Authentic R&B Is Back And Dee Gatti Is Bringing The Heat
"Caught Up" was the newest R&B single making waves on playlists on every streaming platform around. The artist behind the single is Dee Gatti. Approaching the scene from Fort Worth, Texas, Dee Gatti is a prominent leader of a new class of R&B stemming from the South. Her sound is a silky-smooth infusion of hip-hop and R&B that leaves the listener anticipating each and every bar. Prior to the release of her newest EP, ‘Just Called To Say’, Dee sat down with us to talk a bit about her childhood, the state of Dallas R&B, and the process of creating her new EP.
Before we even dive into the music, let’s talk a bit about Dee Gatti the person. You're from the Dallas/Fort Worth area, but talk a bit about your childhood. Have you always been creating music?
I pretty much always sang, but I was never involved in anything like a choir or no vocal lessons. Nothing like that. I really just would sit in my room every day and sing, and listen to a lot of music growing up. So it really just came naturally to me, I guess.
Who were the artists you sang and listened to growing up?
I listened to a lot of old school R&B. I listened to a lot of Boyz II Men, Marvin Gaye, Aaliyah, SWV.
You’ve mentioned that you never really wanted to be an artist when you were growing up. What events led to you making that transition to becoming one?
Really just I remember around a year or so ago. I don't know why, but I woke up and I randomly was like, I want to record myself singing. I want to record myself singing and just post it for the fuck of it. Just to see if people mess with my singing. I never sang in front of a crowd. I'm always in my room by myself.
So, I ended up posting it, and I ain't gonna say they went super viral, but they were getting like two thousand retweets and like. I was like, this is with me singing in my bedroom by myself. I was like, let me see what I can do on a mic on some equipment. I started looking into different studios and things like that and just got into the process of learning how to record.
Hopping a bit into the music, with only five singles out you have over 210,000 monthly listeners and over 2.8 million streams on Spotify alone. Have you looked at those numbers?
I don’t even check my numbers, I won’t lie.
A lot of artists say that! Let’s do a little track by track here. Tell me a bit about the process of recording your first single, “Playa”.
That song was the very first song I really recorded, recorded. So that process was basically me getting in there and I was just kinda nervous cause I ain't really know what I was doing. I ain't really know how this was going to come out, but I pretty much just hopped in there.
I think my manager at the time was like he knew I was kinda nervous at times. He asked me, “What's on your mind right now?”, “What’re you feeling like really?” Like, I'm really feeling like I'm on some player shit right now. But he was like, we should just talk about this. And like I said, that was one of the first songs I did.
So I kinda just went into it and just wrote kind of what was on what was on my mind. I had a little bit of help from like a couple of people that were in there, but I was really hearing and I actually, I actually can't stand that song really. I don't like that song. That's crazy.
Another one of your notable tracks is “I’m Just Sayin (I.J.S)”. You’ve got this smooth guitar leading with your vocals on top. Tell me a bit about the process of creating that track.
Basically he (the producer) had just popped out with that loop and he was like, “I think it’d be really hard if, if you could come up with something, this loop is hard.”. And at first I really didn't like the loop. The way the beat sounded now, it’s way different from when we first started, it has a lot more added to it.
So, once again, that was one of the first songs I did. So, I had to think about what was on my mind around that time. And around that time I had that relationship (the same one referred to earlier) and we were in the puppy love stage, like the beginning of our relationship. So, everything was going good.
So, I'm like, man, this is how I'm feeling right now. And like I’m caught up , then I stopped writing about that. I started writing about that, and that’s when “Caught Up” came about. I ain't think “Caught Up” was gonna go the way it did. I did not expect it to get the numbers it did.
Did you record “I’m Just Sayin’ (I.J.S.)” and “Caught Up” in the same session?
No, “I’m Just Sayin’ (I.J.S.)” was before “Caught Up”, it was right after “Playa”.
The latest single you've put out is “Clear My Mind”, and you can definitely see your growth as an artist come into play here, down to the lyricism. Where was your head when you were recording “Clear My Mind"?
That was actually near the end of my relationship that I got in when I made “Caught Up”. “Clear My Mind” was basically the version of me after the puppy love stage was over. It was all the hurt and pain and all that. Like when it got to a point where like, sh*t just hit the fan. So, that's how “Clear My Mind” came about. And that was basically me saying, “I need to get away from this. I need to clear my mind. It ain't the same.”
Let’s talk a bit about the Dallas/Fort Worth area’s R&B scene. Do you think the city is experiencing a new awakening in R&B with artists like you and Kaash Paige really starting to take over?
For sure. Definitely. I definitely feel like even besides, even further than us, it's so many talented others, especially when it comes to R&B, just waiting for the blow up. I'm just waiting for everybody to pop. We’ve got a scene. I'm not really sure what we doing in Rap, but I know for sure we can really kill the RnB.
Collaboration. If you had to pick four artists to collaborate with in the future, who would they be?
I instantly got Drake and Brent. Let's see Drake, Brent (Faiyaz), Party for sure. And I’ve really got a long list, but let me just snatch somebody up. I’ll say Bryson (Tiller). I know I'm a female artist, but I love like male artists. I love male R&B artists. I just feel like I can relate to them a lot more. You know, especially since I date females.
Right now you only have five singles out. I'm sure you’re working on an album or an EP. What's the process of that looking like? Are you already in the studio working on it?
Oh, that it's done. I can't give out the date yet, but I have to give it out probably by next week. It's about to drop for sure within these next couple of weeks.
Do you have a specific sound that you're going for on the project?
Actually, no, it's crazy because all the songs on the project came about by accident. It wasn't supposed to be a project. Those were just songs that I was making throughout the year. And like I said, all my songs, I make those from my own life experiences. So they just don't really get transpired into a whole project. They all correlate and they all just tell the whole story of that one relationship.
Do you have any features on this or is it just you?
Just me.
How many tracks are we talking?
Seven.
Seven tracks. We're all really excited to see where you go with your career. I think you've got a bright future ahead of you, for sure.
Likewise. Thank you, thank you.
