The first time I heard about Brookfield Duece was when he was announced as a supporting act on the bill for Amine’s colossal OTM Party back in December of ’14. Since that time the Oakland rapper who strives to deliver real messages through popular music has spent a great deal of his marketing focus here in Portland, collaborating with home-grown artists and putting out projects heavily influenced by his time here. “My base is about equal, if not more up there,” he told me from down in the Bay.
It’s no secret that he is a cousin of Trailblazer franchise player-slash-offseason rapper Damian Lillard. It’s a fact that could work for or against him in the local rap scene. I don’t quickly warm up to “outsiders”, but without doubt, Duece has used his plugs to help put local rappers in the right places. “I try extra hard to see where I can pay back things ’cause it ain’t my turf,” he told me, and this is something he’s lived up to.
While planning an extended Portland trip for February – Duece is known to stay in town for a month or so at a time – he put out a slew of material with his Rose City connects earlier this week.
From his September // Stacks 2 mixtape, Duece linked with Bay outfit Zero Luck Slaps to add visuals to the Jahosh (who recently signed to TDE) produced single September, in which he raps about his reflections on surviving another summer in Oakland.
Digging a little deeper into his catalog, Duece tagged Portland’s Puurple Visuals to create a video for Magic (also produced by Jahosh) from his July album Hoop Dreams, in which he raps about growing up with little and the lessons of hard work.
He also dropped two new tracks with the help of Portland’s Drae Slapz (of FRSHTRB). Holly is a crew track featuring Oakland amigos Doja & Bozzle plus comedian @PopItForMilt where they play off of Too $hort’s Freaky Tales, while Sunday was inspired by a Vegas night and discusses doing what you love.
But making songs and shooting videos is not where Brookfield Duece’s Portland collaborations stop. About a year ago Duece hit the scene hard, working extensively with Amine and Glen Waco, who were both red-hot at the time, before showing out at Damian Lillard’s Signature Sneaker Release Party. Then it was the Brookfield Duece Goes To Portland video series. In no time he and Waco had cracked Holocene, putting on a series of shows that culminated in his little cousin Damian’s first live performance.
So what’s next for Duece? How about an 18 AND OVER rap party at Ski Bowl on Mt. Hood in conjunction with FRSH TRB’s Drae Slapz and Rasheed Jamal, WOHM and Portland Gear Clothing? Stay tuned for more details, but don’t make plans for February 20th because that’s when it goes down! (Now if only I knew what I was doing for New Year…)
Big ups to Brookfield Duece for being a great ambassador for the Portland rap scene. If hard work and opportunity are truly the keys to success, this man has a very bright future ahead. #OutHere