The Un-Associated Projects Team got to sit down with Pro Era Rapper and New York native, Dessy Hinds to talk about his early life, Pro Era’s rise to underground rap stardom and the gems of wisdom he had to share for the youth…

-Talk about where you’re from and how your childhood was like…

“I was raised in a lot of places in Brooklyn, particularly Flatbush. I’m a student, what I’ve become is an artist, and a businessman. Student-artist-businessman. In East Flatbush there was a lot of social awareness that had to go on just in order to go home and come back to school the next day, ya know? Attending Erasmus High School changed me a lot. It kind of molded me – it gave me direction and insight into who I want to be. It showed me a lot about relationships, loyalty and friendships. It was a school that was really focused on individual support – Having people around you that cared about you, some of the teachers knew I was special, they knew I was different. They never treated me like I didn’t matter. I know a lot of rappers have had some teachers that didn’t really give a f*** about them but I went to a school that was heavy on the support for my well-being and creativity.”

-When did you first fall in love with music?

“The first time I fell in love with music – that would have to have been maybe 11-12 years old. When I first heard 50 Cent “Get Rich or Die Trying” – that album changed my life.”

-What motivated you and your friends to start Pro Era in the first place?

“Capital Steez, Joey andPowers Pleasant were the ones that started Pro Era as a collective, and what helped me get into the whole Pro Era thing was that I always had a relationship with Joey – I lived up the block from him. Me, Joey and Kirk went to the same Jr. High School. After a while Joey would always put Steez onto my music and then I started linking up with CJ Fly and most of the gang.”

-What was the message you all wanted to send to the world?

“The most important thing for us to do was restore a balance within the rap game. We wanted to approach things differently. We wanted to carry on the message of awareness and social consciousness. That was us all day – and just being progressive. Cuz that’s what Pro Era means – the Progressive Era – which is really a timeless thing, because you can make every era progressive – you keep moving forward, that’s like one of our main motives. When we were coming up, I wouldn’t say awareness and social consciousness was lacking, but there was always an imbalance. I think it’s just inevitable for a lot of people to try and restore the balance where things are unbalanced.”

-Did you ever doubt the impact you would be able to create on your audience?

“All its ever been with Pro Era is just “open-mindedness”. There’s always gonna be doubt because people fear what they don’t know. I think that the only doubts that I ever had about anything was with the game [as a career] because it’s a very shaky atmosphere – almost like high school all over again. But as far as music, never doubted the music nor the impact Pro Era would have once. We got it early, we had people overseas f*cking with us more than here for a period of time. I knew it would all catch on.”

-Were you confident of that before you saw the results?

“Yeah. I think rap is confidence. You have to go into things with confidence – you’re starting a business? You gotta go into it with confidence. You know after a while doubting is natural – human nature. But you gotta go into things with confidence and not look back.”

-Before you started to see everything you had confidence – so where did that come from for you?

“I think it came from me being a visionary. Being a visionary, you have to learn how to see things before they actually happen. If you are focused on one thing all the time and you’re visualizing it, and you create substance to fill the space of your imagination, the outcome will be what you see in your mind. If you see yourself blowing up, or see yourself catching on, you gotta manifest it.”

-What do you think you all did differently from other young artists that couldn’t get their name out as much?

“It’s timing, and I think we built a strong foundation. When they talk about luck? Luck is only being prepared for opportunities, and I was prepared for an opportunity.  Our core fan base was so important. I think you want to be able to connect to your fan base – and I don’t mean just through the computer, but through your lifestyle. Connect with them through your culture and art – see how you resonate. That is the biggest key. There’s a shock value involved.”

-Were there challenges that came with being so young while doing what you are doing?

‘I had to be on tour and go to college at the same time. So a lot of times I was on tour emailing my professors on the road. It was a problem finishing high school for Joey cuz he was really blowing up. When doing all that you gotta make sure you strike while the iron is hot, but you also gotta be able to assess your situation and define what the best choice is for you. Business deals were never hard, because I think when you’re a great person, you’re gonna attract good people. When you run into bad people you can’t let it change you – maybe the way you behave – but don’t let it change you. We met people in business environments from just being ourselves.”

-When it came to those tough times, what motivated you to keep moving forward?

“I wanna say just what we stood for – progression – being true to yourself.”

-What would you say to a young person who is struggling with finding out what they love and/or trying to gather the courage to chase their dreams?

“I would say find yourself, put those 10,000 hours in and be well connected.

10,000 hours is the main thing that matters. How else are you gonna build confidence? If you’re putting 10,000 hours in, there’s no way you’re gonna be afraid to do anything. If you’re putting 10,000 hours into making a car, you gon’ hit a few bumps ahead, but when you finish and see it came out really really amazing, you’re like naw I gotta sell this sh** for 2.5 million, and you’re confident that someone’s gonna buy it because you put in your 10,000 hours. Everybody likes to cut around and use shortcuts – define yourself and put in those 10,000. You not gon’ let nobody stop you once you put those in. The only person that could stop you is you. Also, you have to make sure you’re well connected. That’s the difference between somebody paying $2,000 for some Off-Whites and you paying maybe $1,500 cuz you got plug. It’s not like you gon’ get it for free but that plug gonna cut a lot of the price off – cuz you plugged up!”

-What are you un-associated with and how important is it for you to be un-associated with the labels people may put on you?

I’m un-associated with corrupted spirits and I think cliques – the peer groups that don’t really stand for nothing – the cool kids – 

There’s a lot of situations and spirits that can drain you of your energy, 

I hung out with 2 people in high school. The most we ever tried to do to become popular was just go out cuz people needed to see our faces. Cliques let other people define who they are – people always feel like they need to join a gang or a group, but that’s not necessarily true. Like why do I need to be apart of a clique, I don’t. I’m a solo-dolo activist. I think there’s a lot of things people gotta unlearn.

-Last remarks?

I think Un-Associated is doing a wonderful thing and I see a lot of good things in the future for you guys. My message to young people is that I’m here with you. A lot of people feel like they got nobody. Everything I’m doing, I’m doing for the people who are coming after me.