Catching up with DaKidRiz and his musical journey from Canton

DaKidRiz, an independent hip-hop artist and Canton native, recently returned from a brief tour in Canada as part of the Summer Dreams Tour 2024.

The tour, organized by Dream More Touring, spanned several cities in the province of Ontario − London, Niagara, Ottawa and Toronto.

Riz, whose real name is Shalamar Risby, was born in 1994 and made his debut on SoundCloud with a song titled "Ohio" in 2014. He formally published his first single, "I Ain't Got No Choice," in 2015. His first LP, "Claim the Crown," was released in 2017, and he signed with Frequency Music Group in 2018. Now, he said he is one of DJ Chill's artists.

Riz's discography is available for listening on Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, Tidal, iHeartRadio and his website dakidriz.com.

The Canton Repository recently caught up with him to ask about a few questions about his inspiration and challenges in the music industry.

What got you into the music industry?

Growing up in Canton, I was surrounded by music in my family and in my community. My family was always big into music. My uncle played alongside the O'Jays, so I saw music young. I started with my brothers at Hartford Middle School, then went to Virginia to work after I graduated and I started to pursue it more seriously.

In these last few years I've finally gained some recognition. It's been really great, especially these last couple of months. Getting to tour in a different country has been crazy and it's been fun. We sold out our last few days.

Who or what are your biggest inspirations as a musical artist?

I wanted people and the industry to feel my pain and realize life isn't perfect. I wanted to be real, impact people's lives, tell them that you've got 24 hours in a day to go get it, chase after what you want. I had to figure out who I was and help people do the same because once you figure that out, it's only up from there.

Right before I graduated high school, I lost my mother Lisa. After that, it was a struggle for a while. I was 18, experiencing real life as an adult, and not long after that I lost my dad, too. Losing parents is one of the hardest things. It made me depressed, and I was in that state for six or seven years, always seeking the answers to the question of "Why? Why did God take my mother from me?"

I have a real supportive wife and a son now, so everything's been rising up from what it was. Those struggles turned me into who I am today. You gotta keep the faith and the energy, and stay positive. I want to tell people they can know to keep going, to keep pushing forward and to keep believing. Everything's gonna be OK.

What is the hardest challenge of being in the music industry?

Staying consistent and finding out who's real and who's not. A lot of people aren't who they say they are in this industry. When you're portraying a life to your fans, you need to stay true against everything that can come against you so you remain you through all the adversities. Being from Canton is huge to that for me.

DJ Chill helped me a lot musically and with finding the realness behind the music. That's the biggest thing. I tailor all my performances to that, to give people a feeling instead of just being up there performing.

What do you hope to do with your music career?

I want to be able to use it to help the Canton community and inspire people's lives. I make real music for real people with real problems. I don't call them performances; I call them therapeutic sessions because my goal with them is to help somebody in the crowd get to the next level.

I had a guy pull me aside on tour and say, "I feel like I was sent here to hear this message." As long as I can help people in the audience, whether it's one person, 100, 500, I wanna continue. My aunt and my grandma struggled hard for me to have a successful life so I want to give back.

I want to be a voice for the community through sports too. Me and N'Tori Smith II, we've got a program called UP1 Athletics for kids in 4th, 5th and 9th grade to come play basketball, and that's been a big supporter of ours too, letting us travel. By being in the community like that, I can be a source to bridge the gap between Canton kids and their careers, whether it's basketball, being a doctor, whatever they want to do.

I want to tell them that if they dedicate 1% every day to being better, you'll always end up the best version of you. I want them to say, "He's here, he grinded it out, he did it the hard way, he stayed true to himself," and they can too.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Hip-hop artist DaKidRiz's journey from Canton life to Canada tour