Meet Dopechè | Graphic artist & Samplist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dopechè and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dopechè, what do you attribute your success to?
Trusting myself is something I find that I do a lot. Being so in tune with myself and what I need, that I always go to me first for advice. These past few years or so, I’ve just been getting out my comfort zone and doing things that scare me, but I constantly just dive right in and just trust my gut and the process. I had a 9-5 job and it was a career I could excel in. One day I started drawing again, like I did back in high school and someone requested to buy one of my drawings, but on a bigger canvas. I’ve never painted before nor have I drawn on a bigger scale besides my graffiti book. I decided to just try, and ended up doing a better job than I expected. I then started a side hustle of selling paintings and drawings, I made some pretty good money from it and was able to pay off some of my debt. Then, one day I decided to resign from my 9-5 job and go back to the first job I had. While it looked like a set back to other people, to me it was more time to do what I love. From then on, I chose to trust myself in a way I never did before. I would have thoughts like “No, this would never work,” and now I think “Whoa, what if this actually worked?”. During my journey, I ended up getting an offer for an internship at a music studio in Chicago, after attending a music seminar in Indianapolis. I moved to the city, in the dead of winter and in the middle of a pandemic. I followed my intuition, even though the thought of me leaving my family and friends, just everything, back home and having to adjust to a whole new lifestyle scared me. I feel like trusting myself is the best kind of love I could give to myself, because of it I’m able to live twice in my life.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I don’t like to limit myself to who I can be. People say you can be whoever you want to be, well I want to be everything I can be. I’m not afraid to fail and I’m constantly challenging myself to new skillsets. Whether it be painting, cooking, making fingerboards, making music, playing guitar or making digital art, I like getting to know myself. Finally doing what I love as a living is what I will be the most proud of. The money I make off my art only invests more into what I love to do and makes it possible to continue to do what I do. Meeting people across the globe is what gets me excited, to be able to connect through our passion is something that amazes me still. How I got here was not easy, I went through this phase where I was saying yes to every opportunity that I was given and I would say only a handful of those opportunities went the way it was suppose to. I’ve made a lot of mistakes, failed at maintaining and nurturing relationships, dealt with false promises and trust issues. I’ve lost myself a few times and had to find myself again. But the journey was so worth it because I wouldn’t be who I am today. The biggest lesson I’ve learned along the way is, don’t take life too seriously. As much as we all have this life we envision should look like, I think what matters the most is how you feel about your life regardless of what you have. I want the world to know don’t limit yourself and be whoever you want to be, you’re allowed to outgrow older versions of yourself.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I want to give credit to my other half Justine Laanan. Thank you for coming along all the journeys I’ve taken and believing me more on the days I need it. Your support and love makes me feel like I can do anything.

Instagram: @dopeche1

Image Credits
Photo credit: Justine Laanan & myself Dopechè