their Lyricism And Flow It Is Very Difficult For Me To Make A Clear Decision But I Think They Are At The Top Of Their Game

Brandon Harris: Any new videos coming out soon?

Decent: There Are A Few New Videos Coming Out Like I Mentioned Earlier And They Will Be Most Likely With Big Named Artists My Fans And Others Would Have To Stay Tuned And Trust That They Will Be Amazing.

Brandon Harris: Anything you want to say to your fans?

Decent: As Far As My Fans Go I Would Like To Thank Them All For Supporting My Music And Would Like To Say There Is A Song Coming Out Specifically For My Fans Because I Would Be Nothing But A Voice If They Didn't Hear Me.

Brandon Harris: Anyone you want to thank?

Decent: I Would Like To Thank Two Of My Day One Friends Jordan "Vivid" Supnet & Angelino "Ersone" Ortega-Martinez. Also I Would Like To Thank My Parents Daniel & Julissa Cerda For Supporting Me In Every Single Way Financially And Musically.