South Carolina

Amber Fulmer: Welcome, y’all, to the Direct Examination podcast. I’m Amber Fulmer.

Dayne Phillips: And I’m Dayne Phillips.

Joseph Bias: And I’m Joseph Bias.

Amber Fulmer: Once again, we’d like to thank you all for listening, for following us on social media, and for giving us your comments and sending us your emails letting us know who you’d like to see on the show. Please keep those coming. I’m now gonna turn it over to Joseph, who’s gonna introduce our very special guest for this evening.

Joseph Bias: Amber and I were texted by our mutual friend Brett, who told us about a rapper who was also an attorney here in South Carolina. He is a Duke graduate, a UVA Law School graduate, and one half of the group Fleetwood and Dacoti James. His album with Fleetwood is called YLFR LFR. Our guest today is Dacoti James, AKA Erik Poston. What’s going on, Erik?

Erik Poston: Just having a good time with you guys. I am excited to be here.

Joseph Bias: Where are you from originally?

Erik Poston: I grew up in a South Carolina-obsessed family. Both sides of my family are from the Lake City/Florence area. My dad was in the Navy when I was young, stationed in Italy, and then found a job in Hendersonville, North Carolina. My dad went to Clemson, and my sister and brother went to Clemson. We went to every Clemson game growing up.

Joseph Bias: Duke for undergrad, psychology major, and UVA for law school. Did you make the conscious decision at UVA to come practice in South Carolina because of your family’s background?

Erik Poston: Yeah, I pretty much always knew I was gonna come back to South Carolina.

Joseph Bias: What type of law did you practice here in South Carolina?

Erik Poston: Medical malpractice defense for about two and a half years. I was drawn to it originally because my dad’s a doctor, and I thought it would help us bond more. Plus, the gruesomeness and crazy stories pulled me in.

Joseph Bias: At the same time, your brother is Fleetwood. How did this rap thing come about?

Erik Poston: Growing up, our mom threw us into music from church choir, school choir, guitar lessons, piano, and saxophone. By 16, my final love was electric guitar, but I wasn’t talented enough as a guitarist or singer. I thought about hip-hop, but in high school, I was too self-conscious and afraid to write songs.

Instead, I learned production software. After graduating college, I took a couple of years off to produce hip-hop music in LA.

Joseph Bias: Who were your early musical influences?

Erik Poston: Will Smith, Usher, Boyz II Men, and then Lil Wayne hit the scene. I appreciated Lil Wayne’s metaphors and analogies. Also Southern rappers like Young Buck and Young Jeezy, and obviously Eminem.

Joseph Bias: What subgenre of hip-hop do you and your brother make?

Erik Poston: Deeply sarcastic parody music. We write melodies and try to think of the funniest, weirdest, or most unique lyrics we can. While producing in LA, artists kept encouraging me to rap. The label took me under their wing, and I started competing in showcases around LA.

Joseph Bias: What made you leave LA to go to law school?

Erik Poston: The hours and the industry environment. Everyone in the hip-hop industry wanted to work from 9:00 PM to 5:00 AM, and I needed a standard daytime schedule.

Joseph Bias: Why the stage name “Dacoti James”?

Erik Poston: It was the most ridiculous name we could think of one night while writing in the studio. My brother’s stage name Fleetwood came from my grandfather, Fleet.

While in law school, my brother called me during a tough time in his life having written a song. We collaborated to bond, which led to the RIP Mixtape. It touches on real struggles—he dealt with addiction issues, and I dealt with depression and suicidal episodes.

We realized mental illness and addiction are heavily stigmatized. 90% of the Instagram messages we get every day are from people saying our music helped them through dark times. Reaching those people makes it all worth it.

Dayne Phillips: How does your songwriting process work?

Erik Poston: We start with an instrumental track, narrow it down based on how we feel, and draw emotion from the beat to write topics currently on our minds. Other times, we write something completely ridiculous just for fun.

Joseph Bias: Coming to South Carolina after passing the bar, what was the decision-making process regarding your music career?

Erik Poston: It was a tough decision, but seeing how making music together brought my brother and me close—and kept him clean—made it a no-brainer. On my deathbed, I knew I would regret quitting music and losing that bond.

I never actively promoted my rap career at the firm, but I didn’t hide it either. Eventually, runners at the firm discovered the videos on YouTube.

Joseph Bias: You recently received wider exposure through WorldStarHipHop.

Erik Poston: Yes, our music video for “Jenna Jameson” got us onto WorldStar. We wanted to gain exposure so we could reach a larger audience with our deeper, real music.

Joseph Bias: What are your future plans in music and law?

Erik Poston: We are pivoting toward more serious topics. Our next song and video, “I’m Not Okay,” dives into mental health and addiction issues.

In my legal career, I want to stay in South Carolina and be a voice for change. I’d like to reach a point where hip-hop is viewed creatively like acting in a movie. I may transition toward plaintiff’s work, criminal defense, or entertainment law.

Joseph Bias: Bucket-list artist and producer to work with?

Erik Poston: Artist would be Kanye West, and producer would be Big K.R.I.T.

Dayne Phillips: Thank you for being so candid and open with us.

Joseph Bias: You can follow us @SCLawPod on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, Joseph @JosephPBias, Dayne @SCCrimLawyer, Amber @actredjudicata, and Erik Poston / Dacoti James @cakchead. The album YLFR LFR is available across online stores. Thanks for joining us!