Today we’d like to introduce you to Marcus Page.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Marcus. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I would say that my journey as a creative started when I heard Usher’s 8701 album in Kindergarten. Ever since then, I fell in love with music and artistic expression in general. I grew up on Idlewood Rd in Stanford Oaks Apartments. Growing up in Tucker, GA/DeKalb County, I personally feel that our community created a perfect environment for so many of our young minds to develop and truly find out who we were going to become later in life. I can firmly say that I learned much more from experiences with my peers and watching each other grow than I did in any classroom. Not to say that we didn’t have great teachers, but we all connected in the out of class moments, like at the lunch table, dapping up your friends in the hallways, pep rallies, and after school activities. I played football at Tucker Football League from third grade all the way through middle school, and I made some of the best friends I have in life in that time.
Flash forward to 2012, I’m in tenth grade at the time, now I moved around the corner to the infamous DuPont place. This is where I believe my love for art and creating began to manifest into real life. I started making beats around this time and I used to have all the homies over to make music and just be kids and have fun. Then my senior year, I was inspired to start photography from Troy Earnest of the EastATL Young Life chapter. I bought my first camera from him and began taking pictures of my surroundings, finding my vision I would say. This moment was brief though because I was leaving for the Army after I graduated high school.
As I catapulted into this new segment of my life, I again returned to this passion when I was in Korea. I made the leap to purchase my first “real camera,” the one I still use til this day. On my Sundays in South Korea, I would go up the local mountain whilst listening to Baduizm or Diamond Life and capture everything that inspired me, the temples, the nature, the people. After my year there was finished, I came back to America uncertain of where my journey would go next. Then one of my closest friends, Devin Huffman, asked me to take some portraits for him. From there, I fell in love with the art all over again. I became obsessed with creating the best quality work that I could. It has been three years since that day and I am proud of the body of work I have but am still in what I believe to be the next beginning of a path that will define me as an artist and as a human in general. I am so grateful for all of the experiences I have had and all the beautiful people I have met along the way. I would also like to thank anyone that has ever believed in me, it means the world.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It has been a fun ride, but it has not been the slightest bit smooth. I got into a little bit of trouble during my time in the Army, but I took that experience on the chin and came back home with a positive outlook on the future. Since then, I have created some of my favorite photographs and songs. One of the biggest troubles I would say we all have is time. Everyone is on their own paths and living in their own world, so to set aside to time create with others takes patience, but in the end it is always a beautiful moment and something that I carry with me everyday. I love the grind because I know one day soon that all this work will pay off, not just for me but for all of my peers and everyone I believe to truly be tastemakers of the culture we live in today.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
Well, my brand name is dappATL, and it encompasses everything that I love to create, whether it be music, photography, videography, etc. I believe my strongest attribute is my vision for photography and my taste in what makes quality music. I would say my style is different from others because there is only one me. I like to make things feel effortless. I am a real a minimalist when it comes to creating. I just need a beautiful soul and a canvas to make something great. As for music, I can take a small sample and build it into something timeless. It all derives from the cloth we are cut from here in Atlanta. I just want to create timeless work with timeless people.
What were you like growing up?
In school, I was always the bridge between the “cool kids” and “smart kids.” Along with a few others, I was in advanced classes, but when lunchtime came, I would sit with all my friends that I really shared a passion for art with. I have always been a positive person, and think that I was a role model for the kids that came after me. I always stood up for everyone, I have never shied away from being friends with the “less popular” people because I think we all have a special gift to bring to the universe. I am by no means perfect, but I do believe in humanity and think that the small moments that we share with each other create who we are in a way. We are all a reflection someone’s memory when it is all said and done.
Growing up, listening to music was always my favorite thing to do and I think that’s really what ties all of my friend groups together besides the memories we share. Confessions and Tha Carter III were the most pivotal albums from my childhood. My mom always had a CD of classic albums so I really would DJ in the car at a young age. I love 90s R&B/Rap, but I also grew up during the snap/trap music era so Lil Jon and T.I. were heavy hitters as a youth. T-Pain was also one of the stands out artist when I was a kid. I truly think what he did paved the way for everything that we hear today. When I was in high school, some of my influences were The Weeknd, Kid Cudi, Tyler, The Creator, Young Thug, and Future. Majid Jordan is also one of my favorite groups.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sodapperdan.com
- Email: sodapperdan@gmail.com
- Instagram: @dappATL
- Twitter: @sodapperdan
Image Credit:
Cover Photo (Nurid Lewis), All Other (Marcus Page, @dappATL)
Stephany(@young.godess), O’brie(@odawgdagawd), Chelsei Roddy(@chelseiroddy), Daisha Fields(@_daishafields), Diamond Coles(@thequalityname), Anthony(@roam96), Cameron Hill(@onecambeauty) & Nia Terrell’
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