Dynasty

I’ll admit I somewhat slept on Dynasty when she first dropped, but she regained my attention, like a baseball bat to the head, with her DJ Premier produced song, “Street Music.” After just listening to 13 more tracks from the Queens emcee there’s no doubting DY’s talent. Tomorrow, she will officially release her debut LP, A Star In Life’s Clothing, via Jakarta Records. Today, we have the OKP premiere of the full LP stream, and after one listen I’m sure you’ll agree that we have a star in the making on our hands. DY trades bars with Talib Kweli, Skyzoo, Mike Mass, Koi, Hometown Hero, and more and at no point sounds overmatched. Listen (and pre-order) the full album below, and prepare to have a new favorite emcee. As a bonus, live from Paris, watch Dynasty’s video for “Sweet Music,” below, as well. - Okayplayer

Dj Premier & Dynasty - "Epic Dynasty" - Thisis50.Com

DYNASTY PUTS THE LYRICS DOWN TO SHOW THAT SHE IS HERE TO KEEP THE SKILLS UP HIGH….
REPPIN’ NYC via TAMPA, FLORIDA… - Live From Headqcourterz

Nicki what? Yeah, I thought so. Off Preme’s Year Round Records Presents: Get Used To Us out now. - 2dopeboyz.com

DJ Premier just introduced us to a new female MC named Dynasty on his Year Round Records imprint–and now we are introducing her to you. With a little bit of a Lauryn Hill vibe and a battle-oriented flow that connects like a tighter, more-focused Rah Digga, Tampa/Queens-based Dynasty is clearly a total-package artist, and I guess the red-ribbon on top is beats and scratches by everybody’s top-5 producer. Watch the video and purchase here. For more backstory (and music!) go here.(www.yagirldy.com) - Okayplayer.com

It’s ironic: To make it in hip hop, Diana Hardy had to leave Queens — the home of Nas, 50 Cent and Run-DMC — for Tampa.

“I thought I was done with music for a long time before coming to Tampa,” said Hardy, a.k.a. Dynasty. “It tickles me that I’m from the big city, a city girl, and I come to Tampa, and it’s where everything goes crazy for me. I come to Tampa, and a do a song with DJ Premier. It’s like, what?”

Her head may be spinning, but it hasn’t happened overnight. Since moving to Florida in 2005, Tampa’s self-proclaimed “Femcee” has become one of the top female rappers in Central Florida. In 2010 she released the mixtape Dreampusher, a soulful collection of clever, autobiographical jams that was praised by critics and local hip-hop fans. In 2011, she’s filmed a pair of videos for Dreampusher: Epic Dynasty, with the aforementioned DJ Premier; and Forever, which she’ll release later this year.

But unlike many rappers, despite her success in the studio, Dynasty still feels more at home performing live, at venues like Jannus Live, the Ritz Ybor, or simply on YouTube. It was through her rhymes at local open mics that she first drew the attention of established artists like Tampa’s influential DJ Sandman, who has served as something of a mentor.

“Put me onstage in front of people, I come to life,” she said. “That’s when I’m at my best.”
It’s been that way all her life. Hardy performed for her family as a child, wrote rhymes for talent shows in high school and studied theatre at Five Towns College in New York. Today, she feeds off the energy of crowds, opening for rap legends like the Wu-Tang Clan, Talib Kweli, KRS-One and more. There’s a clip on YouTube of her backstage at Jannus Live, rapping for Big Daddy Kane. He seemed to dig it.

“I’m at a point where I believe something big’s happening,” Hardy said. “I feel like when I have these shows, it’s bigger than me just going up and doing some songs for people. I really feel like I’m relating to people.”

That has earned Dynasty respect beyond the local hip-hop community. Last May, Dynasty became one of the rare rappers to perform at WMNF’s Tropical Heatwave, a festival that overwhelmingly skews toward more eclectic rock, folk and world music. They crowded around the New World Brewery patio as Dy spit rhyme after rhyme in rapid-fire succession, looking the audience straight in the face.

Less than a month later, an enthusiastic crowd returned to New World Brewery for a Dreampusher release party. The vibe was overwhelmingly positive, and evidence that the local scene is rooting for Dynasty to succeed.

“I stood at my table for over an hour signing autographs and taking pictures,” Hardy recalled. “I don’t take any of that stuff for granted. I’m like, Are you kidding me right now? This is out of control!”

After that show, a tbt* reviewer wrote of the packed house: “An outside observer might have thought she was a national headliner.”

Maybe someday soon, she will be.

-- Jay Cridlin, tbt*. Photo/video: Carrie Pratt, tbt* - Tampa Bay Times

Dynasty (The Femcee)
Dynasty’s 2010 Dreampusher mixtape — produced by Jinx and DJ Royce, among others — is a thoroughly solid, ’70s funk and R&B-inspired long player. The disc includes actual shout-outs from luminaries like Wu-Tang’s Raekwon, MC Lyte and the legendary KRS-One, who refers to her as “a real MC.” KRS’ endorsement aside, it was evident at her June CD release at New World Brewery that our girl D.Y. (nee Diana Hardy) had the right stuff, lighting up the patio with her bright personality, striking good looks and honest-yet-aggressive rhymes. “They call me Femcee, put ‘em in a frenzy, there’s nothing feminine about killin’ an MC.” She had the people turned on and moving in spite of the stifling heat. And at a Tampa show, that says a lot. thefemcee.com - Creative Loafing

Go to local music shows often, and you get to know the different types.

The “friends of the band” show, where a few people show up to see their buds play and leave afterward. The show at a bar with a built-in crowd that pays little if no attention to who’s playing. And then there’s the rare night when a big crowd comes out to support an artist — like rapper Dynasty’s memorable CD release Saturday at New World Brewery.

Dynasty celebrated the release of her new mixtape, Dreampusher, an album of uplifting themes that punctuated a good-feeling night.

Her mixtape includes cocky rhymes, love songs and a cheeky how-to on approaching her in the club. It’s got a variety of moods and guests, and the overall message: Keep pushin’ for your dreams.

Ms. Dy exhibited her usual charm and self-possessed swagger as she performed tunes from her new CD. She had smooth, poetic flow delivered with a big smile that sweetened her style. She maintained energy and kept the crowd enthused throughout her entire set. She drew nearly all in attendance into the stage area, with folks spilling out the sides, sitting on top of benches and even standing on chairs. An outside observer might have thought she was a national headliner.

Local rapper/collaborator Laws made a guest appearance. The 2010 tbt* Ultimate Local Artist backed Dynasty on one tune and performed a solo of his hit, Hold You Down. He also appears on Dynasty’s mixtape.

The positity that permeated the Dy-namite evening felt refreshing from the point of view of a quasi-jaded music columnist. People smiled as they passed by, groups intermingled — no cliquish cattiness — and folks chatted cheerfully between sets. It was almost as if the audience forgot that the “feels like” temperature hovered around 100 in the New World patio.

Earlier, the crowd of stylish, diverse 20- to 30-somethings gathered under the awning and spilled out of the patio as Aych, Jinx, Mike Mass, Hop and Blue Legacy warmed them up for the anticipated headliner.

Each rapper’s rhymes reflected back the positivity of the crowd with straightforward, confident rhymes. Some might have gotten a little weary of what sometimes seemed like an onslaught of motivational speeches, but there were humorous, lighthearted breaks here and there. Aych, for instance, ridiculed the blingy types who “fake it to make it.”

Several linchpins in the local music community showed up for the occasion, including Gage and J-Sin of pop-hop duo the Basiqs, Kenny Pullin and Nikki Ferraro of D’Visitors, rapper Breakdown and Mugabe Tenn of Tribal Style, who brought a stage riser so the petite Ms. Dy could be visible to the packed audience.

If you’re familiar with any of the aforementioned musicians, you know that they all belong to the Gwan Massive collective of local musicians and supporters. Saturday night’s show was very much a Gwan night — a huge, friendly and good-looking turnout.

-- Julie Garisto, tbt*
- Tampa Bay Times