We recently connected with Dareil Aakhir and have shared our conversation below.
Dareil, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
Great question, discovering my purpose was something I tapped into early. I knew from the moment I saw Puff (Sean “Diddy” Combs) dancing in the “Flava In Ya Ear” Remix video what my purpose was. I knew I wanted to create, I wanted to be different. I was twelve years old, reading album credits, asking my aunt who people in the music business were and what they did. I got my first internship with DreamWorks Records right out of high school, I was still seventeen at the time, plastering up posters and passing out free BuckCherry promo CDs. It was a dope experience!!! Unfortunately, I didn’t have the traditional support from my parents, as they were into cult based religion, totally disconnected from the world, and feared social interaction. It was weird, my then supposed father would attend these all male weekend retreats, holding hands and chanting in circles, candles lit, and wearing weird garments. He hated EVERYTHING about me, and well I hated him. I wasn’t into the church, never have been. Apart of me just always said if I remain in MY purpose I’d never turn out like him. Word is he passed away some time ago, I didn’t care enough to find out. However, I’m STILL here, purposefully driven.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
My name is Dareil “Tirby” Aakhir, I’m the founder of f.Aa.T Brand which serves as my overall creative wing. So whenever I work with someone rather it be music, fashion, or TV, it’s all conceptualized by the f.Aa.T Brand imprint. Under the f.Aa.T Brand umbrella I’ve designed artist merchandise, album/single artwork, TV show logos, produced video vlogs, directed podcast, led artist rollouts, festival intern, and assist with artist development and styling. And most importantly, I don’t just work with everybody for a quick monetary payment. I have to be inspired by your work. I’ve turned a few people away who have requested my services.
What I’m focused on professionally is building and leaving a legacy for my wife and kids. Not to sound cliché, but I’m not into “bag chasing”, I’m into Art, creation, and doing dope shit. My mind moves at 1,000,000 mph so I usually work on stuff that I’m inspired by. I’m naturally an introvert, but when I’m inspired by something, I’m 10 toes in. For example the artist Ive partnered with now, Phannum. What first drew me to him was his energy and positive aura. When I first met him in person, unlike most rappers, he didn’t play me a zillion songs, and try to “rap” my head off, we vibed out. We sat in the car, talked and smoked some weed while he described the book he was writing to me. Dudes a genius !!!! We have OPERA FEST coming up, August 18th at Eager Park here in Baltimore, with OPERA HOUSE and a host of hand picked talented individuals. I serve as his Creative Director, we don’t argue, we don’t complain about finances, and we don’t do what everyone else does. We’re the OPERA, (ONLY.PURSUING.EVOLVING.RADICAL.ACTIVITY). I came up with the acronym, and where I was at in my life, it just fit. It took me 39 years to meet Phannum, I have no doubts that my pursuit of this lifelong dream is about to come to fruition.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Work as your inspired, have a passion, and I don’t mean a passion for money, and lastly, never be the person that has to be noticed in the room all the time. That’s OD annoying. The tagline in my bio says “you see me, before you see me” and what I mean by that is I want people to see my work before they meet me and I’m all in their face. Talking their ear off and being a nuisance. Unfortunately, a lot of people want to put themselves before their brand or before their art. I like the artwork to stand out, be noticed by the public, and people organically drift towards me. It way cooler that way.
My advice for any creatives is to just be yourself. if you have dope shit you say you do, then the public will find it. Simple.
If you knew you only had a decade of life left, how would you spend that decade?
Simply by creating and being innovative. The challenge I’m experiencing right now is that recently I had a MAJOR life altering revelation in my life and so I’m working on tying that into fAaTbrand as a promotional rollout, and again, not as a ploy to make money but as a way to convey a message to somebody else they may be dealing with the same issue. With the internet we have so many avenues to reach people. I just want the f.Aa.T Brand roll out to reach the RIGHT people. I don’t need 100 million fans/supporters, fake followers, fake content, fake comments, and fake likes. Just give me 1,000 real supporters and I can thoroughly convey my message and build my audience. Again, if it’s authentic, the brand will naturally grow. I’ve been inspired by TAME IMPALA, Kevin Parker is a musical genius that I felt spoke directly to me while I was experiencing this major life change. TAME IMPALA is apart of the rollout. Between f.Aa.T Brand, OPERA HOUSE, and my two newest partnerships DykeGOD (Season One of TUBI TVs Hoochie Daddies) and upcoming
Contact Info:
- Website: www.fAaTbrand.bigcartel.com
- Instagram: fAaTbrand
