Since the untimely death of Big Pun, The Bronx has struggled to produce a Rap super-star. While KRS-One and Fat Joe still reign as products of the ’80s and ’90s respectively, the ’00s’ developments were halted by the Terror Squad’s split and Hell Rell’s great Harlem associations. Twenty-two year old emcee D-Bless hopes to bring the BX back into the Rap conversation. “As we all know, [the Bronx] has the legends, we’ve got the KRS-One’s, we’ve got the Lord Finesse’s, the Big Pun’s and all that. I feel obligated to bring out that true Hip Hop essence [in my music]. The Bronx don’t got a hero right now. We need one, so it’s my obligation to bring that fire and put the Bronx back on the map,” Bless recently told HipHopDX. “Nobody is doing us for right now.”

Looking at his forthcoming debut album The Revival, D-Bless says his borough is on his mind constantly, but not entirely his audience. “I have an anthem that’s dedicated just for my borough,” he revealed. “I don’t want every track to be about that, ’cause this album is more-so about letting you know what type of person I am, and my different sides. A Bronx hero won’t be made a hero just by spittin’ about the Bronx or New York, but by being universal…I don’t want to limit myself. That’s part of what being a Bronx hero is.”

Asked about influences, D-Bless cited Fabolous, Jay-Z and Jadakiss. However, don’t expect and mimicry. “On my album, you’re not really going to be able to tell [my] influences. But when you hear [it], you’re gonna be like, ‘Wow, this kid is crazy.’ I switch up the flow all the time, I got have concepts, I’m bringin’ a lot of energy back to the game. It’s no bubble-gum Rap either. I didn’t make it too hard, but I didn’t dumb it down either. There’s something for everybody.” He added, “It’s a whole bunch of mood-music.”

Within The Revival, there will be two tracks produced by Buckwild, a borough icon affiliated with Diggin’ In The Crates. Although both of the songs were still being fine-tuned when D-Bless spoke to DX, the emcee touched on the significance of working with the producer who’s made hits with Black Rob, O.C. and Sadat X. “The chemistry was there; we hit it off immediately. I’ve been blessed to work with him, he drops a lot of gems on me. He lets me know a lot of things. It’s exciting when you’ve got one of the best producers in the game working with you. He heard my mixtape The Rejuvenation. He listened to the whole mixtape, and he wanted to see what direction he wanted to go in with my album. He said, ‘Yo kid, I don’t even know where to go with you, you can do everything.’ That felt great [to hear] – for a guy who’s [worked with so many influential emcees] to say he really enjoys my music.”

With The Revival planned for spring/summer release, D-Bless has big goals to accomplish, but all the right people in his corner.