Though he’s come close to ending it before, it now seems that award-winning hip-hop artist D-Sisive is really closing the book on the masterful ride he’s been taking his fans on since 2007.
In a statement last week trumpeting the Nov. 18 release of his new LP, Jonestown 3: The Dream is Over, the Toronto MC, who was born Derek Christoff, spelled out exactly where his head is these days.
“In 2007, and inspired by Warren Zevon’s final months, I ran full speed,” D-Sisive wrote. “Making up for lost time by releasing as much music as possible, as fast as I could. I was/am afraid of dying and not doing what I should have while alive. I tried speaking with as many people as I could, and met a lot of amazing personalities. It’s incredible what recording words and sounds can bring you. I also feel like I’ve double-lapped that lost time.”
Indeed, in the past five years alone, D-Sisive has delivered eight official releases, which doesn’t even include mixtapes and features on other people’s tracks. He’s been nominated for Juno Awards and Polaris Music Prizes, and he won SOCAN’s ECHO Songwriting Prize for the 2008 song, “Nobody with a Notepad.” He’s collaborated with everyone from Ron Sexsmith to F--ked Up’s Damian Abraham and, in general, just seemed like an unstoppable, if slightly troubled force.
Having lost both his parents over the last 11 years, D-Sisive has channeled his pain into introspective and darkly funny rap songs, which really have this unique pop heart. An open-minded culture sponge who seems to love the Beach Boys and John Lennon as much as he does Nas and Notorious B.I.G., D-Sisive feels it all. Growing tired of people’s mispronunciations, in 2010 he publicly contemplated changing his name to "Derek from Northcliffe," but seemed to have a change of heart after an interview on CBC Radio 3. He ended up sticking with D-Sisive.
Now, it seems it’s not just the moniker that he’s putting behind him.
“This isn’t a Master P retirement publicity stunt,” he said. “I’m not retiring. I’m just exploring. Finding new roads to walk. I just feel like I need to find that dirty dish again. The plates I was washing when I wrote ‘Brian Wilson.’ I need to plant a garden. I need to learn Macedonian. I need to learn how to cook. I need to watch Boardwalk Empire. I need to visit Paris. I need to work on my novel at Starbucks. I need to learn how to play the accordion. I need to sharpen my bubble letter skills.”
Godspeed You! White D-Sisive.
See D-Sisive live in Kingston, Ont., at the Grad Club on Nov. 3 and at the Jonestown 3 album release at the Rivoli in Toronto on Nov. 17.
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Allow me to reintroduce myself: D-Sisive