On the first track of his new collaborative album with DJ Skoli, DILF, South Side rapper CantBuyDeem reveals that he was homeless when he received the news that he was going to be a father. Deem was a college student crashing on a friend’s couch, when he found out that he was going to be a “girl dad” and said he used that as motivation to “murder his goals.” That drive helped him get his family a comfortable place to live, some money in the bank, and a “Jag with the emblem” in less than two years.

That motivation has carried over into Deem’s music career, as he’s established himself as one of the hardest working and consistent rappers to come out of Chicago in recent years. Before linking up with DJ Skoli for DILF, a 9-track album inspired by different aspects of fatherhood, Deem stayed busy during the pandemic releasing music videos to loose singles, calling out Benny the Butcher for an alleged mixtape scam, and lending a guest verse to Chris Crack’s acclaimed Might Delete Later project.

DILF showcases Deem and Skoli’s undeniable chemistry that they first tapped into on their 2019 single “Sto.” Matched with Skoli’s eclectic production, Deem has a nimble flow to pair with his witty sense of humor and uncanny ability to incorporate Chicago slang into memorable hooks, as he does on standouts like “Lil Goofy” and “On Bro.”

We had a quick chat with CantBuyDeem and DJ Skoli and talked about how they linked up for this project, how being a father has inspired Deem’s career, how the rapper’s daughter stole the show on the album, despite not being a hip-hop fan and more.

Zach: How did you two meet? How long have y’all known each other?

Deem: I can’t remember how we met, to be honest. But the short answer is music, events, and mutual friends. It’s been a good four or five years. Randomly running into each other and slowly building a real friendship.

Skoli: We met because we used to get booked for a lot of shows together and hang in similar scenes. I would say we have known each other for at least 4 to 5 years...time flies when you are having fun (laughs).

What made you want to do a whole project together?

Deem: Corny answer: the vibe (laughs). It was always easy to work with him. He's just as driven and passionate about his music and his brand. I knew we could make something dope and see it through to the end.

Skoli: Over the years Deem and I have become good friends. I have always appreciated his sense of humor and his business acumen. We have always had great talks about the music industry and ways to grow as an artist. When I started dropping my beat tapes, one of my goals was for artists to reach out about using the tracks, and it worked out pretty good. Deem asked me for a beat on my Red Line tape which eventually became his single “STO,” a track that I always loved. I liked the fact that Deem always looked out for more of my experimental beats so I decided to send him a folder of unreleased beats and the rest is history!

What was it like working on a collaborative album during the pandemic? Did y’all get to work much in person, or was it mostly over email, etc.?

Deem: In the beginning it was mostly email. He sent two beat packs, and we had 6 songs after that. We met up a few times to structure it, made “Puffy” together and went to all the mix sessions together too. The pandemic didn’t change the process much at all. I like to keep my sessions small regardless.

Skoli: It was definitely different in a lot of ways. I feel like one of the few positives about the pandemic was that artists had a lot of free time to work on projects, so I was making a ton of beats at the house. And Deem seemed eager to work, so I was consistently sending him tracks to write to. Early in the process we didn’t work much in person, but down the line we started linking up at my place to edit and at my engineer Renzell’s studio for the mixing and mastering process.

This album has a lot of references to fatherhood. Why was that important to highlight over the course of this project?

Deem: That’s where I am in my life right now. It’s the reason, my “why”, what currently drives me. I only talk about things I’ve experienced. SKOLi provided the perfect soundscape for me (laughs). Also with my daughter getting older, she's 9 now, she wants to be more involved. I remember she cried when she saw my “Streets Smarts” music video with Chris Crack with all my little cousins and she wasn’t in it. I had to create something for her to feel special in. Plus I want to shine a light on fatherhood for my proud dads out there. Provide a soundtrack, best I could. I know many that never even get a Happy Father’s day.

I assume that’s your daughter on all these skits roasting you (laughs). What was that experience like, recording music with your daughter?

Deem: (Laughs) Man, it was something special. It was funny and a proud parent, single-tear moment all in one. You guys hear her on almost every song, but I just put on the “Lil Goofy” beat and let her go. She took 4-5 takes and I cut them up and moved them around accordingly. We laughed A LOT.

Did you help her with what she was saying, or did she come up with all that on her own?

Deem: My only directions were “Say whatever you want” and “Say something tough” for the snippet at the end of “Englewood Baby.” Everything else was all her, including the joke about her big belly male cousin looking pregnant from an angle (Laughs)!

Does your daughter listen to your music? What are some of her favorite songs of yours?

Deem: She says all my songs are boring because I’m talking like “boobadybooboo” so she can't understand me (laughs). She doesn’t listen to rap, we keep it away from her while we can. She does like tracks 3 & 5 on DILF though.

On “Pops” you said you were homeless when you found out you were going to have your daughter, which sounds like an extremely stressful and scary situation to be in. What was going through your mind during that time?

Deem: I was in college and going to school in Schaumburg via bus and train with all my clothes with me. I was on the way to my homie’s crib to crash when her mom called me and said “I have to tell you something.” I finished her sentence for her and calmed her down. I assured her we would be okay and decided at that moment, I’m finna go hard af. I can’t be a bum with a baby on the way. Basically I saw red, but like I’m finna murder these goals, kids aint cheap. l was never scared or nervous about it, which blows my mind in hindsight. 18-19 months later we had our own place, a decent savings account, and a Jaguar with cream seats.

Skoli, as the producer, what was your vision, musically, for this project? Did you have a specific sound you were going for?

Skoli: Good question. Not at all (laughs). Deem’s beat selection was a little all over the place. The beats he selected for the project I deemed as impossible to rap on and were just really fun dancy/experimental beats I was randomly working on. He really surprised me with his ability to create effectively on those tracks. Also the whole album title and concept was his idea. I was truly honored to be a part of a project so personal to him where he even incorporated his daughter even in the skits and artwork.

Deem was very fun and easy to work with. I feel like we definitely pushed each other, and I look forward to seeing the trajectory of this project. Also I’m a dog dad so technically I’m a DILF myself (laughs).

CantBuyDeem & DJ Skoli Share Insight on Collab Record 'DILF'