Derek Pope has travelled both the long and short road. Growing up in Oakland, California, Pope learned to produce beats in high school, spending his nights and weekends crafting the early roots of a sound he couldn’t define yet for years. It wasn’t until 2015 that Pope experimented with singing, and after a few demos proved that he would be creating his own lane, penning the lyrics:
“Looking at the ceiling, thinking I could make a million”
Those words became the intro to “Raincoats,” the first hit single off Pope’s debut EP, Sunken City Redux. With a sonic background that takes influences from indie rock, pop, and trap, Pope combines his self-produced bangers with unique, introspective lyrics to create an evolving soundscape that challenges the boundaries of music as we know it.
{Verse 1} How long do we have left Before it’s gone And every step we take is a heavy one I guess By the mess we’ve already made When I was young I had a picture on
{Verse} My eyes can’t go anywhere but you You say things won’t ever change but they do Haunted inside I’ll put down the tracks if you get on the ride Run for our
{Verse 1} You wanna be in a moment But don’t realize that it’s just a show You want someone who’s devoted But got no faith in the world I know (Woah) It’s hard
{Verse 1} Don’t you know the end is not coming It’s already here so start running Spend your time like most of your money Wasted just to try to feel something Ooh,
{Verse 1} I can’t be this high Drawing outside the lines of you and I If I lose my mind Can I give yours a try I’ve been focused On all the wrong things
{Verse 1} Are we fast enough to run? From our shadow Underneath the melting sun This has more than just begun We are martyrs Waiting for our day to come
{Verse 1} Don’t shoot the messenger He’s got his hands up like the rest of us We trade our dark thoughts for chemicals Just to get back to the start Of what we
I’m sorry I can’t go back Have mercy on me Have mercy on me Out of the shallow Into the deep Have mercy on me Have mercy on me The nightmares don’t scare
Diving through the bedrock like me Just another headcase like me I can’t stop what’s bout to happen I can’t stop running backwards Come and have a good time with me
{Intro} When I see you again I’ll be different You’ll be different It’ll be different When I see you again I'll be different You’ll be different
{chorus} Too much loss i still grieve when i win You see the god flow right under my skin You see the cosmos comin from within She don’t love me she just love me cause
{Verse 1} Off in the lost woods, with the no goods Splitting like a wishbone, finger like a fishhook Quick look, I can see them all from here With the pitchforks, throw
{chorus} They said I’d never be in their heads Went from no way to say when Attentions all i paid them Now i just wanna stay in Either break hearts or break
{Verse} I tell myself The pain is chemical it’s not real, but still I feel Like I’m alone inside a dream I can’t wake up to scream That I’m not asleep Are we
{Chorus} How do they come find me Only on my worst days It feels like I’m dying It feels like my birthday I’m outside your window I need more than first aid
