Words by: JAMIE ROLLO

Photography: RICARDO NELSON

Fashion: IMANI SULIMAN

Grooming: SHANNON K. YOUNG

All Merchandise Available at Bloomingdale’s The Shops at Riverside Everything is

FLIPP DINERO

At the helm of one his most anticipated years, rap- per Flipp Dinero walked on set in the highest of spir- Loveits. On the verge of a burgeoning music career, this : marked the artist’s first-ever cover shoot. Pulling up in a Black Mercedes Benz Sprinter, you would never expect Flipp to be as laid back and humbled as he was. With his latest release Love for Guala blaring through the speakers and the vibe perfectly set, he was ready for this watershed moment.

Raised in Canarsie, he always had an unmatched mo- tivation to reach a high level of success. With 2019 being a breakout year for the young artist, Flipp is well on his way to achieving those goals. “You could say it’s like crabs in a barrel just for me to make it out of that area,” he explained. “Being from my neighborhood, being from an area where people don’t show you love, that inspired me and motivated me to accomplish big- ger and better.”

SWEATER Breaking into the charts with his 2018 smash hit SANDRO “Leave Me Alone” set him up for the successful re- PANTS lease of his 2019 album Love for Guala. The track STONE ISLAND

ended up peaking at No. 20 on the SHOES chart within the first year of its release. But Flipp nev- JIMMY CHOO C COVER STORY

er expected the song to reach that level of JACKET success. “I just jumped in the studio, reg- APC ular recording process, you know what I JEANS mean?” he explained. “I just thought it was THE KOOPLES something cool, it was a catchy vibe. But, SNEAKERS when other people heard it, the way they GUCCI embraced it was crazy. That’s when I kind of knew I had something on my hands. Just watching people’s reception toward the track.”

The feature-packed Love for Guala project includes hit songs “How I Move” (feat. ) and “Looking at Me” (feat. Rich the Kid) along with the aforementioned sin- gle. Following his 2017 release The Guala Way, Love for Guala is Flipp’s second al- bum, which speaks volumes to its success; artists seldom see such quick and wide recognition.

“Guala means to me God’s Unique Acco- lade Life Acquired,” Flipp said of his al- bum. “I feel like we’re all unique to life so I just felt like Guala would be handed in with the title and my name. It’s just a love for money, love for Guala, the lifestyle, that’s what it means.”

“It’s all love with everyone that’s on the project,” he added. Other collaborations on Love for Guala include features from Jay Critch and Kodak Black, both of which came into fruition by “relationships through my big brothers.” One of those relationships includes the illustrious DJ Khaled who Flipp sees as a mentor. On set for his Bleu Magazine shoot, the 24-year- old rapper was seen on FaceTime with the famed producer showing off all of his looks. “He’s just an example of where I SUIT wanna be at that age,” he said admiringly. ALEXANDER WANG “Khaled helped me out and I’m grateful.”

When it comes to his music and visuals, Flipp tends to every detail. “It was just picking the right amount of songs and the right songs to put on the project,” he said “GUALA MEANS of Love for Guala. “It wasn’t that much of a difficult process. I love making music.”

Recently, he dropped unique visuals for TO ME GOD’S “Looking at Me” with Rich the Kid and for “How I Move” featuring Lil Baby. In just weeks, the Damien Sandoval directed UNIQUE ACCOLADE “Looking at Me” video racked up over 1 million views on YouTube. In a mere five days, the “How I Move” visual gained well JACKET APC over 1.4 million and counting. Directed by LIFE ACQUIRED” JEANS THE KOOPLES

SNEAKERS GUCCI

48 MAGAZINE Issue 65 49 JACKET SANDRO

TURTLENECK PURPLE BRAND

PANTS REISS

“KHALED DEFINITELY HELPED JACKET KENZO

POLO MONCLER ME OUT AND I’M GRATEFUL” JEANS THE PURPLE BRAND

SHOES GUCCI

50 MAGAZINE Issue 65 51 C COVER STORY

FULL LOOK KENZO

SHOES GUCCI

ENTERING THE NEW YEAR WITH NEW ENERGY, JUST CLEANING THE AURA’S, YOU KNOW WHAT I’M SAYING?”

Kid Art, the video sees Flipp and Lil Baby While his professional career only dates dropped tracks like “Livin’ It,” “Wanna hiding out from a S.W.A.T team. back to 2016, Flipp has had a passion for Ball” and “Play Fair,” but none of them music his entire life. “I’ve been making stuck as much as his 2018 release “Leave “I always give my vision and input on music all my life. I was always dabbling in Me Alone.” The track got much-deserved how I want my videos to look. I always the music scene,” he retold. “I grew up in a attention, blowing up once stars like carry the treatments that are created for church and my mother and father were in Odell Beckham Jr. and praised the it. I always give my two cents,” he said. “I the choir so I used to look at my mom as track. The single piqued the interest of DJ never wanna take away from the director, she would sing, and she would sing to me. Khaled who immediately signed Flipp to [though]. You know how some directors So, it kind of impacted me. That’s how my under his notable We The are. They wanna show that they’re able to whole singing platform came about.” Best imprint. make a dope visual. So, shoutout to all the directors I work with because they make Flipp started professionally dropping mu- As one of the rising rap stars going into some dope shit.” sic in 2017 with his debut single “I Do,” the new decade, Flipp is prepping for big with fellow Brooklynite Joey Bada$$ pro- things to come including visuals and a This past year, Flipp has made tons of moting his music. “He gave me recogni- new project. With visuals out for “How appearances including a spot on Roll- tion and he was promoting my music and I Move” and “Looking at Me,” he plans ing Loud Miami Sunday lineup next to telling a whole bunch of people about to soon release more visuals for his Jay the likes of Kid Cudi, , Guc- me,” he added. He continued to release Critch-assisted track “Fritolays.” He men- ci Mane, Tyga, Playboy Carti, and far too numerous singles including “Running up tioned a potential new album saying, “I many others to name. Following the huge Bands,” “On Some,” and “Say No More,” all got a project I’m working on right now. fest, he made concert appearances with of which ended up as tracks on his debut You could say it’s complete, but we putting Migos and , , Casa- album The Guala Way. in work towards it still.” He added, “Ev- nova, Soulja Boy, , G Herbo, Pop erything is going good, so we got a lot of Smoke, and many more. This upcoming Following the summer release of his things coming up. Entering the new year March, Flipp will be performing alongside freshman project, the rapper continued with new energy, just cleaning the aura’s, his longtime friend Jay Critch and break- to release singles throughout the year you know what I’m saying?” We’re excited out R&B artist Jacquees. immensely growing his following. He to see what he does next.

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