Interview: DenZe and FatHarold, Local Rapper-Producer Duo

By Brian Chiappinelli On Jul 12, 2021

SCHENECTADY — Meet DenZe and FatHarold.

A dynamic rapper-producer duo hailing from New York’s Capital Region (Schenectady to be exact) who you may or may not have heard of yet. If you don’t know them, you will soon.

The pair recently had their song “Upset” shared by a YouTube channel called Promoting Sounds. With 2.77 million subscribers worldwide, Promoting Sounds is one of the largest existing independent platforms for sharing and discovering new artists. They’ve helped grow artists such as Juice WRLD, XXXTentacion, Blackbear, Iann Dior, Lil Peep, and more.

DenZe and FatHarold’s song gained over 20,000 streams in the first 24 hours after being uploaded to the channel on July 6th. Over the next two days “Upset” surpassed 30,000 streams and quickly gained fans and support across multiple platforms.

I had the pleasure of sitting down to speak with DenZe and FatHarold about their recent success.

21-year-old Harlem-born DenZe radiates artistic energy. At some point early in the interview, he found a ukulele laying around in my apartment, immediately picked it up and began strumming. DenZe doesn’t play the uke but, without hesitation, he started plucking out melodies and humming tunes over the top. Sometimes he was even jokingly singing answers to my questions.

It’s that type of obsession with sound and creativity that comes across in DenZe’s music. If he starts to feel a sound, he pursues it without second guessing if there’s an audience for it.

Denze: “The people around you might not rock with it, but somebody somewhere will.”

FatHarold: “My production was out of the pocket of everybody around…some weird shit. But now people keep hitting me up to work. Stay authentic and people will see it eventually.”

DenZe: “Me too man.”

FatHarold: “I’ve been in disbelief. 19k first day (“Upset”) Flabbergasted. Starting to feel the weight of it. It’s easier to make beats for DenZe than anyone.”

Born and raised in Albany, 27-year-old FatHarold is a creative force and producer with a knack for flipping wild samples that most producers would never think of.

It makes sense to me that two people with unique and unorthodox sounds and musical approaches have met and made something special.

Perhaps one of the craziest parts of this story is the fact that Promoting Sounds has had absolutely no contact with DenZe or FatHarold. Not before reposting the single. Not after reposting the single. Not thinking much of it initially, DenZe started getting notifications on his SoundCloud with new fans liking the song. He then realized a day later what was going on.

DenZe: “I was in shock. I never doubted myself, you know, I’ve been taking music seriously. But you do get those thoughts sometimes. This motivated me. Made me feel like it’s possible.”

FatHarold: “Don’t get discouraged, as impossible as that is. Keep doing it ‘cause you want to. There’s gonna be waves, but that shit goes away. That’s why it’s waves. Stay creative.”

DenZe: “Go outside the box.”

You can expect much more from DenZe very soon. He has an EP dropping in the next few weeks (date TBA) titled “The Simulation Has Begun.” Also, be sure to keep an eye out for his merch line C.O.S.Y. (Cult Of Sad Youth). FatHarold’s plans for the coming months are to keep “making shit and hoping it works.”

I’m sure if they keep doing what they’re doing, it’s going to work.

Find both artists on social media and across streaming platforms.

Interview: DenZe and FatHarold, Local Rapper-Producer Duo

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