The Untold Story of Damon Grass: A Deep Dive into His Personal and Professional Life

In a recent conversation, Damon Grass reflects on his journey back to music after a hiatus, highlighting the blend of chance encounters and experiences that reignited his passion. He shares insights into his creative process, detailing the moments that inspired his return to the rap scene and his evolution as an artist. Grass also touches on the challenges he faced during his time away and how these struggles ultimately shaped his renewed perspective and creative output. He teases upcoming projects, promising fans a fresh sound that stays true to his roots while pushing the boundaries of his artistry.

Damon Grass

You’ve described yourself as a “tech bro by circumstance” and a rapper by nature. What pulled you back into music after your time away?

During my time away, I was always freestyling for my friends at home and randomly writing bars on my phone, because some bars just come to you randomly, and you know you have to write that down because it’s just so hard, regardless of whether I’d quit rapping or not. I also did a bunch of features and wrote music for other people. But what really pulled me back happened totally by chance. I ran into my guy Ace at a ‘The Place’ branch. He happened to be with Kevin Asaju, my current A&R/Manager. Ace introduced us, and Kevin invited me to come to the studio sometime. I honored his invitation about a month later, and it all kind of snowballed from there.

Was there a particular moment or shift that made you say, “Yeah, it’s time for Damon Grass to return”?

I wouldn’t say there was a particular moment, but a big catalyst was going on tour with my man Shagba and AWG for the first time. I watched the entire gang record and literally saw how the sausage was made, on what I would call a professional level. Me and Shagba also stole some time to record on that tour. We made a cover of Seyi Vibez’s Different Pattern. We recorded, got a rough mix from Cross, drove to the train station with our guy Bolaji, shot a video for the song, edited it, and posted it on Instagram and Twitter that same day. I think watching the process so closely, being part of it, and seeing that it could all come together so quickly set something off in me. I got home from the tour the next week, bought studio equipment, called my man Slim to help me set up, and started working on what turned out to be Greatly Exaggerated that night.

“Greatly Exaggerated” feels like a rebirth. What’s the personal or creative story behind that title?

It really is, especially considering my time away from the game. That’s all I can say without giving away too much about my album.

You dropped Before the Exaggeration exclusively on damongrass.com—a bold move in an era of streaming dominance. What inspired that approach?

That was more out of necessity than anything. I had this thing I was doing where I would jump on a popular beat every Friday and drop content to that, just to try and drum up some buzz for the album. I really just used to swipe through the Top 100 and jump on whatever caught my eye. But then that became a thing of its own, and along the line, someone on my team had the idea to collect all of the freestyles into a mixtape. I tried to host the mixtape on SoundCloud and Audiomack, but the records kept getting taken down, and I obviously couldn’t put them on DSPs because they are covers. So I thought to myself, I’m a dev — how can I work around this? And then I hosted it on my own website: www.damongrass.com.

What were the challenges and wins of releasing your mixtape independently and exclusively?

The only challenge I would say was the timeline, because the mixtape was initially a little further down in the calendar, as far as the release schedule. But then, one random Thursday, I get a call from my management that it has to come out that same day. So I’m chasing the website guy, chasing the graphics guy, chasing the mix engineer, all while I’m at the office.

A win, I would say, would be complete control: creative, analytics, traffic, data, streams, everything.

Would you say that kind of release is the future for independent artists who want more control over their narrative and audience?

Yes, I believe so. It puts more power and leverage in the hands of the artist — or if you just need a way to get your music out there, like me. Simple as that.

A lot of artists chase virality, but you chose to build something more intentional—even if it meant going off the mainstream grid. What would you say to other independent artists about taking the road less traveled?

I would say, do whatever works for you, per time. In this instance, I just wanted somewhere for my fans to listen to the mixtape while they wait for the project, and this worked perfectly for that scenario.

You’ve been called a natural-born storyteller—your lyrics land like prophecy. Do you write with a message in mind, or do the bars reveal themselves as you go?

It depends. Sometimes I write with an overall theme in mind, especially when we have a direction for the record or a topic, and I build on that. But a lot of times, I like to just freestyle on beats and pick up different flows and bars as I go along. It’s not practical for every scenario, but when I do that, the bars do reveal themselves.

Your sound feels raw but refined—gritty yet polished. Who or what shapes that balance in your music?

My entire team does, to be honest. My President ‘Rano gives his two cents about everything I do. My A&R, Kevin. Obviously. My producers, Slim & Infamoux. But one person who does this a lot is my Man Faruq. He triples as my recording engineer and my vocal/delivery coach. We’re always trying out flows together and tweaking my writing, so yeah. And finally, we have my guy Shola. He’s the Creative Director for The Grammy Family. His work mostly covers visuals but every now and then he’ll provide some input on the music. Sometimes because of the visuals.

The way you talk about rap feels spiritual. What does the craft mean to you, beyond just beats and bars? – It’s the only thing I know. It’s what comes to me most naturally in the entire world. It’s how I learnt everything I know. From Genghis Khan to Jaja of Opobo. I know it sounds exaggerated. haha.

Without revealing too much—what should we expect from Greatly Exaggerated? What space does it aim to occupy in today’s rap conversation?

RAP ALBUM OF THE YEAR.

Let’s talk about *Where I’m From* with Pdstrn. How did that link-up happen, and what did that song mean to you in the grand scheme of your return?

How did that link-up happen? My guys Ace and Kevin made that introduction. They all came around to the studio together one day in the summer of ’23, and we hit it off almost instantly — that’s my Slime. El Fucking Capitan. Shortly after that, we had our first studio session with NYRP, where we worked on a couple of ideas together, but this one stood out. The hook is just so soulful, man.

To answer your second question, it’s the first single off Greatly Exaggerated. I think that says it all.

What’s the last line you wrote that gave you chills?

I can’t tell you the last one I wrote but I found this feature I did a very long time ago on Spotify, and in one of the verses, I said “Drip too hard is what you call it when you vein to fang/The flow sick, it’s terminal, like waiting on the plane to land”. That made us all chuckle.

Album or mixtape that made you fall in love with rap?

50 Cent’s Get Rich or Die tryin’

Pen or mic—where does the magic really happen for Damon Grass? Pen. But you would never agree if you saw me freestyle. You would die on that hill.