Photo: Nickie Rose
HDBeenDope may sound like a new name in the rap game, but the young Brooklynite has been slinging rhymes for at least a decade.
If you ask him how he got his unique stage name, he'll tell you "it's all about belief." The "Mamba" artist, born Darius Henry, has been cooking up records from the comfort of his bedroom since 2012. On one of his early records, the 28-year-old spit "F**k the new artist title, HD been dope." The latter bars stuck to him like glue and inspired his current stage name.
"The 'BeenDope' part is just the energy," he tells iHeartRadio. "It’s just me understanding what this was before anybody else understood it."
HDBeenDope saw the vision long ago and never quit. Inspired by the likes of 50 Cent, Lil Wayne and J. Cole, HD did everything he could to strengthen his wordplay and tighten up his self-produced instrumentals. His determination to be the best lyricist he can be led to numerous bodies of work from Since 94 (2012) to his more recent projects PHeace Be The Journey (2016) and BrokeN Dreams (2020). Then, in 2022, the "21 Bags" rapper caught the biggest break of his career. He landed a record deal with JAY-Z's Roc Nation, and celebrated by dropping his single "Wake Em Up."
"I'm not the artist that's out at the club," HD explains. "I'm not that type of artist. That's not what I'll be doing. I'll be working. I'm in the studio. So I bring people where we at. We did that and we started making noise inside of New York just off the music. The good people at Roc, they heard about it and we was able to go present them with that same energy and they understood it right away."
It's been a wild ride for HD ever since. Despite all the attention he's received, HD kept it moving by releasing other confident tracks like the Kobe Bryant-inspired "Mamba," which LeBron James, Jimmy Butler and Patrick Mahomes posted on social media, along with "Half Steppin'" featuring Dizzy Banko. Both bangers appear on his first EP via Roc Nation What Can They Say. The project, which is executively produced by Banko and his Violation collective, is just the beginning of what the MC has in store. In the months after its release, HD started dropping other songs like "Locked In" and "Can't Get Rid of Me" featuring Fergie Baby. These songs landed on the extended version of his What Can They Say project, which is finally available today.
"I think that's the biggest thing on this side of the project is how bouncy, how vibey it is," HD says about his new EP. "It's in your face. It's still bold. It's still brash, which the first section of the project is, but this one is a lot bouncier. I'm excited for people to get with it."
The extended version of What Can They Say comes with nine tracks in total including new additions like "Go" and "Happening" featuring Connie Diiamond. He has four collaborations in total on the project, but he has dreams of getting in the studio with even bigger artists in the future. At the moment, he's manifesting joint efforts with Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, 50 Cent "for nostalgic purposes" and Lil Wayne "cuz I got to." But he's not rushing it. HD already has a plan in place that he feels will lead him to even more success.
"I feel like the record 'Can't Get Rid Of Me' that we just dropped is like the statement for my whole year, you feel me?" HD boasts. "That's just what I'm doing. I'm here, I make music, bro. I'm gonna be here."
Listen to HDBeenDope's new EP below.
WARNING: EXPLICIT LANGUAGE