Performer Writer and Community Activist D'Lo Talks Mentorship In The Industry With Q26
D'Lo is a Transgender Sri Lankan-American performer, writer, and community activist, who performs in America, Canada, the UK, Germany, Sri Lanka, and India. He's been seen on HBO, Amazon, Netflix, and CW. D'Lo is currently developing a scripted series based on his life set up at BTR Media and Paul Feig's Powderkeg Media. He recently performed his solo play "To T, or not to T?" at The LGBT Center. Jasmine D. Lowe, the Managing Editor at Q26, got the chance to interview her over the phone.
D'Lo
Jasmine D. Lowe: What made you want to become an entertainer or an artist?
D'Lo: For me, it was not really like a choice necessarily. It was more like I was inspired to speak my mind at a young age through watching all of my favorite MCs, and I think that I was like, there's such power here. I was drawn into it, and then I realized, Oh, there are people who make a living out of doing their art. I wanted to do music production because I felt like I couldn't be queer and at the forefront. I already knew that I was super queer from when I was younger. I was like I can't be gay and an MC. I can't be lead in a band.
The next closest thing would be music production. I was already taking lessons in a couple of different instruments, and music was a passion of mine, and it still is, but not in the way that I need to be making it. It was in college that I started performing all of my rhymes and my poems. I loved performing so much that I wanted to continue. The other part about it was that I was getting paid to perform poems in the junior and senior year of my college time. So, that was the other thing. I was like, Oh, well, shit, I'm making money.
Jasmine: I wanted to talk about the importance of representation for yourself and your culture, not only being queer, but a person of color. Is that something that you always try to incorporate in every project that you take on?
D'Lo: Pretty much now, but when I first started, I wrote about bigger issues that weren't necessarily, even though they were personally connected to me, they weren't necessarily my personal story. Now my work is mostly my personal story or about my relationships with other people. Initially, it was easier to be removed and kind of be a young person in that fierce way that young people are, but maybe can't be as vulnerable as they want to be. So, we kind of hide behind larger issues as an entry point to our own places where injustice has manifested in our lives. So, I knew that being raised in a hick town as a brown kid who is queer. There were cultural things that I needed to be cognizant of, because if I came out, then there would be the repercussions of that.
But then there's also the, of being a brown kid also from a family of Tamil Sri Lankans, where you know that your own people are being killed. You know that people of color are not appreciated or celebrated and then your queerness, and then how your body is, is in certain ways. Definitely not in the same ways that like Black folks bodies are targeted, but you, you feel that that target is on you. Because of that, I could talk about larger issues such as the Sri Lankan, civil war, or police brutality or, AIDS, or issues that pertain to the communities that I was from, or that I identified with. I guess. I can't necessarily do work around those issues as much because that's not where I feel my most powerful platform for storytelling.
Jasmine: I have seen your solo show, "To T or not to T?" that you recently performed at The LGBT Center in LA, and it was amazing. It was entertaining, informative, and I really enjoyed it. I also know Adelina Anthony, who I also interviewed for this magazine, was also involved with the creation of the show. She mentioned that you were her brother. When you pick projects, especially ones that are so personal, do you try to find people who are closest to you to help you tell the story, or is there another factor?
D'Lo: Thank you. Adelina is my sister. I think that I try to pick people to collaborate with, who come from a really good-hearted place first and foremost. And then what is almost as important, but maybe sometimes not even as important is the skillset. I think that it's both, but you could be the most skilled, talented motherfucker, but I might not gel well with that person. I've been on sets where some people are like, yeah, this collaborator's an asshole, but he's really good, and that's why we like him. I'm like, no, I don't like that. That works for you, but it doesn't work for me. As a unit, we've been working together for 14 years.
Jasmine: Am I going to see more documentary-type work from you in the future? You've already appeared on HBO, Amazon, and Netflix. You've gone pretty mainstream with it, which is cool.
D'Lo: We don't know what this world is going to look like in regards to shooting and filming and doing all of this stuff. So, in the meantime, right now, I have a group of queer South Asian folks, artists who I've been collaborating with on addressing a lot of the bullshit that has been happening in South Asia with Modi, who is the prime minister. He's Trump but in India. We started as a group to address the rising intolerance in South Asia. However, when the pandemic hit, we turned to just holding space for the queer South Asian folks. And now we, on top of that, we host a "South Asian Artists for Black Lives" Zoom space.
I'll always be an artist and an organizer. That's something I can't step away from, but the other stuff is like, every artist thinks about longevity and career, and I do want longevity, and I do want a career. I am in this fellowship where I'm writing episodic for the first time by myself, whereas I've written projects with co-writers. It's a new world for me, but I'm thinking I just need to keep writing what I know how to write so that I can eventually excel in this field and get more opportunities. But I have to say where my heart is most content is doing comedy, acting, and live performance over TV and film. But I'm definitely not opposed to being in various TV and film projects of other people. I just hope that I get to do my own.
Jasmine: And speaking of dreams and wanting to accomplish new things. This is something that I ask everybody, but what advice do you have for young people, especially queer people of color who want to become artists and share their voice way that you do?
D'Lo: There is a way for you to make money. You just have to figure it out. That's going to be the hardest part of the journey, but I also feel like there are so many older queer artists of color and find the folks who are willing to mentor you. And then ask your mentors what they need from you in exchange, because it's not a one-way relationship. I mentor a lot of people. I look out for young people left right and center. I think both Adelina and I do it in much of the same way where we spend time with young people a lot of time, and we help, we teach, we mentor, we guide. We're there for our young folks and much in the same way that we either wanted mentorship and guidance or much in the way that we've received it from maybe one or two other people. I think that it's also about finding the right mentors because you could be older, but that doesn't necessarily mean that you're an elder.
So, looking for people who actually take pride in the work of mentorship, because there are many people who do not. I think that healing doesn't necessarily mean the craft of art, but the more you heal, the better you become as an artist. So, making healing your pain and your traumas, whether that's past traumas in your own personal life or ancestral stuff, to be on the path to try and heal your family your lineage. Everything that brought you to the place--that's a responsibility--if you are here; if you are alive; if you're surviving, make it your top goal to heal.
You can keep up with D'Lo and his work by visiting dlocokid.com. You can also follow him on Instagram or Twitter @dlocokid.
Read the print version of this article and other stories by downloading a copy of QTYPE’s summer issue!