Global Dan, the buzzing Maryland rapper, has paired up with Blink 182’s Travis Barker and Goldfinger’s John Feldmann for production on his latest single ‘Had Me At Goodbye’. Counting millions of streams to his name, the rapper and songwriter first broke out through his 2017 viral single “Off-White.” The song eventually attracted the attention of Virgil Abloh, Louis Vuitton’s artistic director and Off-White founder, who went on to personally design the cover art for the single’s subsequent remix featuring Rich The Kid and MadeinTYO. Global Dan has since gone on to collaborate with G-Eazy (“W.A.N.T.S”), AzN (“Dark Out”) and Lil Skies (“Moving On”).

I caught up with Global Dan to discuss his new single and the EP that is in the works.

What inspired you to jump into the music scene and pursue a career as an artist?
It all started around 2013-2014. I had friends making music and music was always a big part of growing up at home and in school. I would just hang out and blaze up with the homies and we’d end up freestyling over old J Dilla and 9th wonder instrumentals and beat tapes. It kinda just came naturally, I never knew what I really wanted to do in life– honestly I thought I would be a pro skater but I wasn’t amazing at skateboarding and I wasn’t willing to risk breaking bones on stairs and handrails so I continued to pursue the music path.

Why hip-hop? Were you listening too and inspired by other hip-hop/rap artists?
Back when I was young I used to listen to a lot of Eminem, Biggie Smalls, Tupac, Wu Tang Clan, A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Atmosphere, I was all over the place. When I grew older it turned into Drake, Mac Miller, Curren$y, after that it was Wiz Khalifa. I don’t only do hip-hop. I like to make some pop records, pop punk, alternative, whatever the feel of the beat is.

What did it feel like to finally release your first single?
Releasing my first song felt good. I had some high expectations but I never thought it would go this far. It was cool to be an independent artist tryna make things shake and things end up falling in place. In all honesty though, my favorite part of the music was actually making the music, the moments that were created while recording and reaching new levels of growth and learning new ways to approach the beat.

You mentioned your awareness of mental health in a bio I had read. Is mental health something that has hit close to home for you?
I’m not really an advocate for mental health, I can just relate to the feelings that people feel sometimes; I feel like at some point in life everybody goes through depression, suicidal thoughts, questioning the reason for existence, self doubt and insecurities. It is normal to feel these emotions, life isn’t fairytales and butterflies. The reality of things are messed up, cold, swept under the rug, and you just gotta keep your head up and keep it pushing. I’m just putting my heart out into the music for those who listen to how I’m feeling at that moment in time. I’m just a young man going through the motions in life, I didn’t grow up in a big house or have it made. I really had to get this out the mud and finesse my way into the industry.

Your latest single ‘Had Me At Goodbye’ was produced by Travis Barker and John Feldmann. How did that come about and how was your experience with them working on this single with you?
“Had Me At Goodbye” was created in John Feldmann’s studio. I pulled up with Global AzN the first time to John’s house. That was my first time actually meeting John, we were originally going to cook up at Travis’s house but we ended up going to John’s. It was surreal, that was my first year being in LA from living in Maryland making no moves just releasing music at the house, recording at my homie Dell’s house, and already I was making some power plays. It was such a great feeling. That was actually one of my first few times really making a record from scratch. Travis had the guitar loop, John made the beat around it, Travis played the drums, John wrote the hook. We bounced ideas back and forth, and I came back to finish the verses.

You have EP in the works for this spring. Can you give is any details on what we can expect? Any featured artists, etc?
It’s coming out on Dim Mak April 30th and is executive produced by Steve Aoki. Stay tuned 🙂