Building Community: femdot. & Delacreme Scholars
When you think of Chicago artists, one must mention femdot. Starting rapping the age of 6, femdot. gives credit to his brother for the early inspiration. Growing up on Jay-Z, Little Brother, and Jodeci helped influence his variety in sound. femdot. is also the founder of Delacreme Scholars, a scholarship initially started to help black and brown students with funding for college. Read up below on how he started Delacreme Scholars, securing brand sponsorships, learning how to play the piano and much more.
In 2018, 6 months after graduating college you launched Delacreme Scholars. A scholarship to help black and brown students with extra funding for college tuition. How hard was it to get this off the ground?
The hardest part was getting the business in order and getting the word out. The actual initiative itself wasn’t complicated. I’ve been wanting to make a scholarship since 2012-2013 based on my process in applying for schools. When 2018 came around, I felt like I could be in that position. As we continued to grow and get the business aspect of the non-profit set up, the idea of helping people and figuring out where to get those funds from wasn’t too difficult to me personally. I just realized I was able to do it.
In your first year you were able to provide funding to two students and last year you tripled and funded six students. As you head into year three, how are you looking to grow this project?
I would like to do 10 this year. I eventually want to get to 50 people and be able to set up conventions - making it more of a community than just a one time thing. I know the Millennium Gate Scholars tend to meet up all of the time and have seminars and whatnot, making it more of a network. Thats my plan for Delacreme Scholars. The plan is to continue to expand and tap into all of the communities I’m a part of and help as people much as possible.
We have noticed that Delacreme Scholars have solidified a few sponsors over the last few years. Can you talk through the process of securing a sponsor for a growing business?
We were able to get Puma to give all of the scholars gear. That was rooted from my music career and the conversations that I had with them. They followed what I did and aligned with what I stood for, so they wanted to attach themselves to that. We had another sponsor, X Sell Technologies, which is actually the place I used to work for. That was the last job I had. When I stopped working there, they saw the impact I was creating and wanted to contribute. It was cool that those companies saw my vision and wanted to help.
For people wanting to start something, you should just truly go out there and start it and get it off the ground. Try to utilize resources that you have available to you - some may just come to you. Put that energy out there into the world of wanting to start something and be clear in what you want to accomplish. Community outsourcing is not extremely difficult when you have a clear cut plan and you can really sell that.
“I FEEL LIKE IT’S OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO SHOW THAT EVERYONE HAS THE ABILITY TO BE GREAT”
The three principles of Delacreme Scholars are service, support, and sacrifice. Can you expound on these principles?
Those words represent what this organization reflects. No matter how much we grow, I want that to always be a thing. We need to service and support the communities that we are apart of, and do that all through sacrifice. That could be standing on certain principles that others may not agree with or understanding the sacrifice that a lot of people make in order to go to school and to better themselves. I am always thinking about how we can serve and support those who continue to sacrifice so much for education, to continue their craft, or whatever they are working on.
I feel like it’s our responsibility to show that everyone has the ability to be great. Everyone doesn’t have the same access and resources, but people have the ability. If we can focus on showing people that they are capable, then it’s on our part to provide the service and support to give the people the resource they need to put their ability to use.
“I THINK IT’S IMPORTANT FOR ME TO GET OUT OF MY HEAD AND NOT FORCE ANYTHING.
A LOT OF TIMES SO MUCH OF OUR HAPPINESS IS ROOTED IN PRODUCTIVITY…”
On average, you used to write up to 3 songs a day. However, back in April it was your first time writing in 3 weeks. Since then, has the process to create gotten any easier?
With me its gotten more difficult forsure. I’m the type of person that works better on the move. I like working in some sense of chaos. Granted, there’s a lot of chaos going on right now, there’s a whole uprising and a pandemic at the same time. But It’s weird being stationary this long.
I think it’s important for me to get out of my head and not force anything. A lot of times so much of our happiness is rooted in productivity, so if we’re not productive, we are not happy. It feels like we force music because we’re supposed to be working, instead of working because we want to work right now.
I also think in project modes as I’m a project artist. It’s very hard to create for no reason. I’ve been learning to make stuff to sharpen my skills more than focus on the project overall - which is a good and bad thing because now I’m sitting on so much music. Transforming that idea of sharpening skills has allowed me to create more. I’m technically working less, but my output is about similar.
When the days get a bit overwhelming with everything going on, what is your go to for escaping?
I just started riding my bike. It’s really dope and freeing to be able to listen to music while riding. That’s an amazing feeling. Outside of that, because I have to find new ways to get away, I really enjoy cleaning. I love a clean crib because I like sitting in a clean house. Cooking has also been an escape and it ties perfectly to cleaning, because you have to do both.
I saw that you began to learn how to play the piano. How has that been? Had you played instruments as a kid or was it something you just wanted to learn recently?
I played the clarinet for like three weeks, but wanted to switch to the saxophone and they didn’t let me, so I just stopped. As I’ve grown up and gotten more into the musical space, I wanted to learn the piano. If you can play the piano, you can really guide any instrument.
A lot of my music is becoming more musical and including more instrumentality. I’d like to be able to grow my language for when I talk to people on instruments. I’ve been practicing, but I’m also stubborn. I started learning in my own way. I didn’t start with chord progressions, I’m trying to teach myself songs and go from there. It’s probably the hardest way to learn, but thats how I approach things.
Have there been any new shows you been watching, books you’ve been reading or music you’ve been listening to over the last few months that you’ve truly enjoyed?
I don’t watch TV like that. For the amount of pop references I have in music, it’s very hard for me to sit and watch more than one episode at a time. I’m the person that misses the whole one episode per week format.
I thought I was going to watch a lot of stuff in quarantine, but honestly I really haven’t. I’m always listening to new music though. But it’s really been a time for me to be introspective. My current inspiration comes from how I’ve been able to grow and the conversations I’ve been able to have with myself about myself.
As you look back on these last 12 weeks, what’s one thing you’ve learned about yourself that you want to share with others?
That I was much more equipped to be alone. Because of the stuff I’ve gone through in my life up to this point, I think I’m a little more equipped to be by myself than I thought I was. I think in the grand scheme of things, all of us are.
Written by: Nico Rud