Wild 101 Presents the Dizzy Wright CD signing at 4 p.m. Tuesday, June 2 at The Record Exchange (1105 W. Idaho St.). As always, this Record Exchange in-store event is free and all ages. Dizzy Wright is performing at the Revolution Concert House later that evening (7 p.m.) and we have tickets for sale at the store!

Want a free ticket to the show and priority line placement at the signing? Beginning Tuesday, May 26, purchase The Growing Process and we’ll give you one ticket (while supplies last) and a VIP line wristband! (There will be a secondary line for customers without wristbands, which will follow the VIP line.) Listen to Wild 101.1 FM for a chance to win front-of-the-line access at the signing!

ABOUT DIZZY WRIGHT

“You just don’t become a leader in one year. You’re prepped for it. When you’re at your lowest—but you got that faith—that gives you motivation. And when you have that motivation, that’s what makes you a leader,” says Las Vegas native Dizzy Wright. Beyond his years at 22, Dizzy has been the first Sin City rapper to the cover of XXL magazine as a 2013 Freshman pick. His blend of substance and swagger has made him an independent charting sensation with three 2012 releases, SmokeOut Conversations (along with the 200,000-times-downloaded promotional mixtape), as well as a follow-up EP, The First Agreement. Both digital efforts debuted in the Top 50 of the Hip-Hop/R&B charts. In turn, the youngest member of the Funk Volume crew has been one of its most successful.

“My mom kicked me out when I was 17,” Dizzy reveals of the woman who both raised him and managed his career since childhood, “I was thrown out into the world.” With a similar story to his inspiration, Tupac Shakur, he took to local clubs to build a fan-base by being both skilled and flashy. “I was all about getting people to know my name. I knew the vision, but I didn’t know the gesture. You’ve got to live through this to get an understanding of it.” Along the way, Wright says that he learned to keep a tight circle and push for the ultimate sonic presentation of his art.

Although SmokeOut Conversations could be dismissed as just marijuana music, the inspiration behind the concept is deeply personal to Dizzy. The rapper asserts, “I didn’t want people to perceive me as this weed rapper with a weed album.” Instead, he admits that a key moment in creating the album came from his first encounter with his father. “I did a show in Detroit with Hopsin, and I got to meet my father for the first time. I was trying to figure out what he was gonna be like. He went to jail a couple months before I was born, and then he got out 20 years later.” To buffer the circumstances, Dizzy and his Pops eased tensions with some help. “When I finally met him, all we did was smoke and talk.” “We just got to do a lot of catchin’ up, lotta talkin’, and lotta smokin’.” After his father traveled to several dates with the Funk Volume family, Dizzy left the experience with a title and theme for his debut album.

The independent album produced two multimillion-view videos on YouTube, “Solo Dolo” and “Can’t Trust Em.” Dizzy was specific in giving his expanding base both sides of his repertoire. The first was Dizzy’s most personal record, while the second had, what he calls “that now-sound.” Both resonated, and the rapper was able to go from “doing shows to doing concerts” in his relentless touring with label-mates. Reflecting, he notes, “I was just testing the waters.”

Three years to the date of SmokeOut Conversations, The Growing Process will be released on May 26. Led by the prolific “Train Your Mind” and ode to hometown hero “Floyd Money Mayweather”, the new album is the second installment in a series of albums inspired by The Four Agreements – particularly the second principle which states “Don’t Take Anything Personally” – and features appearances from Big K.R.I.T, Tech N9ne, Layzie Bone, Krayzie Bone, Irv Da Phenom, Berner, Mod Sun, Chel’le and Njomza in addition to Funk Volume family SwizZz, Jarren Benton and Hopsin.

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