Open Dialogue with David Lopez of Passion Park Ent
Born in Chicago, Hip Hop & Rap artist David Lopez makes his living up North in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founder of Passion Park Entertainment, he keeps himself busy writing music, performing, and throwing events. Always connecting with local talent, he is a driving force in a growing artistic community. His platform and efforts help locals put their talent on display and give audiences memorable nights to enjoy, while doing his best to help his community.
“Don’t compromise who you are for content”
– David Lopez
Featured Releases
David Lopez - Picadillo
David Lopez x RhymSter - On My Shoulders
David Lopez - Too Late
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David Lopez is set to visit Chicago once more for one of his last shows of the year. We got a chance to sit down with the Milwaukee local and break down his moves and goals in an interview. A humble and good spirited artist, he is very dedicated to his passion and community. David makes sure he gives opportunities for local artists to grow, while he evolves as well, all while having a great time doing so, with those that support.
Lopez has been having fun with music a while, since around 2011 in college. Initially just for kicks, he quickly realized there was potential. He tells Ever Evolved, “In college I lived with a bunch roomates, and ended up making joke songs. I remember after the first joke song we did, I realized, oh wait, I should start to do this!” In the following years he would pursue writing, and release his first joint in 2015, called Preachers Son, on streaming platforms.
In a natural progression, not long after his first releases David would get get into learning music production as well, giving him a multi-faceted approach to his writing process. He notes “My last album, The Other Side, I produced that whole thing. It’s really helped me musically.” He continues on to say, “the cool thing is, now that I produce, if I can’t think of something to write, I’ll start working on a beat, and something will come up. Now that I produce I have a better relationship with how I want to organize music. It’s one of my favorite things about making music.“
Aside from making music, David Lopez has a platform and brand that facilitates different forms of artistry. He releases his independent records under this umbrella, as well as throws events, podcasting, producing all sorts of entertainment in general. Founded by David himself, Passion Park Entertainment is a production company where he makes everything happen. David notes, “I’m a big believer in doing as much as you can, by yourself, if you want to.“
David goes on to explain a bit more about Passion Park Entertainment. “Basically when I was goin to release that album in 2015, I was learning the whole ins and outs of the business to a certain extent. Learning about publishing, and all that stuff. I didn’t really know what I was doing TBH. But now as it’s grown, it’s been the name behind the events that I run, and the name behind the other content that I put out. Whether it be podcast or web series, I really realized its my production company, lifelong.” David goes on to say, “Some of the dreams would be to end up making a feature film down the road, or at least be an investor in a project that we really believe in.“
Not long after beginning his writing and hip hop career and learning production, David decided to throw events. “The Passion Park experience is the showcase we throw right now. We began that in 2017 with a couple of my friends, one was a comedian. The idea was to do a half music, half comedy showcase, and just build it up.” He continues to say, “My real goal for doing that was honestly the fact that I had wanted to be on stage very regularly. I had been dealing with janky promoters, and people who were all about BS, and just trying to make money, and not feeling like it was artist friendly.“
Eventually, after connecting with venue managers through shows ran by incompetent promoters, David found a place to call home for his own showcase events. Bremen Cafe in Milwaukee has been host to countless Passion Park Experience showcases, where David does his best to create an artist friendly environment for local talent. “It’s a different show, we do raffles. This November 23rd, we’re going to have our holiday party and we’re going to be giving out Bucks tickets.” He continues to say “the real thing is, as an artist friendly community, we want everybody to be able to feel like they can do their music, and not be nervous about it. Feel like they can come and talk to other artists that are there and kind of network. I really do want to build an open creative space.”
David and Passion Park also take their time to host annual food drives to help the community as well. “I just want to make sure I at least do something that give back, it matters to us to be giving back to people in whatever capacity we can. I grew up in an environment where my mom did a lot of charity work. It’s a small point but as the company grows hopefully we can do bigger events with more charitable causes.“
Closing out the year, David Lopez and Passion Park Entertainment are hosting their last show in Milwaukee for 2022. Their Holiday Party, hosted by himself and RhymSter with both Milwaukee and Chicago artists set to perform. David also plans a return to Chicago to headline his final show of the year with RhymSter. That will be his final show of the year as well, taking off December, as he expects a newborn and the general busy holiday expectations and celebrations.
He goes on to detail, “Our monthly event is called the Passion Park Experience, used to be comedy and music, we still will do comedy if we can. November 23rd is our last show of the year. RhymSter and myself are hosting, so we’ll be performing a bunch, giving out Bucks tickets. Those shows are free entry, there’s cheap drinks. That’s gonna be a great night, before Thanksgiving. Then that Friday the 25th I’ll be back in Chicago, where I’m from, to do a big show with RhymSter. We got a full list of artists, that show is $10 dollars to get in. Tickets on Event Brite, but it’s free shots, it’s going to be a crazy wild night. Really looking forward to ending the year with a bang.”
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Aside from events David Lopez does have some new music to check out as well. So here is what you can expect from his next live performance and final events of the year, and some extra to anticipate for the 2023 calender. He lays it out for us here saying, “I got over a hundred something songs out, seven albums out, and honestly a couple more albums coming. I got a lot of projects I like to make alot of music.” When asked about his newer work David details, “Right now I’m doing a strategy of releasing new songs every two to three weeks. My newest song is called Too Late. I’m working on a collaborate album with RhymSter, we don’t have a date for that yet. Then I have my next solo album, which I been slowly working on for the past year or so. My last solo project is called The Other Side, that came out in July of 21′.” So there is a lot to look forward to with David Lopez and Passion Park this next week as well as next year, stay tuned!
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