Premiere: Adem Dalipi looks back at memories during love letter ‘Sixth St.’

Adem Dalipi has had music in his sights since picking up a guitar at the age of 9 and writing his own songs when he was 11, playing at the Chicago Blues Fest in 2016 and 2017 and performing around the suburbs with the young blues band The Instinct. The Belvidere-raised teen this week released the new pop-leaning single “Sixth St.,” a love letter to the town he grew up in that he wrote during the lockdowns.

“The time at home has allowed me to reflect on some memories, which further allowed me to find new inspiration to write about,” Dalipi responded in an emailed Q&A.

Recently Dalipi has been using his time to further market his music, creating the Adem Dalipi Street Team on Facebook, where members can get private livestreams and behind-the-scenes content. He will also be featured in the Millennium Music Conference, streaming from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the weekend of Feb. 26-27. Watch for posts about the recorded performance and more new music from the young artist.

In “Sixth St.” you tell a love story of sorts. What’s the meaning behind this song? 

When I first started developing ideas for “Sixth St,” I began by writing about certain memories I made with friends in the town that I grew up in. Once I started writing the chorus, the lyrics had transformed the meaning of the song into a hometown love story and I felt that the lyrics had showcased reflection of that relationship, with the ending voice memo bringing back the reality of the present situation of the relationship. 

How has writing music during the pandemic of the last year affected your process? Has it inspired anything new? How have you overcome some of the challenges? 

The pandemic has been tough as far as finding inspiration as I’ve been working in the same space everyday for school and music, but I didn’t let it affect me too much. The time at home has allowed me to reflect on some memories, which further allowed me to find new inspiration to write about. I’ve created new songs about topics I had never thought of writing about, which will be a surprise for when the new music comes out.

With venues shut down or with limits for nearly the last year, what have you been doing to stay connected to the music scene? 

I’ve really been using social media to keep in contact with my fans and the greater music scene. Live streams have become the new shows during the pandemic, and I recently started working with Sessions to start doing live streams on their platform. 

Along with that, I made a new private community for my fans to connect with called “Adem Dalipi Street Team.” I post behind-the-scenes content and hold private live streams through Facebook. 

What do you have coming up around or after this release? 

I’ve got a really cool live performance that me and my band have recorded for the Millennium Music Conference in Harrisburg, PA that will be aired between Feb. 26th-27. Along with that, I’m planning to continue releasing more music in 2021.

About Post Author