The Tribune

By LESH

Tribune Features Reporter

acadet@tribunemedia.net

NO DREAM is too big for young Bahamian rapper Damascus “Lil Dot” Thompson.
At the age of 12, Lil Dot sat down and wrote his first song.

Soon after, he recorded his first single, “Big Dreams”, which includes the following lyrics:

“Big dreams, big schemes; when you start to make it, things change. A lot of friends turn foes, I’mma make it I already know.”

The now 18-year-old St Anne’s School student told In Ya Ear he went ahead and decided to put two videos together for the song.
“A guy by the name of David Hanna helped me with this one. There are two versions to the video. One would be the broke version and the other would be the rich version. The song talks about where I want to be in the future and the videos are showing a visual to the words of the song,” said Lil Dot.

The 12th grader admitted that he gave up on his music for a while, but now he is back at it and pushing further.

“Music is just a free time thing for me; writing and producing my own stuff. I am my biggest inspiration, but I have people that push me also, like my Daddy, my brothers and close family. A problem over here can be if you don’t have a strong mind, people will kill your dream real quick,” he said.

Lil Dot said the entertainment industry can be difficult at times, but his advice to up-and-coming artists like himself is to never give up.

“With deejays, sometimes you are calling them to try and get your music out and they will give you the runaround. If you don’t have a strong mind you will just be like, ‘Forget it’. You would just decide to go work and live a normal life. When I stopped making music for a while it was because of all that, but I had to catch myself and realise no one is going to stop me once I keep my mind on what I want,” he said.
Just last year, Lil Dot got the chance to perform at several events held by the ‘Vote Yes’ campaign leading up to the gambling referendum. The teen said he considers it an unforgettable experience.

“One of the events was at Fort Charlotte and it was like thousands of people that came out. I performed ‘Big Dreams’ and at first I was nervous, but once you get that first word out, it all just flows. I noticed when I moved left and right, the crowd moved along with me. I threw my hands up and they did the same. Once you get the crowd into it, it feels sweet,” he said.

“The other event was at R M Bailey Park, and that had thousands of people that attended, too. It was a crazy experience and the crowd interactions were the same. Once I can see that I am affecting them, then I know I am doing a good job.”

As a writer of his own music, Lil Dot said his lyrics all depend on his mood at the time as well as the music he is listening to.
“I like to listen to music, so if I am sitting down doing that I may hear a solid beat and start to freestyle my own stuff. I start writing and eventually it all comes together. I let people look over my songwriting sometimes, but most of the time I do everything myself; it is all me. My brother, Oso Alibaster, is on two of my songs, ‘For My Family’ and ‘Just Like My Daddy’. They are both on YouTube,” said Lil Dot.
Lil Dot currently has 12 songs on his YouTube channel, LilDot DeDreamer.

He recalled the first time he heard “Big Dreams” played on 100 Jamz in 2012.

“Someone from my school told me they heard it at first and when I heard it I realised it was on the station’s ‘Hate It or Rate It’ show. A caller phoned into the show and said they liked where I was going with the song,” he said. Lil Dot describes the feeling as “super star-like.” At the time, he said he felt as if he were on top of the world.

“You have to have your big dreams and look at the big picture.”

One of his ambitions, he said, is to get his music on all local radio stations, but his bigger goal is to one day have his music heard by an international audience.
“I have a lot of songs recorded right now and I am just trying to fine-tune everything,” he said. “I am not sure when exactly I will release this work, but it will be some time this year. I am just making sure everything is right, so when I release people will know my work is just getting better and better. I don’t want to half-step.”