Before Lil Uzi Vert’s “I Just Wanna Rock” phenomenon, there was D4M $loan. Born and raised in West Philadelphia, the rising star is best known for reigniting the Philly/Jersey Club house wave and sound for Philly rappers, first releasing his breakout single “BabyShark” with Skiano back in 2020.
What’s one word to describe D4M $loan? “Rrruuuhhh.” With some describing his genre as “Traprock,” D4M $loan flexes his versatility, combining his standout raspy voice with the undeniable bounce that’s taken over the Philly nightlife scene in the best way possible. The records are fun, unique, undeniably catchy, influencing a whole wave of artists to follow suit.
In fact, D4M $loan had the chance to meet up with Lil Uzi Vert at the Roots Picnic, who knew exactly who he was.
The name D4M $loan is to honor his late best friend, Tamir Scott, with D4M standing for “do it for Mir.” Ever since his passing in 2020, D4M $loan has committed to fulfilling both of their dreams of becoming a superstar in the rap game. It was actually at age 17 when $loan got into a car accident, a blessing in disguise as the incident prompted him to start making music.
The Source had the pleasure of speaking with D4M $loan in downtown Los Angeles to discuss his roots in Philly, pioneering the Jersey Club house wave, the success of “Swagg Talk,” acting in Bel-Air, and more!
For those who don’t know, who is D4M $loan?
D4M Sloan is one of the most unique creatives in the world. I ain’t going to say artist, creative all around. Anything you could think of: music, fashion, lingo, business ideas, everything. Another word I’ll use is “rrruuuhhh.”
Talk about being from Philly and what the city means to you.
Being from Philly means a lot, it reflects a lot of my music. The grittiness I got in my music, the hunger and the determination to make it to where I want to make it to. It means a lot. Even yesterday, just being at the BET Awards. Knowing where I come from, it meant a lot to me. More than it probably means to a lot of people.
How’d it feel seeing Lil Uzi Vert perform?
I missed it, I heard he performed first.
Is that someone that you looked up to, from Philly?
For sure, yeah. It’s crazy, I just talked to him at the Roots Picnic. He was telling me he fucked with my shit. He heard of my song “Swagg Talk.” I’m like man whatsup? He’s like “bro, I know who you are. I heard ‘Swagg Talk’, I heard it.” I know some of the people he be hanging around.
How’d that feel?
That was a good experience. Industry experience, you know how when people ask how certain industry experiences are? Knowing that a lot of people you listen to know who you are, [it’s dope].
When did you know you could do music for a living?
That’s crazy, I never really told this part of the story. When I was nine, I made a song. You know how they had that Reese’s Puffs commercial back in the day? They had scouts and agencies in there. When I rapped my song in front of everyboy, they wanted to put me on there. That made me like music, but I didn’t really fall too deep into it. When I was 14, that first drill wave came up in Chicago, l heard it more and more. Even with Meek Mill, I heard of the battle rap era in Philly. Everybody was rapping and spitting bars on DVD, and I always wanted to be a part of music. I always wanted to be on YouTube, let me say that. I hadn’t really thought as far as streaming. Spinrilla was popular at that moment, and My Mixtapez. But I wanted to do Youtube.
Really? YouTube is a tough grind.
Yeah, I love Youtube though. It’s a huge part of me and my career.
So did Lil Uzi’s “I Just Wanna Rock” come after you…?
Yeah, it came after. I was the first person to do that, before everybody. Like everybody.
Do you feel like you low key influenced that song?
I influenced every song you hear regarding Philly and Jersey club. It all stemmed from Sloan and Skiano, “BabyShark.” After that, I dropped the first one on TikTok. The first Jersey Club song I dropped rapping on TikTok, was “CHEWBOPLAND” produced by Lil C4.
How much of a role did TikTok play?
TikTok played a big role. One thing about TikTok, they eat records up. And they eat it up so fast, it shoots a different demographic. This city, that city, this city, that city. You might not even know what city your TikTok’s blowing up in. That played a major role, TikTok is crazy.
Talk about “Swagg Talk” blowing up. Was that your first big viral song?
Yeah, that’s my biggest song ever. Till this day, biggest song to date. I done hit a million views a few times, but that went faster than any other song. 5 million on YouTube, 7 million on Apple Music, 6 million on Spotify.
How’d it feel to hit those numbers independent? That’s not easy at all.
Yeah, but I’ve been hitting those numbers since I was 17. Now me being older, I appreciate it more than I did at that age. I feel better than ever now. I don’t know why, but I appreciate it more. There was times where my video would get 300K in two to three months. I’m like, that ain’t doing nothing. Let me delete this off Youtube.
That’s not bad!
I know that now. I deleted stuff off Youtube that ends up doing okay. Two or three months, damn bro it didn’t hit a mil yet. I’ma delete it. Me thinking now, what was I thinking? That’s crazy.
That means you got high hopes for yourself…
Yeah, that was too high. I was above my head.
What do you see yourself in the future?
I want to be a legend. You see the BET Awards yesterday? You saw Busta Rhymes won the Lifetime Achieve Award? That right there. That’s the whole industry giving him his flowers. I got a lot of work to put in before I get to that point, but that’s where I want to be.
How old are you now?
I just turned 22.
You’re so young! Do you feel young?
I feel like I’m older. [laughs] It does feel good because I got a lot more time to go, to really make something shake.
How was it acting in Bel-Air?
That was one of my most memorable experiences.
What were you doing in that episode?
Basically, I was Will’s third best friend. Me, him, and Tray. I end up going to juvie for a long time. I was the star basketball player, but I go to juvie and mess my whole career up. I come home and I’m like, I’m the star player. I’m jealous of you a little bit, I’m the star player. You wouldn’t have none of this if it wasn’t for me. I end up hating on him a little bit, start trouble with him. Pulling guns out on him in front of girls and his homies, getting involved with my big homie in the movie. I ain’t get him locked up, but he got locked up over the fact I started a fight and I left. So I’m the reason Will got sent back. [laughs]
I love Jabari Banks, he’s super cool.
Yeah that’s my guy. He’s cool. I never knew him prior to that, but we developed a strong bond.
Any goals for yourself?
To perform at the BET Awards. Get nominated for a BET Award. XXL, next year. These are my goals for next year. Gold record, Platinum record. I’ma start small, start right there.
Anything else you want fans know about you?
I want to know that I’m coming, Top 5 dead or alive. Everybody’s discussion: podcast discussion, interview discussion, lunchroom table discussion. I want to be Top 5 dead or alive, I’m coming for that list.
