Toronto’s D-Sisive has done a lot of coming plus going along the way of a long and storied hip-hop career path.  

Emerging from TO’s battle scene as a teen in the mid-90s, he was scoffed at until his skills were taken seriously by local rap game elders like Abdominal, who invited him in order to record and tour.  

When D-Sisive later sat down to try his hand at more formal writing, the particular personal introspection that came out seemed like a far cry through the type of rap popular at the time.   A song about losing his mom, for instance, earned him encouraging feedback from their brother, whom upon hearing it said only: “Well⁠—it’s the truth. ”

Courted simply by established agents and entertainment lawyers, the particular young MC (born Derek Christoff) brushed elbows with fame plus opportunity but didn’t quite make the cut. Comparisons in order to Eminem weren’t meant flatteringly. Ultimately, he retreated into solitude for several years.  

Then in 2008, Christoff re-emerged with an impact and a style all his own. His Juno-nominated EP debut, The Book , gave the indie hip hop world the sleeper hit with the particular autobiographical “Brian Wilson. ” That nod to the reclusive musical genius signalled a new day for D-Sisive.  

During the next six years, over a dozen full-length projects followed. Highlights included the Polaris-nominated Let The particular Children Die LP and a trio of street albums known as the “Jonestown trilogy. ” Fans of American peers like Eyedea plus Cage took notice as album after quality album hit the internet and the college charts, catching chatter and praise on music blogs and online magazines.  

But by early 2015, D-Sisive was while good because gone, again. The harder truth was that this individual fell into a severe dependence on opiates. Addiction progressed till his bottom started coming toward your pet, faster plus faster.    

“I can’t say I left (music) because it wasn’t the conscious decision. My life hit another wall, ” Christoff says, as he  launches  their first official releases in almost eight years.

“My father had passed away. I was dealing with all kinds of issues from that. My siblings were trying to come in me, suing me for money that they thought my father experienced. I’ve never really talked about that before but now I don’t give a shit. And it just pushed me into the worst depression of my life. ” -D-Sisive

Knoblich Gardens is a year-long  subscription-based project you can only sign up for by emailing him from [email protected] com. Phase one of the rollout began with simultaneous drops associated with The Playground mixtape and the first of a series of monthly Gardens EPs, plus an accompanying podcast. He premiered it along with a live Zoom listening session. Afternoon Tea is scheduled to recur each month and also serves as a good album-by-album profession retrospective. The inaugural edition featured a deep dive in to the making of The particular Book and an open-format, interactive fan discussion.

D-Sisive has finally made his mind up about what’s next. And he’s going at it like a man who has some catching upward to do.  

“There’s a time of the life We call ‘The Laundry Room Period. ’ That’s when I recorded our first EP The Book: The Ballad of Orville Knoblich . I was coming off the worst period associated with my entire life. My father got passed away. I was dealing with all kinds of issues from that. The siblings were trying in order to come with me, your house me with regard to money that they thought my father had. I’ve never really talked about that will before yet now I don’t give the shit. Plus it just pushed me into the particular worst depressive disorders of my life, ” Christoff reflects.

“It has been hard to cope with because I had been so close to the father. We became very close friends the few years prior to he died. And I actually didn’t very understand addiction, so I wasn’t able to help him inside a way I now wish I could go back and perform over.   At the same time, We were also falling in to addiction as well. It had been almost like this individual was passing the torch to me.  

“Alcohol plus depression killed my dad. Our mother passed away in 97 and that ended him. He was in love, the classic tale of love on first sight. She required care of him, and cleaned him up – he was a disaster.   And he lost his true love and couldn’t get over it. Plus I could not understand. I also held resentment, because I used to be like, ‘You can’t get over her. Yet I’m here. ’ But I couldn’t understand the impact associated with addiction. ”

“It sounds super dramatic saying this shit but I was probably weeks away from dying or something tragic happening. But I just didn’t get it. ”

There’s no romantic irony in where their story went from there.

“Fast-forward a decade later and I’m doing the particular same fuckin’ thing. Fortunately, I had been able to assist myself. It sounds super spectacular saying this particular shit yet I was probably weeks away from dying or some thing tragic happening. But We just didn’t get this. Unless you’ve really experienced what drug and alcohol addiction do, you can’t understand it. ”

Christoff, who is married with three kids, just hit five years clean in recovery with the help of a sobriety coach and therapy. That time passed quickly, he says, and “life happened. ” 

While working 12-hour shifts at the 5 AM factory job, he spent years filling notebooks with ideas, plans and concepts but was reluctant to pull the particular trigger until now.

“Do you know Sam Harris? ” he or she asks.  

“He’s published a few books. Dont really know how in order to describe your pet. He’s not really a part of this new-age self-help world, but he kind of is. I actually don’t even want to try to explain because I’ll sound dumb. But I came across two associated with his videos and this individual talks about death and how we should look at our lives. ”

Those videos planted the seed in Christoff to get the garden growing once again.  

“(Harris) kind of puts life directly into this perspective that’s almost on a few Eckhardt-Tolle-Power-of-Now shit. But Tolle is more regarding living in the now plus enjoying the particular now. Sam Harris is more including, ‘Make it fuckin’ happen now. ’

“For example, this conversation we’re having, ” he or she offers. “There’s a possibility that it may never, ever happen again. So let’s enjoy this while we have this. ”

On “Derek, ”  the first track on Knoblich Gardens Vol. 1 , Christoff breaks down within rhyme some of the recurring themes.

“The sad truth will be you’re no longer a child, Derek/You’ve got less time in front of you than behind, Derek/So step back straight into the ring for one more fight, Derek/Tell the motherfuckin’ story of your life, Derek/It’s a fuckin miracle you’re still alive, Derek/Now it’s time to show the fuckin’ world why, Derek”

“I’m making (this music) regarding my people out presently there who are waiting for this, ” Christoff says, noting that despite his own fears and insecurities, his fans have supported him and waited patiently intended for a return they had been never promised.

“I simply thought, ‘I’m nothing. Nobody cares anymore. I’m just gonna humiliate myself, I am wasting our time, ’” he recalls.  

“I’m making (this music) to get my individuals out right now there that are waiting around for it. ”

Yet at the particular same period, fans continued to reach out regularly in order to ask when he would begin releasing songs again.

In mid-October, on a whim, Christoff took to social media to announce that he was selling a digital library of his entire back catalogue for only $20. He describes the response since beyond generous. More importantly, this motivated your pet to lastly move the particular Knoblich Gardens concept forward.

“There has been a time when I actually was actually depressed. A few things had happened to me personally that bummed me away. I had put out 13 albums, but I furthermore took seven years away and more or less proceeded to go radio silent. That’s gonna damage anybody, unless you are Kendrick Lamar, ”  he says.

“But then I thought, instead of being depressed and wishing I acquired more fans, why don’t I focus on the ones I possess? I can still do well. And We started thinking more realistically. So right now, for those people out there who want it, this is for them. I hope that grows. But I had formed to shift my way of thinking and be glad that I’m myself. ”

Working with longtime collaborator, close friend and beatmaker Muneshine, Christoff is taking inspiration from the podcast  playbook.   There is a certain comfort, this individual reflects, in knowing that a favourite podcast is on its way, reliably upon schedule.

“Because it’s therefore safe to just come upward with an idea. That’s the easy part. The execution is the hard part. I can sit around and wait for the perfect moment or even what I actually think is gonna end up being a perfect idea. Or I can get the fuck to work. ”

During that highly productive creative period between 2008 plus 2014 (which he described as the “music factory”), Christoff valued a chaotic approach to getting points together.  

One project might have artwork, finished beats and a track list sequenced and ready without a word written, whilst another had been three-quarters associated with the way in the can easily, and yet another prepared to drop the next day. For the most part, they saw the light of day time on various labels or as independently released free downloads.   Christoff doesn’t seem to regret anything about that method of madness.  

But Knoblich Gardens will be plotted with a more controlled sense of chaos. The particular mix associated with excitement and anxiety in order to meet a monthly deadline is driving his creativity and their polished, storytelling lyrical style into new territory.

And while he has learned a lot about tempering his personal expectations, Christoff, with a healthy blend of humility and confidence, truly believes there’s nevertheless plenty of room left in hip-hop pertaining to D-Sisive’s following chapter.

“(In the past) I did want success. Plus I think of what me plus Muneshine were able to pull off, and I do not know if this is a ‘comeback. ’ All of us did well and we were close. We were inside the discussion. Shit occurred. ”

Wherever the Knoblich Gardens series takes them next is an open road.  

“When I obtained clean and I made the decision in order to come back, I used to be simply focused on the plan. And I guess maybe that was fear at work, ” says Christoff.   “Because it’s so safe in order to come up with a concept. That’s the simple part. The execution may be the hard part. I may sit close to and wait around for an ideal moment or even what We think is usually gonna be an ideal idea. Or even I can obtain the bang to operate. ”